A tiring St Ives side shipped three goals in the final 15 minutes to suffer defeat to King’s Lynn Town on bank holiday Monday.

Having taken a surprise lead through Jimmy Hartley just shy of the hour mark, St Ives battled gamely to take something from the game but a relentless King’s Lynn side ultimately proved to have too much firepower as they hit back in the dying minutes to take all three points.

Defeat on Monday followed an equally disappointing trip to Slough Town on Saturday, where Ricky Marheineke’s men were beaten 3-0.

Saints have taken four points from their opening five league fixtures and find themselves in 18th place in the Southern League Premier Division table.

With King’s Lynn unbeaten and sitting in third place in the league going into Monday’s clash, St Ives set out to frustrate their opponents and looked to be in good shape early on, with Dubi Ogbonna operating as a lone striker in front of a five-man midfield.

King’s Lynn’s attacking class was well in evidence, however, and twice Saints were saved by the woodwork as both Ryan Jarvis and Craig Gillies saw efforts hit a post, while Craig Parker was wasteful with two good shooting opportunities.

A double-change at the break for St Ives saw Marheineke introduce James Hall and Jimmy Hartley in place of Dubi Ogbonna and Lewis Hilliard in a bid to boost the host’s attacking threat.

The switch appeared to do the trick as St Ives enjoyed much more of the ball and their endeavour was rewarded in the 58th minute as Hartley was given space enough to drive across the box and fire a shot high into the net.

Having moved into the lead, St Ives battled fiercely to retain it but some tiring legs started to give way to errors and the visitors restored parity in the 77th minute through Tim Siddons.

And the same man was on hand again in the 84th minute to collect a knock-down in the box and force the ball home to put Lynn in the lead.

Despite a game late bid to get back into the match, St Ives found themselves exposed at the back when committing men forward for a corner and the fixture was put beyond doubt as Harry Whayman slotted home from close range following a lightning break away.