Marine 4

Kendal Town 1

A DISAPPOINTING performance saw Kendal Town crash to their second consecutive BetFair League defeat on Saturday.

Unlike a number of other fixtures, the game at Marine beat the weather after the pitch passed an early morning inspection, but the Mintcakes were unable to take advantage of their rivals' inactivity as they went down 4-1 to the promotion chasing Merseyside outfit.

And unlike their efforts against Pontefract the previous weekend when they ran the Yorkshiremen very close, Kendal struggled especially in the first half against opponents who are now just two points off league leaders Workington.

The Mintcakes were 2-0 down at half time after goals by Niall Cummins and Brett Mbalanda and while Kendal improved significantly during the second half, Marine went 3-0 up when Cummins scored from the penalty spot after 71 minutes.

Christian Sloan gave Kendal some hope when he scored seven minutes from time, but Craig Lindfield's late strike sealed the win and rounded off a solid display by the hosts.

Town were pushed back from the opening seconds and were nearly 1-0 down in the first minute when Cummins headed the ball against the crossbar.

And the reprieve proved to be short lived as the same player made up for the miss two minutes later when he scored from close range following a clinical ball across the penalty area.

Marine went further head soon after following an intense period of pressure as Brett Mbalanda score from close range.

Morgan Bacon in the Kendal goal made a number of good saves against his former club, denying Mbalanda, Lindfield, Antony Miley and Steven Irwin as the home side continued to press.

Kendal's best moment fell to Aaron Fleming who blazed over, while a corner late into the first half was cleared by Josh Soloman Davies.

The hosts should have made it 3-0 two minutes into the second half but Lindfield's shot from just outside the penalty area was saved well by Bacon.

But to the Mintcakes' credit, they improved from that point and began to play with confidence, and they should have pulled a goal back only for Fleming to be denied by a fingertip save from home keeper Shamal George.

Marine had further opportunities of their own but were constantly denied by Bacon who continued to frustrate the home crowd with good saves from Mbalanda and Cummins.

However, they were not to be denied and the hosts sealed the win on 71 minutes with a Cummins spot kick which bounced off the bar and just went over the line.

Kendal belatedly rallied and finally got on the scoresheet on 83 minutes when Sloan cut inside the penalty area and fired into the net.

Town were inspired by that strike and continued to press, and they were inches away from getting right back into the game only for Kieran Maguire's goalbound effort to be clawed to safety by George.

But their faint revival hopes were finally killed off by Lindfield who knocked home the rebound after Ethan Devine's effort had rebounded back off the bar.