Lichfield City suffered frustration on the road as they went down 3-1 at Lye Town.
Despite going 2-0 down in the first half, they clawed their way back into the game with a Liam Kirton goal.
But the elusive leveller never came and the hosts sealed the points late on.
An entertaining encounter saw Lye keeper Ben Newey forced into an early save to deny Kirton the opener.
The first goal of the evening came at the other hand though when Joe Palmer netted with just four minutes on the clock.
A leveller almost arrived when Jordan Francis struck the bar – and then Liam Kirton’s rebound also found the woodwork before bouncing back to him, only for his follow-up to be pushed away by the keeper.
Lye and Lichfield both sent strikes over the top as they traded chances, with Kirton also seeing a shot saved by the legs of Newey.
But the crucial second goal went the way of the home side when Nathan Scott rode two challenges before firing the ball into the net just before the break.
A quieter start to the second period than the first was interrupted when Lichfield halved the deficit after a Joe Haines free-kick was turned home by Kirton just after the hour mark.
The striker almost had a second when his near post effort was saved.
Lichfield were pushing for a leveller and saw Kirton again denied by Newey, but Lye continued to pose a threat with a free header sent over from close range.
But it was the hosts who would have the final say as they took advantage of their visitors pushing forward for Josh Hesson to finish off a quick breakaway.
