BELPER Town's run of poor results continued with a third consecutive Division One South defeat to slip further adrift of the leaders.

The Nailers made the worst of starts as, barely 15 seconds from the kick-off, Mickey Harcourt tried to head the ball back to keeper Adam Ogden but Tom Ward intercepted and lobbed the ball in for Rushall's opener.

Belper slipped further behind in the eighth minute as Mark Lowe shot in and when skipper James Colliver mistimed his tackle on Justin Nisbett, Anthony Maguire made it 3-0 from the spot after 26 minutes.

Jon Froggatt's penalty for Belper in the 79th minute came too late to make a difference to the outcome and Anthony Wilson was sent off for a second yellow card to complete their misery.

BELPER TOWN: Ogden, Colliver, Adams (Oliver, 45), Naylor, Harcourt, Haigh, Telling, Stevenson, Froggatt, Ryan (Wilson, 45), Riley (Fedorenko, 45). Other subs: Hudson, Carney.

RUSHALL OLYMPIC: Breedon, Maguire, Robinson, Preston, Smith, Amos, Fitzpatrick (McNaught, 84), Lowe, Ward (Haywood, 79), Nisbett, Beckett. Other subs: Edmond, Starkey, Kitching.

REFEREE: B Martin (Sheffield).

ATTENDANCE: 194.