Lancaster City 0 Colwyn Bay 1

LANCASTER fell to their third defeat in a row due to absences of three key players and a below par display of football throughout the match.

Scott Bairstow, Jay Flannery and Mark Dobie were all out leaving a huge gap in the regular side which Colwyn Bay took advantage of when they constantly ripped Lancaster apart.

And if it wasn't for Mark Thornley and Steve Hartley in defence, the blues would have let in several more.

City started off brightly and nearly scored in the 6th minute. Jimmy Graham's cross to Dave Lancaster was headed back to Graham who chipped the ball over the keeper but on to the bar.

But, from there on, City failed to handle Colwyn's pace and neat passing which led to their downfall.

In the 25th minute, Marc Limbert's cross was missed by Alex Jones which left Peter Donnelly on to score but Jones made an excellent recovery and blocked his shot on to the post.

A defensive blunder surrendered the stalemate as Marc Limbert caused havoc in the City defence once again when his cross to Lee Pemberton was missed by the City defence. Thornley came out but Pemberton stayed cool and passed the ball to Tommy Jones who couldn't miss an open net from two yards.

After the break, as tempers frayed, things just got worse for the hapless blues.

A bad tackle on Dean Martin in the 50th minute led to him being subbed with a knee injury. Then in the 75th minute, Ian Dring was booked for what the referee described as "persistent bad tackles" and then Steve Hartley was booked in the 88th minute for dissent.

After the match manager Gordon Rayner said: "The lads are in a bit of a hole at the moment and are a bit low on confidence but there were some players missing and I know they're capable of a lot more."

Lancaster face a long, long journey to Boston on Saturday and must pick up their form to improve their position.

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