Great Yarmouth Town have had busy spell at The Wellesley, drawing 1-1 with lowly Hadleigh on Saturday before losing 3-2 to Saffron Walden’s 10 men on Tuesday evening.

The performances disappointed joint boss Adam Mason, who said: “Unfortunately the character we have shown in the last couple of games has been depressing at best. For our last four fixtures we will need to dig deep and show some desire.”

The Bloaters had the ball in the net early on against Hadleigh when Holmes poked home after Punter had spilled Josh Ford’s long-range effort, but the offside flag went up.

Despite some good football by the home side it was the visitors who opened the scoring. Milligan made a superb point-blank save from Crisp and the same striker followed up to score.

Buoyed by the goal the visitors created another chance as Milligan again foiled the lively visitors.

After a poor spell the Bloaters almost equalised when Davis hit a shot on the turn that flew past the upright while Sanders bundled the ball into the net from a corner but referee Paul Burnham ruled it out a foul on the goalkeeper.

In the second half the home side were bombarding the visitors’ penalty area, with Andersen instigating much of the good play.

Midway through the half the breakthrough came when Davis and Palmer combined on the right and Palmer’s back post cross was headed in by skipper Andersen from a tight angle.

The Bloaters continued to press but lacked quality where it mattered and Danny Smy could have won it for Hadleigh when he headed over in the last minute.

Bloaters: Milligan, Urry, Ford, Bartram, Ager, Lewis, Palmer, Sanders, Holmes Davis, Andersen. Subs: Hagan, Eagleton, Forbes. Attendance: 85.

The Bloaters made two changes for the game against Saffron Walden with Cain Eagleton replacing Aaron Sanders and Anis Niali replacing Milligan in goal.

The first good chance for the Bloaters came when skipper Andersen fired in a far post cross that Palmer headed back and Davis’ volley was deflected wide.

On the half hour mark the visitors had a man sent off when Ashley Skeggs was shown a red card for elbowing Holmes.

But after five minutes of the second half Walden’s 10 men were in front thanks to a spectacular strike from over 30 yards by striker Trendall.

Two minutes later they were 2-0 up when a corner found Strong all alone at the back post and he headed home.

The Bloaters looked shell-shocked for a while before Ben Lewis rose highest from a Josh Ford free-kick to pull a goal back.

The visitors were utilising the clock to protect their lead but they needn’t have bothered as they scored a third in the 78th minute when a long ball found Trendalland he rounded Niali to score his second. The Bloaters kept their hopes alive late on when Davis drove into the box and his fierce drive was half saved by O’Sullivan but Holmes was on hand to bundle home.

The home side then had a great chance to claim a point their performance barely deserved when a penalty for handball was harshly awarded but Holmes’ weak effort was easily saved.

Bloaters: Niali, Urry, Ford, Bartram, Ager, Andersen, Palmer, Lewis, Holmes, Davis, Eagleton. Subs: Sanders, Lopes, Hagan, Howell. Attendance: 68.