EARLSWOOD Town suffered a heavy 5-0 defeat away at high-flying Birmingham United and have now won just one of their last 11 league matches.
The Earls trailed by two goals at the break before Birmingham scored three more after the break at the Valley Stadium.
And the result means Earlswood sit 11th in the Midland Football League Division Two table.
The Earls handed debuts to Jamie Eden, from the start, and Kasim Hussain and Finn Carter from the bench.
Birmingham broke the deadlock on 14 minutes when Ricardo Richards’ low effort from the edge of the penalty area found the net.
Earlswood then spurned a golden chance to draw level after Harry Street drew a foul in the box and Dan Elwell saw his penalty saved by Birmingham goalkeeper Tristan Ramsay diving to his left.
And United punished the Earls for that missed penalty on the stroke of half time as Leonard Obuadum’s cool effort doubled the home side’s lead.
Former Earl Connor Doyle, who scored seven goals in 12 appearances for the Earls earlier this season, added Birmingham’s third goal five minutes into the second half.
And Birmingham scored twice in injury time as Gerson Ladila finished from close range and Randy Osei blasted home from 20-yards out.
Earlswood are next in action at home to title challengers Redditch Borough on Saturday, March 23 with kick-off at 3pm at The Pavilions.
