ROCK bottom Congleton Town slipped further back at the foot of the league on Saturday after a poor show at Belper.

The Bears were beaten 3-1 to leave them four points adrift of second from bottom Gretna, who earned a crucial victory.

Congleton's plight was made worse by victories for most of the other sides struggling near the bottom of the table.

The Bears were still in with a shout for most of the game after going a goal behind in the first half.

However they conceded a second 17 minutes from the end, and a killer third six minutes from the final whistle.

''It was a disappointing result for us, and the performance was as bad as we have played for a while,'' said club treasurer Ken Mead.

''We defended poorly, didn't mark very well, and were pretty lethargic.

''However Belper deserved the win, looked sharper than us and tried to play some decent football on a bumpy pitch.

''The defeat was made worse by the fact that most of the teams just above us won on Saturday.''

The game started fairly evenly, and Belper took the lead in the 25th minute courtesy of some poor defending by Congleton.

Belper attacked down the left, and the Bears failed to pick up the player with the ball.

He raced to the edge of the area before sliding it through for Smith to turn and rifle the ball past Congleton keeper Micky Allison from eight yards out.

The Bears were beaten 3-1 to leave them four points adrift of second from bottom Gretna, who earned a crucial victory.

Congleton's plight was made worse by victories for most of the other sides struggling near the bottom of the table.

The Bears were still in with a shout for most of the game after going a goal behind in the first half.

However they conceded a second 17 minutes from the end, and a killer third six minutes from the final whistle.

''It was a disappointing result for us, and the performance was as bad as we have played for a while,'' said club treasurer Ken Mead.

''We defended poorly, didn't mark very well, and were pretty lethargic.

''However Belper deserved the win, looked sharper than us and tried to play some decent football on a bumpy pitch.

''The defeat was made worse by the fact that most of the teams just above us won on Saturday.''

The game started fairly evenly, and Belper took the lead in the 25th minute courtesy of some poor defending by Congleton.

Belper attacked down the left, and the Bears failed to pick up the player with the ball.

He raced to the edge of the area before sliding it through for Smith to turn and rifle the ball past Congleton keeper Micky Allison from eight yards out.

Congleton came close to an equaliser seven minutes before half-time when the Belper keeper turned a Rod Thornley volley past the post.

Belper had several efforts early in the second half which flew over the bar, and Bears' boss Glyn Chamberlain threw on three substitutes after 65 minutes in ai bid to get back on level terms.

Subs Darren Washington, Rob Drummond and Andy Park were full of running, but Belper took the wind out of Congleton's sails seven minutes later by grabbing a vital second goal.

The Bears gave away a needless free kick, and Belper captain Weston came flying in to score with an excellent header from 10 yards out.

Congleton pulled one back with 10 minutes left when Thornley had his ankles tapped in the box, and Graham Dodd scored from the penalty spot.

Belper sealed victory four minutes later when they broke down the left, and Smith raced in on the blind side of the Congleton defence to ram home a ball from Morgan.