THE Rams crashed back down to earth with a disappointing defeat against Maine Road.

But the narrow victory for the visitors came as a great relief as they almost contrived to throw away a three-goal lead.

The Rams were left to rue missed chances when Adam Kozlowski gifted Maine Road the lead with a header into his own net.

After missing a number of chances to pull level, the second half began disastrously for the Riverside outfit when Mark Mitchell scored a typical breakaway goal.

Minutes later the victory was all but sealed when Mitchell again tormented the Rams defence before unleashing an unstoppable drive into the top corner to stun the home crowd.

Of the Rams players, only Michael Saunders was able to hold his head high after scoring two late consolation goals. After 73 minutes the fightback started when Saunders fired a low volley into the corner of the net.

Saunders scored another stunning goal by turning on the edge of the box before volleying superbly into the roof of the net, but that came deep into injury time and there was no time left for a dramatic equaliser.