A run of two successive losses was halted in impressive style as Willenhall provided Eastwood Town with more problems for the troubled Nottinghamshire side.
Both teams made numerous changes to the sides that met up in the FA Cup earlier. Willenhall due to injuries, Eastwood due to personnel changes and it was one of the players that had taken no part in the Red’s earlier cup success that unlocked the home sides defence.
On 20 minutes Gary Hay produced some magic with his close control to leave two defenders in knots and as he skipped along the edge of the Eastwood penalty area the striker fired a low drive that easily beat Smith in the hosts goal.
Eastwood suffered a further blow when Lee Soar was stretchered off with a suspected broken nose right after that strike, Whitehead replacing the unfortunate midfielder.
The visitors were producing some fine football and they came close when a sweeping move involving Mark Swann and Martin Myers should have been rewarded, but a last gasp interception prevented the Red’s skipper from providing Nathan Jones with a telling ball into the area.
But from the resulting flag kick, Willenhall added their second. Swann delivered a beautifully flighted ball into the box and Mark Creighton timed his run perfectly to loop in a header in the 35th minute.
The best the home side could muster before the break was a Whitehead corner that flashed through a crowded area that just required a touch that was not forthcoming from the Eastwood strikers.
Willenhall continued to run the show, particularly in midfield and Eastwood were reduced to relying on set pieces in an attempt to gain a foothold in the game. However, the Red’s had a good chance to increase their lead when Smith was penalised for straying outside his area, as the keeper kicked the ball from his hands outside the box, but the resulting free kick was blocked.
A late goal in the fourth minute of injury time as Fisher fired in from the edge of the area, proved just to be a scant consolation for the Coronation Park side.