Great Yarmouth Town suffered a disappointing home defeat against managerless opposition on Saturday.

Haverhill boss Marc Abbot failed to arrive at the Wellesley after his car broke down on the way to Norfolk, leaving left back Jemel Fox to take over.

The home side were looking for points to break a dismal run of form, having won only once in nine league games.

The Bloaters were the first to threaten when an Aaron Sanders corner found its way to Rob Andersen but his shot flew over the bar from 15 yards.

The best chance of the first half saw Sean Perfect outpace the defence and as keeper Turner sprinted from his line Perfect lifted the ball over him and was unceremoniously clattered. The ball drifted agonisingly wide and Perfect was left in a heap on the ground , with referee Paul Quick deciding that a yellow card was ample punishment.

A couple of minutes later Perfect was substituted as a result of his injury with Chris Holmes coming on.

The only goal of the first half came when Burr found himself in the penalty area and as Jack Whatmough came to challenge, the winger tumbled in the box and Quick awarded a hotly-disputed penalty. Palmer stepped up and scored to give Rovers the lead.

Skipper Andersen then did well to carve out an opening for Holmes who twisted and turned before curling his shot narrowly wide.

The second half began with a few feisty challenges, no doubt a result from the aftermath of a melee in the tunnel as the teams went in for half-time.

The home side looked more determined at the start of the half and they had a big appeal for a penalty turned down as Sanders’ shot hit the arm of a defender.

But with six minutes left on the clock a challenge by Kyle Howell on Jebb was deemed another penalty and this time Luke Haines fired the ball into the net to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.

The Bloaters finally scored in the last minute with another soft penalty for hand ball, which was dispatched by Mitch Forbes, but it was too little, too late.

Reade Caterers MoM: Ray Urry.

Great Yarmouth Town: Whatmough, Howell, Ford, Costandachi, Urry, J Forbes, Andersen, Lewis, M Forbes, Sanders, Perfect. Subs (all used): Holmes, Palmer, Hagan. Attendance: 71.