Daisy Hill’s hopes of banking back-to-back home wins in the North West Counties League First Division North were dashed by a fine second-half comeback from Nelson in Monday night’s clash at the Plumb Factory Stadium.

Daisy had stormed into a two-goal lead by half time, thanks to a double from Kaiden Barlow.

But three goals in the space of 10 second half minutes earned Nelson the points from a 3-2 win.

Afterwards, Daisy manager Lee Hill felt his side had deserved at least a point from what had been an exciting and entertaining 90 minutes.

“We could definitely have gone on and got three points there, and just a couple of moments where we weren’t aggressive enough in the box has cost us crucial goals,” said Hill.

“We came with a game plan and I thought we carried it out perfectly in the first half, not so well in the second half.

“At half time the message was not to stop doing what we were doing, as we knew they would throw the kitchen sink at us in the first 10-15 minutes of the second half. We just had to weather that storm and just to keep playing football.

“We needed to be sure we didn’t get drawn into a long-ball game, because that is what they wanted, and to try to kill the game by playing football, but we didn’t do that.

“Nelson played a lot of long balls, it’s not pretty but it worked well for them, and I’d expect them to be up challenging at the top of the league as it’s tough to deal with.

“We probably deserved more, at the least a point, but while the lads competed well in the first half, in the second half they didn’t really do what we asked them to do, and that cost us.

“We rallied a bit in the last 15 minutes and put it on them a bit more, but that is what we wanted to happen early in the second half.

“Overall, it’s very disappointing. Nelson are by far the favourites to win the league, with the project they have taken on there, but I felt we more than matched them and were the better footballing side.”

The opening 45 minutes certainly made good viewing for everyone in the Daisy camp, and they hit the ground running right from the start.

The first chance arrived inside the opening two minutes, when Declan Baldwin glanced a header just wide from Jake O’Brien’s free-kick.

But Daisy opened the scoring on 17 minutes when Barlow collected a through ball and beat the advancing Nelson keeper, Chris Thompson, with a deft finish.

Four minutes later, Barlow’s strike partner, Krisel Prifti, came close to adding a second when he rifled in a shot from the edge of the box that just missed the far post.

However, Prifti and wide man Ryan Lockett combined to set up Barlow for his second goal of the evening, and although his first effort was blocked by the keeper, the striker made no mistake second time around when he volleyed low into the net.

From the restart, at the other end, Daisy’s debutant keeper Bradley Sullivan bravely smothered the ball at the feet of Nelson’s Sefton Gonzales after a goalmouth scramble, and a minute later the hosts almost added a third goal in bizarre circumstances when an O’Brien free-kick into the box evaded attackers and defenders alike, bounced over Nelson keeper Thompson and hit the bar.

However, Nelson emerged after the break in determined mood, and created their first chance within four minutes when Gonzales headed wide at the far post.

The visitors’ left-back, Darren Holden, was next to try his luck with a 30-yarder that stung the palms of Sullivan, who gathered the ball safely at the second attempt.

But just after the hour, the game started to turn in Nelson’s favour, and they pulled a goal back when Gonzales was left in space at a corner to power a header into the top corner.

Within two minutes, the scores were level when Daisy were unable to clear a ball into the box, and substitute Charlie Frost slotted home from close range, and the visitors almost added a third moments later when Jude Entwistle’s goalbound effort was deflected just wide.

However, with 19 minutes remaining, Nelson took the lead for the first time, when a cross into the box found the head of Gonzales, who nodded the ball down to Frost who squeezed a shot past Sullivan just inside the near post.

Daisy kept going, and four minutes from time Ben Unsworth almost grabbed a spectacular equaliser when he hit a screaming volley from 30 yards that was pushed round the post by Nelson keeper Thompson.

But Nelson held on to secure the win and maintain their position at the top of the table.

Daisy face another double header of games in the league this weekend, with a trip to Thornton Cleveleys on Saturday being followed by a home game against Steeton on Monday night.