Shaw Lane AFC suffered their first league defeat in 147 days on Tuesday and have been drawn back into a scrap for the only automatic promotion place in Evo-Stik Division One South.

After an impressive 3-1 home win over second-placed Spalding United on Saturday, the Ducks found themselves 3-0 down inside 43 minutes at third-placed Witton Albion in midweek. Craig Elliott's men came back to 3-2 but could not equalise.

It was their second league loss of the season and their first since a 1-0 defeat at Stocksbridge on September 27, after which they went on a 15-match unbeaten run including 14 victories. Shaw Lane are three points clear of Spalding, who have played five matches more, and six ahead of third-placed Witton who have a game in hand.

"I think it will be us and Witton battling for the title now," said Elliott.

"They are a good side but I wasn't fazed by their performance on Tuesday. I think both sides will drop points before the end of the season and it is whoever is the most consistent.  When you are on a long unbeaten run, you are always waiting for it to end. "Leagues aren't won in February and it is all about how we bounce back.

"I am still confident we will do it and it is in our hands.  We are at home to Witton with a couple of weeks left in the season and that could be a title decider."

Elliott is concerned the Shaw Lane pitch, which has seen several postponements recently, could hold them back. He said: "That's my biggest worry. We are already playing twice a week for the rest of the season and, if we get any more games called off, we will have to play three games in some weeks. We need to keep playing games and make sure Witton don't get in front of us. You could tell at Witton that they had been playing more than us recently."