STONES chief Tony Lowther was left to bemoan a 'bad day at the office'.
His men fell to a first home defeat of the season against another side in the thick of the Premier Division title race.
It was all going swimmingly for Stones when veteran st
riker Steve Kuhne marked his debut with an early goal.
The 41 year-old snapped up from St Neots needed only 12 minutes to break the deadlock, but Stones were 4-1 down by the time Andy Boome netted in the closing stages.
Lowther, who also handed Conference-winning midfielder Andy Lodge a first Stones start following a move from Holbeach, said: "I always Desborough would provide difficult opposition but we didn't show up.
"It was a complete bad day at the office. We didn't play any decent football and were ever so ragged.
"You can count the number of disappointing displays this season on one hand and I am sure we will bounce back quickly.
"We need to pick up six points from our games against Raunds tomorrow night and St Neots on Saturday."
Blackstones: Flavell, Sheehan, Blowers, Jones, Ainslie, Cotton, Smith (Kennedy), Lodge (Boome), Stebbing, Harrold (Nicholls), Khune.DEEPING 4
WOOTTON 2CHAMPIONS Deeping climbed back into the Premier Division top three – although this victory wasn't quite as comfortable as it might have been.
Rangers finally broke the Wootton resistance when Danny Matson netted on the half-hour before he won a penalty that allowed Michael Stevenson to double the lead five minutes into the second half.
However, Deeping allowed their lowly visitors back into the game and only a fine Danny Bircham save prevented them from levelling.
Strike duo Matson and Richard Thompson made sure Deeping regained the upper hand before Wootton helped themselves to a late consolation.
Deeping boss Tuncay Korkmaz said: "We could have been more clinical in front of goal and probably shouldn't have allowed Wootton to score twice.
"But it is another three points gained and it lifts us into the top three which is where we want to be."
Deeping: Bircham, Duncliffe, Porter, Stevenson, Cornell, Goode, Weston (Ellis), Ellison (Korkmaz), Thompson, Matson, Cobb. Unused: Woods.HOLBEACH 0
BOURNE 0BOURNE boss Glenn Notley hailed the positive response of his players in the wake of this dour derby stalemate.
Holbeach man Adam Jackson came closest to winning the Carters Park clash when shooting against the bar in the second period, but neither manager was complaining about picking up a point.
In fact Notley was chuffed to bits that his Bourne charges erased the memory of a mistake-ridden 4-1 defeat against Yaxley the previous weekend.
Notley said: "This will prove to be a decent point and it was the right result as well.
"As a manager you can never be unhappy about going away and matching a team who are sitting higher in the table and it was good to get back to doing the basics correctly after the nightmare spell during the Yaxley game."
Bourne keeper Aaron Bellairs celebrated a hat-trick of clean sheets – he missed the Yaxley defeat last weekend.
Holbeach player-boss Shaun Keeble said: "It was a poor old game – one of the worst we've been in this season."
Holbeach: Conroy, Coupland, Thompson, Elston, Barnes, Treacher (Pascu), Warfield, Joof (S. Keeble), Jackson, Orrey (Childs), Dunn.
Bourne: Bellairs, Walklin, Hipkiss, Gough, Ridout, Sparks, Barrick, Holland, Palmer (Spearink), Harrison, G. Staffieri. Unused: Currall, Jarman.YAXLEY 0
N'THAMPTON SPENCER 1YAXLEY paid the price for an off-day in front of goal as their four-match unbeaten streak came to an end.
Spencer left Leading Drove with the points, but only after surviving an incredible miss from Cuckoos man Anthony Thomas.
The Yaxley defender contrived to slice wide of an open goal 15 minutes from time.
Boss Gary Clipston said: "It was a good team performance in patches, we just weren't clinical enough in front of goal.
"But it was a cruel defeat as we did enough to deserve something from the game."
Yaxley: Feetham, Steward, Russell, Parrott, Thomas, Rimmell, Edge, Blewett, Paul, Hailstone Salerno. Unused: Fountain, Curtis, Piergianni.Division One
ON CHENECKS 1
NORTHERN STAR 1STAR are drawing themselves back out of promotion contention.
That was the frank assessment of manager Tommy Cooper after yet another Division One stalemate – their sixth in the past nine games.
Adam Scotcher fired his first goal for the club early in the second half to pull the city side level in Northampton.
Despite throwing everything at the hosts in a cavalier closing period, Star were unable to find a winner.
Cooper admitted: "Draws are no good to us at this stage of the season and second place is starting to become a bit distant.
"We have to turn the draws into wins and do it quickly. The fact we are struggling for goals is not helping us at the moment."
Star handed Alan Haine a debut while Ronnie Fortune made his first league appearance.
Northern Star: Lubniewski, J. Patten, E. Patten, Hill, Plummer, Anderson (Bradley), Haine (Mohammed), Morris, Fortune (Twigden), Gibbs, Scotcher.RUSHDEN & HIGHAM 0
HUNTINGDON 3HUNTINGDON could hardly have put their promotion bid back on track in a more stylish manner.
Town breezed to victory with one of their most polished displays of the season.
Nicky Young needed only two minutes to put them ahead and Chris Caswell doubled the advantage before the break.
Adam Taylor sealed the points seven minutes into the second half.
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