WARRINGTON Rylands' winning run was brought to an abrupt end at the hands of struggling Kidsgrove Athletic on Saturday.
Dave McNabb's side were denied a fifth straight win by Anthony Malbon's second-half goal, which secured a 1-0 win for the hosts.
They now drop to third in the NPL West Division table and trail leaders Workington by seven points.
Watch the post-match thoughts of Rylands assistant manager Fraser Ablett below
Here’s the thoughts of Fraser Ablett after today’s defeat. #WeAreRylands pic.twitter.com/46fSySbcpm
— Warrington Rylands FC (@RylandsFC) January 22, 2022
Read Garry Clarke's match report below
A LETHARGIC Warrington Rylands slumped to defeat for the first time in 2022, losing by a single goal at Kidsgrove Athletic.
Playing their third away game in a week, Rylands were out-enthused by a hard-working, well organised team determined to put to an end a sequence of eight games without a win and start to pull away from the relegation zone.
The home side enjoyed the better of the first half territory without threatening too much as both sides were restricted to shooting from distance, with Warren Gerrard and Callum Dolan both firing into the Kidsgrove keeper’s arms while Anthony Malbon fired over Rylands’ bar.
After a dull first half, the second was much livelier.
A couple of minutes after the break, Rick Smith got on the end of a free kick played into the Kidsgrove area. He nodded the ball down to David Webb, whose volley drew a great save from Kidsgrove keeper Ryan Brown.
The home side started to dominate – from a 54th-minute corner, Callum Lovatt had a header cleared off the line and six minutes later from another corner, Declan O’Riorden saw his header saved by Graeme McCall.
Substitute Tom Bentham went close to scoring for Rylands in the 62nd minute. Bringing down a Dolan cross, he turned his marker but dragged his shot on the turn just wide of the target.
The game’s decisive moment came in 70th minute. Kidsgrove swung in another corner from their right and Malbon guided his header into the net at the far post.
In the closing stages, Kidsgrove worked hard to maintain control of the game while Rylands’ performance continued to be littered with too many misplaced passes.
As the game entered stoppage time, Rylands launched one last desperate attempt to salvage a point.
Bentham got his head to a long ball pumped into the Kidsgrove area and knocked the ball down to fellow substitute Matty Hughes, who screwed his shot across the face of goal from a tight angle.
Pictures by John Hopkins and Mark Percy
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