A MUCH-CHANGED Laverstock and Ford saw their four-match winning streak destroyed at the hands of Alton Town 3-2 on their 3G all-weather pitch.

Jonathan Grey's double and Luke Perkins rushed the hosts into a 3-0 goal lead.

The Joneses, Adam and Russell, pulled two goals back late on to set up a grandstand finish but failed to unlock the Alton defence for a third time and, instead, finished with ten men.

With multiple expectant fathers unavailable for the trip, joint managers Robbie Lakeman and Liam McConnell were forced to shuffle the pack, giving a first start to Keiran Mulcahy since September.

The opening goal came on 28 minutes, a fierce shot was saved by Alexis Aguer and fell to the feet of Grey, who slammed home the rebound.

The second half saw the home side again start the brighter yet it was a defensive mix up on eight minutes that let Perkins in to score his side's second.

Things went from bad to worse moments later when a mistimed header at the back allowed Grey to profit, which seemingly put the game to bed.

Laverstock dusted themselves down with the introduction of James Clifton and looked a serious threat but struggled to find a way through keeper Munoda Nyakunga.

Adam Jones did find a consolation on the 85th minute, firing in a volley from 18-yards, before playing brother Russell through to create a frantic finish.

But it wasn't the fairytale ending as Phil Morgan was shown a straight red card for a late challenge.

Co-manager McConnell said: "We were below-par, it was disappointing after such a good run of form and last week's dominant performance.

"Yes, ok, the 3G surface played into their hands but that's not an excuse, we started slowly and basic errors cost us. We had the chances to win that game despite playing poorly, it's summed up when their keeper is named man of the match. He had a great game yes, but following the standards we have set, I am more critical of our finishing." We will pick ourselves up and respond."