Hereford United's 11-game unbeaten run came to an abrupt end as they were emphatically out powered by Morecambe.
Earlier in the season the Bulls had won 3-0 at Morecambe, but this time the Shrimps repeated that scoreline with interest as Hereford's hopes of cutting the gap at the top of the table were shattered.
Neither goalkeeper saw much action in the early stages, although Wayne Brown had to be alert to grab a fourth minute angled drive from Michael Twiss.
Hereford had their first clear effort on 23 minutes when a diving save from Joe Lewis kept out Steve Guinan from a Clint Easton cross.
From that point, however, matters took a downward turn for the home side.
On 27 minutes, Guinan's attempted clearance from Carl Baker's corner deflected back into the Hereford area and fell conveniently for Jim Bentley to lash the ball home.
Eight minutes before the interval Hereford's defence were missing again from Gary Thompson's free-kick and Matt Blinkhorn headed his first goal of the season past Brown.
And it could easily have been worse three minutes later when Bulls skipper Karl Broadhurst was caught in possession by Blinkhorn and only a fine save by Brown prevented the young striker from doubling his tally.
Hereford tried in vain to gain a foothold at the start of the second period, but it was the visitors who extended their lead on 63 minutes.
Once again it was a set-piece situation which proved Hereford's downfall, with centre-back Dave Artell powering in a header from Twiss' corner.
And it could have been four shortly afterwards when Twiss rifled a shot inches wide.
In the closing stages, only a couple of good saves by Brown prevented Artell and then Gary Thompson from deepening Hereford's misery still further.