Halstead Town beat runaway leaders Tiptree United for the second time in the space of a month at Rosemary Lane.

Halstead ran out 2-1 winners to inflict only a fourth defeat of the season on the Jam-makers.

Jody Brown's Halstead side have moved up to ninth in division one with the victory.

And the former Tiptree boss was pleased to follow up last month's East Anglian Cup penalty shootout triumph with another victory.

He said: "We've beaten them twice in a month now and they haven't scored in open play against us in over three and a half hours.

"They dominated possession but only in areas that we were willing to allow them the ball.

"Tiptree will win the league - but we're happy that we're going in the right direction."

Brown was unhappy with his side's first-half performance and made changes at the break including switching Danny Rowell to a different role, a move that ultimately paid dividends.

"I asked my players at half-time why we were so flat and I changed it tactically," he said.

"We got the response we wanted and the real credit goes to the back four.

"Three of them are under-18 and Phil Battell has made a real difference since coming in from Sudbury."

Tiptree's Luke Webster fired wide early on and the visitors showed plenty of composure in possession and severely tested Halstead's defence, which has now conceded just one goal in open play over the last seven games.

Halstead took the lead towards the end of the half when Tom Austin's low pass allowed Steve Daly to fire home from close range.

But the Jam-makers responded well and were awarded a penalty when the referee awarded an infringement in the area, with Tom English scoring from the spot.

Goalkeeper Paul Rutherford pulled off a string of saves to thwart Tiptree, before Halstead began to get their game together.

They regained their lead when Daly turned the ball home, after keeper Darren Smith fumbled a corner.

Tiptree sent on three substitutes and pressed until the end but Halstead were in no mood to relinquish their lead.