Todmorden Borough suffered a painful 8-0 defeat at Croston Sports last Saturday in their first game for almost two months.
Boss Craig Milnes had just 11 players plus himself on the bench for the West Lancashire League match and the long lay-off took its toll.
Borough trailed only 2-0 at half time but fell further behind to a 53rd minute penalty and then conceded four goals between the 72nd and 79th minutes.
A second penalty in the last minute completed an unhappy return to action for the Bellholme side, Richard Coley completing a hat-trick for Sports.
Borough slipped a place to third from bottom of Division Two as Milnthorpe beat Furness Cavaliers 4-1.
Milnes said the visitors had been satisfied with their first half efforts, even though both home goals had been down to their errors.
“We were all still upbeat. We said that if we could get the next goal we would be right back in it.
“But we gave away a silly penalty and the heads dropped a bit after that,” he admitted.
Milnes said the home side’s fitness, the speed of their wingers and having a full complement of substitutes had enabled them to surge clear.
“They tore us to pieces eventually,” he said.
Tod might have had a goal to show for their efforts. Jack Leeming had a header cleared off the line while Ben Whitham and Jim Crowther had half-chances.
Borough must now lift themselves for Saturday’s trip to mid-table Millom, when Dan Lively, Dean Farry, Gaz Lawrence, Jim Crowther and Adam Walker are likely to be absentees.
Out of 11 remaining league fixtures for Milnes’s men, eight are at home.
After Saturday, Borough have just to go to Furness Rovers and Ladybridge.
Division Two
Pd W D L F A Pts
Ladybridge 19 16 2 1 83 18 50
Leyland Utd 20 12 4 4 50 37 40
Haslingden SM 16 12 2 2 54 23 38
CMB 15 11 0 4 47 21 33
Kendal C 16 9 2 5 35 22 29
Croston Sp 17 9 1 7 46 33 28
Millom 19 8 4 7 43 48 28
Furness Cav 19 8 0 11 31 45 24
Walney Is 18 5 3 10 27 51 18
Stoneclough 17 4 3 10 28 49 15
Milnthorpe C 16 3 5 8 28 33 14
Todmorden B 15 4 1 10 14 39 13
Furness Rov 20 3 3 14 24 48 12
Barrow Wand 19 3 2 14 18 61 11