The young Yachtsmen also lost 5-1 at home to the South Norfolk side earlier in the season.
After holding league leaders Acle to a goalless draw last Saturday and on an unbeaten run of four games this was hardly the result expected. However there were 4 changes from the previous week including ‘keeper Ollie Sutton who was replaced by 16 year old Frank Guyton making his senior debut.
The Wroxham side started brightly and Matt Doyle had a good chance but sliced his shot over. For the first 10 minutes there was no sign of what was to come. Against the run of play Harleston took the lead winning a corner which was gifted to them and from the resulting cross centre back Sam Watts had a free header which he accepted to open the scoring.
If that was to be a warning shot to the young visiting side they ignored it as Watts was allowed another free header but this time it sailed over. However Harleston were now slipping into gear and went close several times. It was no surprise when they scored scored again on 20 minutes as some sloppy defending allowed Richard Brett to steal in and shoot into the bottom corner past a helpless Guyton.
Wroxham came back for a spell and the Harleston ‘keeper had to make a couple of smart saves from close range. Then Danny Rogers was brought down on the edge of the penalty area and decided to take the kick himself but skied his kick over the bar. Wroxham also had appeals for a clear hand ball turned down. Another free-kick this time taken by Mac Gee was also well off target which led to two more goals for the home side immediately before the half time break.
Harleston broke away and the ball was played to Brett who doubled his tally with an excellent near post finish.
Then the fourth goal saw a plethora of schoolboy errors. Cain Eagleton gave the ball away in mid-field which was punished as no one closed down Brendon Burke who took aim from 25 yards and somehow his shot deceived the Wroxham “cover” and trickled in the net.
HT Harleston 4 Wroxham Res 0
The visitors were shell-shocked as they hadn't played that badly but to make matters worse they conceded a 5th within three minutes of the restart as Chris Hall raced down towards the by-line before turning back to get in a venomous shot into the far corner.
This was really a heart-breaker for the Wroxham side but they soldiered on and the introduction of Rob Turner led to him setting up Matt Doyle whose shot was just wide; it was obvious it was one of those days when nothing would go right.
Harleston who had already hit the bar twice and had one effort disallowed rub salt in the wound with a 6th following good work by Nicky Howell who set up Hall for his second. Howell deservedly added his name to the score sheet for the 7th.
If there was a positive for the Yachtsmen it was the introduction of young Turner & Bradley Spooner who both looked comfortable on the ball and deserve a longer run out in the remaining games.
This defeat saw Wroxham slip back to third bottom and they need a couple of wins from a run of home games to steer clear of trouble.