RHYL director of football Eddie Maurice-Jones bemoaned his side’s lack of conviction in their shock 1-0 loss at Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochant.

The Lilywhites began their Huws Gray Alliance promotion push with a lacklustre display against the newly promoted side, and they will look to bounce back at the earliest opportunity at Ruthin Town on Saturday (2.30pm).

Maurice-Jones, said: “It is really hard to take. Obviously, this was their cup final and we can’t afford to not step up to the mark and let the occasion get to us.

“I want them to remember how this feeling is and use it as fuel for next week and the week after. We started the game slowly, we were flat footed and weren’t brave enough on the ball. I won’t punish the lads for making mistakes or trying things if they are trying to play our when, but when they go off track then they are going to get found out and pulled up for it.

"There were a few positives and at least we were getting in the right areas, but we need to communicate better in the final third but credit to Llanrhaeadr they defended well and had some chances to extend their advantage.

“Their plan worked well and this is something we are going to have to get used to, so we are going to have a sit down and chat about what went wrong, and we won’t turn up like this again I can tell you that.

“We won’t dwell on this, I believe in this squad and brought them in with plenty of confidence, so we are going to turn things around.”

The only goal of the game arrived early on when Marc Griffiths took advantage of some hesitant defending to give the home side the lead after 12 minutes.

Griffiths almost added to his tally after the interval when he forced Lilies’ stopper Rory Crowther into a stunning stop on 48 minutes, with Mike Pritchard and Matty Worrall spurning the best chances of the second period at the other end to ensure the visitors had nothing to show for their efforts.