St Neots Town slumped to their heaviest Southern League away defeat last night (Wednesday).

Matt Clements’ men crashed to a 6-1 loss at Barwell in a re-arranged Premier Division Central clash to fall back into the relegation zone.

The scoreline was an accurate reflection of a rain-soaked contest in which Saints were masters of their own downfall when conceding five times during the second half.

They fell behind after just three minutes when Barwell debutant Henry Eze was allowed to head in the opener from a Liam Canavan free-kick, but then responded relatively well.

Striker Nabil Shariff saw a strong penalty appeal ignored while Dylan Williams and Taylor Parr went close to levelling.

But it was a different story after the break as Saints were put to the sword by a rampant Barwell side who also put them out of the FA Trophy last month.

Only three minutes of the second half had passed when Massiah McDonald doubled the hosts’ advantage and he struck again on the hour.

Those McDonald goals sandwiched a change of system for Saints, but their switch to a three-man defence backfired as they found themselves under constant pressure.

It was no surprise when Jamie Towers tucked away a fourth Barwell goal midway through the second period and Parr then headed a Jahvan Davidson-Miller cross into his own net with a quarter-of-an-hour to go.

Saints’ misery was completed three minutes later when Barwell substitute Rob Morgan’s free-kick was fumbled into the net by goalkeeper Finlay Iron, but they did at least manage a late consolation as Gary Wharton tapped in after good work from Jordan Norville-Williams.

Saints now face successive games against play-off chasing opponents.

They host Stratford Town this Saturday before going to AFC Rushden & Diamonds on Boxing Day.