Promotion-chasing Long Eaton United came through a topsy-turvy first half to cruise to victory at Butlin Road against Rugby Town.
The visitors had established a three-goal lead within the opening half an hour, but a strike on debut from Lucas Stanley and Trey Charles's penalty reduced this to one ahead of the interval, before United kicked on again after the restart to record an ultimately comfortable win.
There was also a first appearance in a Town shirt for transfer-deadline loan signing from Mansfield Finn Flanagan in midfield, with ex-Bedworth youth teamer Stanley named on the bench. Micah Edwards, Bodi Thistleton and Will Ronald were all back into the starting eleven.
Long Eaton went ahead after just seven minutes when Evan Garnett prodded home from close range after a pinball-type scramble in the six-yard box following a corner.
The home side responded well to this early set-back though, with Flanagan forcing a decent save from Lewis King after he burst through the middle of the away defence and then Jahvan Davidson-Miller also tested the keeper from a similar situation.
Tyreace Brown headed one against the bar as Rugby continued to threaten an equaliser, with Will Ronald firing over the bar from distance and Kartell Dawkins almost creating himself an opportunity on the right-hand side of the penalty area.
The visitors' second followed shortly after though, and again there was an element of good fortune to it when Gianluca Bucci's smashed ball across the face of the goal struck the head of Owen Betts to fly into the net.
Andrew Wright then dragged one just wide of the post as Long Eaton looked to punish the hosts further, and this they did on thirty minutes when Ryan Campbell-Gordon fed James Shaw on the left to cut back into the box and then beat Paul Hathaway at his near post with a low strike.
Town had been forced into an early change just before Betts's goal, with Davidson-Miller's injured shoulder seeing him replaced by the eighteen-year-old Stanley, and the teenager scored with one of his first involvements in the game with a neat flick over King after Charles had burst down the left and sent in a cross to the near post.
Stanley was involved again in the build-up to Town's penalty, with an interchange in the middle of the pitch with Charles - who then played the ball onto to Harrison Nee to run into the box before going down from a challenge from King.
Charles displayed his usual coolness from the spot to stroke the ball into the bottom left hand corner, and Valley were unexpectedly back in the game again.
Nee's dinked cross was just beyond Stanley as Town looked to level things up, although Long Eaton also pushed for a goal before half-time with Dexter Walters's on-target shot deflected wide off Josh Thomas and a header from Wright to Liam Loughlan's cross going just over.
The in-form play-off challengers upped their game after the break though, and Wright's strike early in the new period was blocked by Thomas, and then Brown did well to dispossess James Taylor on the edge of the box after Hathaway had failed to claim a long-ball.
An effort from Loughlan was also blocked after Taylor had been unable to get his shot off from a dangerous position, with Taylor then bouncing Shaw's cross wide of the frame.
Thomas cleared a threatening Betts' cross away for a corner as the pressure intensified, and from the resulting set-piece delivery by Loughlan, Hathaway could only get a hand to Wright's strike on the half-turn and Long Eaton grabbed their fourth of the afternoon.
Stanley did lob one well off-target after Ronald's volleyed cross had fallen to him, and Charles poked a good chance wide after Stanley had slipped him in, but Long Eaton were clearly in no mood to let Rugby back into things again and they ended the game in the ascendance.
Tristan Thompson-Matthews missed out with his downward header, before the influential Betts made it five with the best goal of the game when volleying home from twenty-five yards over the head of the wrong-footed Hathaway.
Betts nearly completed his treble when he broke free on the right but Hathaway was out well to deny him with his legs, with Omotolani Omotola heading Loughlan's free-kick over the bar from a good position late on.
