KENDAL Town's winless run of form extended to six games as they lost 3-2 at Glossop North End on Saturday.

Kendal went in 1-0 down at half time after Michael Norton opened the scoring inside three minutes for the hosts, however the contest was seemingly over when skipper Stu McDonald was shown a red card before the hosts raced into a 3-0 lead with a Max Leonard penalty and a second of the afternoon for Norton.

But Kendal showed plenty of spirit and almost pulled off an unlikely result when Sam Bailey and Tom Kilifin scored to set up a nervous last ten minutes, but Glossop held out for the three points.

Kendal went into the game having to contend with the shock departure of top scorer Ollie Wood, who signed for league rivals Colne on Friday evening.

Glossop made a bright start and were quickly ahead when Norton headed home from ten yards. Norton reacted quickest a curling effort by Leonard as the Kendal defence were caught napping

The hosts were comfortable in an otherwise uneventful first half, with Will Kitchen forced into action to deny both Ben Richardson and Ashley Mulholland whose attempted drive at goal was tipped over by the former Morecambe shot stopper.

Kendal's task got significantly harder on the hour mark when McDonald was shown a red card for bringing down Norton inside the area. With Kendal down to 10 men Leonard compound their misery as he dispatched the penalty beyond the reach of Kitchen.

The hosts had seemingly put the game out of reach as Norton made it 3-0 as he tapped home the rebound after Kitchen's fingertip save from Richardson's free kick fell to the feet of the talismanic forward.

However Kendal responded well and found a way back into the game when Bailey fired home a penalty. And while Glossop had further opportunities to pull clear, Kilifin made it a nervy last ten minutes when the former Lancaster City player capitalised on a mix up at the back to score from close range.

With time running out Kendal loaded the penalty box from a free kick, however the Glossop defence cleared the delivery as the hosts held on while Kendal were disappointed but encouraged by the late rally.

Kendal host Lancaster on Boxing Day in a crucial game for the Mintcakes.