Mildenhall Town put to the sword by fellow promotion contenders Wroxham

As far as setbacks go, this was a big one for Mildenhall Town and their hopes of earning promotion from the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division.

Mildenhall went into today's home encounter sitting five points clear of their visitors Wroxham in third, while second-placed Gorleston were three points adrift.

But while Ricky Cornish's side had the points on the board, the games favoured the Norfolk duo. Gorleston have played three less than Mildenhall, while this afternoon's opponents had five matches to make up.

Consequently it looked a must win for the hosts – or certainly a must not lose – yet they were second best throughout as a Ryan Curtis-inspired Wroxham ran riot at Recreation Way, eventually racking up a sobering 4-0 victory.

The aforementioned Curtis helped himself to a hat-trick and also won the penalty that was neatly tucked away by former Mildenhall frontman Matt Hayden.

The Wroxham number seven got the ball rolling in the 17th minute when he was afforded some space down the left hand side of the area and while it was not the cleanest of shots, there was enough power and direction to beat Mildenhall goalkeeper Josh Pope and nestle inside the far post.

Truth be told that was it in terms of clear cut openings at either end for the remainder of the half, but it always felt that Wroxham – with midfielders Harley Black and Jordan King pulling the strings – were in command of proceedings.

Having been forced to withdraw the injured Alex Steed midway through the first half, just three minutes after the restart Mildenhall were further disrupted when his replacement – Ethan Mayhew – limped off with what looked like a hamstring problem.

And there was even more disappointment in the 58th minute when Curtis darted from outside to in, only for his progress to be halted by a diving Pope. Referee Richard Owen deemed it to be a foul and Hayden made no mistake from 12 yards out, sending Pope the wrong way to make it 2-0.

Mildenhall came closest to getting themselves back into the contest in the 70th minute via Natty Stewart's free kick that was whipped in towards the near post, but Wroxham goalkeeper Ollie Sutton – son of Premier League winner Chris – got down well to turn the ball behind.

Wroxham cleared the resultant corner with minimal fuss and then within a matter of seconds the outcome was put beyond any doubt following a sharp counter-attack. The retreating Mildenhall defence was left appealing for an offside flag that was never going to come and Curtis – after rounding Pope – doubled up his tally to make it three without reply for Wroxham.

His hat-trick was completed nine minutes from time and owed much to the pass from Hayden, who split the home rearguard and sent Curtis clear to do the rest.

It rounded off a memorable 90 minutes for Wroxham, who are now just two points adrift of a Mildenhall side that have dropped to second on goal difference after Gorleston dished out a 6-1 hammering to Brantham Athletic at Emerald Park.

Mildenhall: Pope, Nolan, Coakley, Butcher, Ruddy, Steed (Mayhew 27', Robinson 48'), Weavers, Green, Brown, Stewart, Hall (Hitch 71'). Attendance: 208