There was no pre-Christmas cheer for Chasetown as they suffered a home defeat against Runcorn Linnets.
An evenly-matched first half saw very few clear cut chances – the closest The Scholars came was when George Cater was closed out by the visiting defence.
The high flying Linnets took the lead in the 37th minute with Lewis Doyle fired beyond Matt Sargeant when a defensive clearance fell to his feet.
Chasetown started the second half on the front foot and Danny Glover forced a save before Jack Langston saw the ball cleared away before he could fire goalwards.
Danny O’Callaghan then had a header blocked from a right wing Oli Hayward cross.
Midway through the second half, Sargeant kept the score at 1-0 with a full stretch save to palm over from Joe Lynch.
In the dying minutes, left back Jordan Evans drilled a shot wide of the upright.