Ashby Ivanhoe 0 Sleaford Town 2

Ashby Ivanhoe's challenging run continued as Sleaford took all three points at Farley Way with a goal either side of half time.

The defeat was Ivanhoe's fifth in their last six games, as their relentless string of matches in recent weeks appears to finally be catching up to them.

Andy Gray's side found the net early in the first half, however, the linesman's flag denied Ben Bradshaw his second goal for the club, and this was as good as it got for the hosts.

Sleaford took the lead on 37 minutes through Finlay Armond who stroked the ball past Sam Taylor following a well-timed pass from former Deeping man Tom Waumsley.

The goal was a rare moment of quality in a half in which neither goalkeeper was called into much action.

The second half continued in similar fashion, however, Ivanhoe did carry more of an attacking threat. Despite this, goalkeeper Liam Flitton was rarely troubled, as Ashby's forwards struggled to find the target with several attempts.

The linesman's flag came to Ivanhoe's rescue twice after the hour mark, as Waulmsley and Kyle Simpson were both denied goals which would have doubled the lead.

However, these close calls turned out not to be a factor for Sleaford who put the game out of sight three minutes from time. Akeel Francis, who had missed a huge chance moments earlier with his head, burst through and slotted past Taylor.

Ashby had a huge penalty claim turned down in added time, however this was of little consequence as Sleaford saw out the remaining minutes comfortably.

Gray's team will need to bounce back quickly to get a good result on Tuesday night as they visit in form Loughborough Students who won at Farley Way just three weeks ago.