RHYL manager Eddie Maurice-Jones bemoaned his side’s poor start as they were beaten 2-1 at Conwy Borough.

The Lilywhites’ lost further ground to coastal rivals Prestatyn Town after failing to recover from a difficult opening that saw them fall two-behind early on, and the JD Cymru North outfit will be hoping for better fortune this Saturday when they welcome FC Queens Park to the Educate Group Stadium in the JD Welsh Cup second round.

Maurice-Jones, said: “The standards in the first 45 minutes were not acceptable and not what we expect, and the players know that.

“Ability will only get you so far at this level and you have to earn the right to play which we didn’t and were punished.

“We did get a reaction after going down to ten men which was pleasing and showed a desire to win, and if we’d have taken our chances then it would have been a different story.

“Arek (Piskorski) took a nasty knock and I believe if we’d had him on the pitch in the second half we would have got something from the game as it was difficult for Sam (Molyneux) up top on his own.

“It was disappointing, and we didn’t earn the right to play for a football club like Rhyl so I can only apologise to the travelling fans. We will reflect as a group and try and move forward next week.”

The visitors came within inches of breaking the deadlock on five minutes when a Ben Nash header hit the post, and they fell behind soon after when Corrig McGonigle sent Craig Whelan through on goal to fire past Keighan Jones and break the deadlock.

James Murphy’s attempt for the Lilies’ on 13 minutes flashed wide as they responded well to the setback, but the hosts were undone again midway through the half when McGonigle delivered a pinpoint free kick into the net to double their advantage with 22 gone.

The visitors suffered a double blow towards the end of the period when Piskorski was forced off with a head injury and Steve Thomas was shown a red card leaving them with a numerical disadvantage for the remainder of the contest.

McGonigle almost sealed victory for the home side on 57 minutes when his header sailed wide, and Nash had an effort ruled out for offside at the other end as the Lilies’ piled on the pressure.

They finally got themselves back into the game on 81 minutes when former Borough standout Tommy Creamer came back to haunt his old club, but despite their best efforts in the closing stages they were unable to salvage anything from the clash.