The Canaries went into the contest on a nine-game winless streak in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier but they made the most of the conditions and Weymouth’s lacklustre defending on the evening to race into a 3-0 lead before Warren Byerley responded with a consolation late on.

Player/assistant-manager Groves said: “It was disappointing. We conceded three sloppy goals in the first half, which is something we haven’t done of late, and we could have no complaints.

“We made a couple of half chances and had a shout for a penalty turned down but we were not good enough – it was as simple as that.

“When you come to places like this you need to be resilient and dig in but I think we thought we could get it down and try and play, and that is just something we have got to learn from as a team.

“Not many of us came away from the game with a lot of credit but all we can do is dust ourselves down and ensure we make amends this Saturday at home to Bashley.”

Terras’ boss Brendon King made one change to his starting XI with Lewis Tasker replacing Sam Malsom who dropped to the bench after carrying a knock.

The only other adjustment in the squad saw Ryan McKechnie named as a substitute in the absence of Richard Marshallsay.

Having won their last three in all competitions the visitors entered the game full of confidence but that was soon dented just eight minutes in when Hitchin took an early lead.

After winning possession following a foul throw-in from the Terras, the hosts broke away with Callum Donnelly rounding keeper Tom Manley before sending the ball back across the box.

The Terras’ defence scrambled to clear but their desperate attempts ended in an unfortunate ricochet straight to Inih Effiong who smashed a shot home from five yards.

The Boreham Wood loanee was wreaking havoc and moments later forced Manley into a full-length save as the Canaries continued to dominate.

Another goal looked on the cards and it arrived on 29 minutes when Donnelly broke through again and this time finished it on his own at the second attempt after Manley had made a smart save.

With wind and rain driving into their faces, the Terras looked leggy and in desperate need of a lift and it almost arrived in the form of a big penalty shout for handball on 35 minutes but the man in the middle waved it away.

However, Town carried on asking questions at the other end and just four minutes before the break Donnelly made it 3-0, following a fine run and cross from Ieuan Lewis.

After the interval, it was Weymouth’s turn to have the blustery conditions in their favour and they immediately began to exert more pressure with Sam Poole heading just over the crossbar.

Effiong then tested Manley again before Lewis received a second yellow card for dissent, handing the Terras a one-man advantage for the remaining eight minutes of the game.

Weymouth immediately pushed for a late lifeline but they did not get the breakthrough until the 90th minute when Byerley grabbed one back with a header.

That was clearly far too late to have an impact as Hitchin comfortably held on to move one point above the Terras into 15th place, albeit having played two games more.