Rylands 1 Barnton 3

RYLANDS boss Dave Parr has blamed injuries for his side’s first league defeat in five games, which came at home against Cheshire Football League Division One’s fifth-placed side Barnton.

He said: “We were second best for most of the game today which was disappointing.

“Although we were once again missing several players through injury, the squad are well capable of producing better performances than this.”

The writing was on the wall in the first half, when Andy Moor in the Rylands goal was kept busy by Colin Quirk and Malone as Barnton dominated the early stages.

They took the lead on 33 minutes through Quirk and within four minutes had doubled their advantage, Quirk again popping up to exchange passes with Webb and finish from close range.

Losing young defender Josh Green early in the game to injury did not help Ryalnds, but even with an improved performance after the break the hosts could only manage a consolation goal from Scott Tebb, which came after Quirk had completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot.

Rylands: Moor, Parr, Green (Dermody), R Sinker, Tebb, J Sinker, Priest, Hayes, Lowe, Bell (Rodger), Duffy (Prescott).