AFC Totton’s short, two-game winning streak came to an abrupt end as a clinical Chelmsford City punished a flat first-half performance to claim a 3-1 National League South victory at the Snows Stadium.

The Stags enjoyed an encouraging week – they defeated Hemel Hempstead Town 3-1 before beating former manager Jimmy Ball and his new Torquay United side 1-0 – but found themselves three goals behind at half-time after Denzelle Olopade and Jack Barham struck twice for the visitors.

“It was a flat first half, flat as you can imagine,” admitted manager Scott Rendell. “And you give a team like Chelmsford a leg up or a soft way into the game, which we did, and that’s the end result.”

Chelmsford started brightly, and they didn’t have to wait long for the breakthrough, taking the lead in the 17th minute when Olopade’s strike from the edge of the box hit the inside of the post and found its way past Ryan Gosney.

Totton struggled to find their rhythm and were punished again nine minutes later. Ralph Vigrass sent a ball forward, and Barham chased it down, taking possession from Gosney before rolling into the unguarded net.

The Stags had a chance to respond when Harry Mills delivered a dangerous cross which Tony Lee met with a header. Chelmsford goalkeeper Alfie Marriott pushed the effort back into the crowded penalty area, where a series of Totton attempts were blocked. There were loud appeals for handball as the ball ricocheted around the box, but the referee awarded a corner.

Barham then made it 3-0 shortly before the break, taking on Gosney one-on-one and calmly slotting home to complete his brace.

Rendell made three changes at half-time and switched formation in an attempt to spark a response. Charlie Osbourne went close shortly after the restart, his effort flashing narrowly wide, while the Stags showed considerably more energy and intent.

Mills continued to look for openings, sending a cross towards the back post which Lee tried to attack. The forward went down under pressure, but the referee waved away the penalty appeals before Ralph Vigrass fired over.

Rendell felt the first-half handball decision could have had a major impact, suggesting a penalty would also have meant a red card for the Chelmsford player involved, with the score at 2-0.

He stressed, however, that the decisions were not an excuse for the defeat. “I’m not making excuses for that. I’m not using that and saying that’s why we lost the game,” he said. “But they’re big moments.”

The manager was happier with the response after the break, praising the players for continuing to work hard and showing greater willingness to get into dangerous areas.

Ollie Godziemski finally gave the home supporters something to celebrate in stoppage time, pulling one back for the Stags, but it was too late to prevent Chelmsford ending their winning run.

Rendell admitted that the opening 45 minutes had ultimately cost his side the points, but insisted there were positives to take from the second-half display.

“The boys kept going. They kept going. The work rate was there, the enthusiasm was always there,” he said.

He added that the team needed to rediscover the intensity which had helped them win their previous two matches, warning that they would face another difficult afternoon if they repeated the first-half performance at Horsham.

“We’re going to have to make sure this week that we smooth that out, we get that sorted and get back to being us, being positive, being front-footed,” Rendell said.

The Stags travel to the Fusion Aviation Community Stadium on Saturday to face Horsham.

AFC Totton: R. Gosney, C. Betts, T. Cordner, L. Hallett, D. Rose, R. Fleet, H. Mills, C. Osbourne, O. Godziemski, T. Lee, J. Sims. Subs: L. Bennett, M. Chandler, R. Livesey-Austin, H. Rodda, R. Vigrass, C. Ward.