Notts County were beaten 3-1 by Mansfield Town at the One Call Stadium.
Each goal came after a cagey first half ended goalless, Danny Rose striking twice before Richard Duffy put through his own net.
Carl Dickinson curled home a consolation goal with a stoppage-time free-kick but it wasn't enough to prevent Notts' brilliant run coming to an end.
Kevin Nolan made four changes to the side that beat Exeter 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Matt Tootle, Shaun Brisley, Jorge Grant and Jonathan Forte came in for the bench-bound Nicky Hunt, Elliott Hewitt, Liam Walker and Terry Hawkridge.
The first chance of the game went to the hosts on six minutes when a lofted free-kick into the area was nodded into the path of Rose three yards out. He couldn't deal with the bouncing ball, however, and it went wide.
Notts responded with a Jorge Grant effort which was deflected on to the roof of the net by a Stags defender.
It was proving to be a cagey start from both sides but Notts had an opportunity to break the tension when Grant won a free-kick on the edge of the area. He went low with his strike, seeing the ball toe-poked over the bar by a Mansfield man.
The Stags then had a dangerous set piece of their own, Alex MacDonald bending the ball towards the top corner only to see it tipped over by Adam Collin.
Mansfield had another opportunity moments later, Kane Hemmings latching on to a looping ball over the top before deciding to take his shot on the volley, slicing the ball high and wide from the edge of the area.
Rapturous applause rang around the One Call Stadium when the clock hit 25 minutes as both sets of fans paid tribute to Matt Salmon, the former Mansfield physio who passed away earlier this year.
And the Stags should have capped the tribute with the opening goal when Hemmings was picked out from the left before volleying over from close range.
Steve Evans was forced into an early change when the injured Alfie Potter was replaced by Omari Sterling-James with just over half an hour on the clock.
As half-time neared, Dickinson played a lovely ball down the left for Grant, who took an excellent first touch and got round his defender as he cut into the area. He played a square ball to Alessandra 12 yards out but, rushed into his shot by two nearby defenders, the wide man could only fire over from 12 yards.
There were no changes for either side at the break but, within two minutes of the restart, the Stags altered the scoreline in their favour.
Duffy was unable to get enough power on his header back to Collin and, with the keeper stranded, Rose lobbed the ball into the empty net.
Notts came agonisingly close to an equaliser on 53 minutes when, following an almighty scramble in the Stags' six-yard box, Forte saw his goalbound effort blocked by a well-placed home defender.
But the next goal was to come at the other end just before the hour. Sterling-James' cross from the right was headed towards the bottom corner by Hemmings. Collin made a brilliant save to keep the ball out but Rose was first on the scene to score from point-blank range.
It got worse for the Magpies shortly afterwards when, after the ball was fizzed low across the face of Notts' goal, Duffy could only turn it into his own net.
Three Magpies subs followed, with Shola Ameobi, Hewitt and Hawkridge replacing Forte, Duffy and Alessandra.
Krystian Pearce headed the ball over from a corner as the hosts looked to put the game beyond any remaining doubt.
MacDonald curled the ball wide of the far post shortly before four added minutes were indicated at the end of the match.
That proved to be sufficient time for Dickinson to beat Conrad Logan with a long-range free-kick, keeping Notts' slender hopes alive.
But, seconds after Brisley rattled the crossbar with a header, the referee called time on proceedings as the match ended 3-1 to the hosts.