Truro City 1 Weston-super-Mare 2
City produced one of their most disappointing performances of the season at a chilly Treyew Road on Tuesday evening to slump to their 19th Blue Square Bet South defeat of a difficult campaign and are now a massive 21 points away from safety.
The home side were behind after just three minutes when all too easily Naby Diallo was allowed to get on the end of a Kane Ingram free-kick from the left to slot the ball home.
And it was Ingram who made it 2-0 at the start of the second half with a cracking shot past a helpless Luke Payne.
It was not until substitute Barry Hayles pulled a goal back five minutes from time that City upped their game, with Paul Kendall denied by the woodwork for a second time.
But it all came too late to save them in a match watched by as season's low crowd of 226.
City had been looking to build on Saturday's encouraging 1-1 draw at Bath City, but suffered a pre-match blow when Marcus Martin was ruled out because of illness, though Martin Watts was fit to start after being injured at Bath. Martin's place was taken by Calron Hall.
There was also a first start for Matt Wright up front, with Hayles dropping to the bench.
City though were strangely flat from the start and were soon punished as Diallo was allowed to convert Ingram's low free-kick with a close range finish.
It was a deficit City rarely looked like erasing in the first half against the play-off chasing visitors who they beat 2-0 back in August.
And it got worse seven minutes into the second half when Ingram was given far too much time and space to lash the ball into the roof of the net.
Kendall was unlucky for City when his header came back off the bar, but it was an isolated threat from the home side, as Weston held out fairly comfortably until Hayles, who had replaced Wright, finished well with a low drive from Cody Cooke's cross.
The goal seemed to wake City up and Kendall almost forced an unlikely equaliser with a header which hit the post.
But there was to be no grandstand finale as relegation to the Southern League becomes ever more certain.
City: Payne; Gerring, Kendall, Hodges, Hall, Cooke, Broad (capt), Watts (Williams 60), Afful, Watkins, Wright (Hayles 55). Subs (not used) Hider.
Yellow card: Watkins.
Weston-super-Mare: Irish, Monks, Slocombe, Kington, Villis, Laird, Trowbridge, Kirk (capt), McGlagggon (Hemmings 81), Ingram (Stearn 67), Diallo. Subs (not used): Price, Grubb.
Half time 0-1.
Goals: Diallo (3) 0-1, Ingram (53) 0-2, Hayles (85) 1-2.
Referee: Neil Radford (Worcester).
Crowd: 226.
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