Nuneaton Borough were given a bitter pill to swallow at Manor Park last night after losing their unbeaten home record to local rivals Atherstone.

And to make matters worse the defeat dumped Boro out of the Dr Martens Cup as Ron Bradbury's Adders progressed into the second round.

And it could all have been so different after Boro took the lead within ten minutes, Steve Prindiville scoring straight from a corner, and then continued to press forward to extend their lead.

At that stage Atherstone were offering no response and Dicky Gardner, Joey O' Conner both missed clear-cut opportunities to put the game beyond the visitors reach.

Lively Atherstone striker Kim Green seemed the only threat to Boro and he should have equalised but he spurned his one on one chance with 'keeper Barry Williams.

It was actually Green's removal on the hour-mark which prompted Atherstone into over-drive with his replacement Leon Kelly causing the hosts all kinds of difficulties.

Lee Middledon eventually levelled the tie with 25 minutes remaining converting neatly from the penalty spot after he was himself brought down by the Boro keeper.

From then on the balance of the tie had shifted and ten minutes later Adders led after Kelly capitalised on some shoddy defending, racing through and sliding the ball past Williams.