West Didsbury & Chorlton 3 Barnoldswick Town 2

lor Barnoldswick Town were made to pay for a slow start as they found themselves two goals down in the first nine minutes against the Premier Division new boys.

It leaves them looking for a boost in their Boxing Day home derby with Silsden when they must hope they can avoid the spate of unavailabilites which have dogged them this season.

Key players Mark Threlfall, Liam Blades and Kieran Lee all missed the trip to Manchester but new signing Robert Lint from Padiham was able to make his debut.

Once again Town shot themselves in the foot. Goalie Lyle Davy picked the ball up outside his penalty area to concede a free kick which Scott Mason slipped sideways for Steven Settle to fire it into the net.

Worse was to follow three minutes later. Davy parried a shot at the near post into the path of Thomas Walsh who made no mistake.

Town tried hard to get back into the match. Bill Williams. cross into the penalty area was headed on by Aaron Hollindrake to Sam Howell who screwed his shot wide of the post.

At the other end Mason shot over from a good position, and Walsh again missed a good chance on the half hour.

Town thought they had pulled a goal back after 33 minutes. Joel Melia, who was causing a lot of trouble for the Didsbury defence, crossed to the far post where Hollindrake netted.

The Town supporters were aggrieved when the referee’s assistant ruled it out for offside. They felt that Hollindrake had made up a lot of ground to meet the ball.

Town did pull themselves back into the game a minute later and it was no surprise when Melia was the scorer.

He wriggled past a defender on the edge of the penalty area before shooting past Benjamin Simpson in the Didsbury goal.

Right on half time the Town defence failed to clear a ball and were punished as Walsh netted his second.

Town nearly scored on the hour when Hollindrake saw his shot come back off the post before hitting the keeper on the legs and being cleared by a defender.

Town made their first substitution after 66 minutes with Paul Fildes replacing Connor Smith. His impact on the game was immediate.

Town won a free kick 30 yards out and Harry Thompson delivered a perfect pass to Fildes who took the ball on before crashing a great shot past Simpson to give Town a chance of rescuing the match.

A further substitution on 81 minutes saw Ben Lloyd replace Hollindrake.

Town tried hard but failed to break down the Didsbury defence as they slipped to another defeat from a match that they should have got something out of.