RHYL FC continued their pre-season preparations with a 2-0 home loss against 1874 Northwich.

The Lilywhites’ went into their latest friendly fixture missing a host of influential squad members, with Rory Crowther, Ben Burrows, Cai Owen, Asa Hamilton and Sam Molyneux all missing the clash for various reasons.

The visitors got off on the front foot and were presented with the perfect opportunity to open the scoring on 13 minutes when they were awarded a penalty following a foul on Taylor Kennerley, and Scott McGowan remained composed to put away the spot kick.

McGowan was looking lively during the opening exchanges and he almost doubled the away side’s advantage soon after when another effort rattled the crossbar, but they did not have to make much longer as Callum Gardner closed down Lilies’ stopper Jonathan Hill-Dunt, leaving him with the simplest of chances to add to their tally with 19 on the clock.

Eddie Maurice-Jones’ side were finding things difficult in the final third against a well-drilled Northwich side, with only Aaron Hassall and Tommy Creamer creating anything of note during the first period.

After the break saw Raphael Glauser spurned the best chance of the game for the home side when his goal-bound effort was blocked by a visiting defender, with a Rhyl trialist pulled off a series of impressive stops in goal during various spells of dominance from the visitors.

The return of influential forward James Murphy on 70 minutes was undoubtedly a huge boost to everyone associated with the club, but this did not result in the home side getting themselves back into the friendly late on, with Creamer missing a good opportunity for a consolation in the closing stages.

Rhyl welcome Everton U23s to the Educate Group Stadium on Saturday for the prestigious annual contest, which is their final tune-up before the FAW Tier 2 North League season gets underway.