Daisy Hill had an afternoon to forget when they fell to a 5-1 defeat at Ashton Athletic on Saturday in the North West Counties League First Division North.

After a bright start, Daisy found themselves two goals down by the midway point in the first half.

And once Ashton added a third early in the second, it was always going to be a long way back for Daisy, who conceded two further goals in the closing minutes.

The only crumb of comfort from a bad day came in stoppage time, when Ryan Talbot bagged his fifth goal of the season to reduce the margin of defeat.

Daisy manager Lee Hill was in no mood for offering excuses after the game.

“I said to the lads when you turn up and don’t give 100 per cent, you don’t win football matches, and I thought we were miles off it right from the start,” said Hill.

“We were confident coming into the game, but it was chalk and cheese compared to the last game against Droylsden when we were bang at it, and it was a really disappointing afternoon.

“You have got to be clinical when you get chances and we had some really good ones early on, a couple of one-on-ones, and you have to say that could have had an effect, and maybe we could have gone in at half time at two-all.

“We are getting into a trend of being able to pick up points against teams at the top of the table, but when we play teams around us, we seem to drop our levels a bit and that needs addressing.

“But really the lads have to look at themselves for that performance, and they know that.

“We have a chance to train twice this week, regroup and put on two good sessions and see where we are.

“It’s the first time since the season started we’ve been able to put two sessions on in a week, and we need to get on the training ground, and see what we can do to right the wrongs.”

The afternoon could have worked out very differently had Daisy converted any of several good chances during a frantic opening 25 minutes.

The first chance of the game arrived on seven minutes when Talbot met a cross on the volley, but his effort from 10 yards just missed the target.

Another chance fell to Kris Prifti two minutes later, but his shot was safely gathered by Ashton keeper Joe Beswick.

At the other end, Daisy keeper Morgan Newns made the first of several good saves during the afternoon to deny Ashton’s Nathan Beca, but he was beaten in the 12th minute when a well-struck shot from Joshua High from the edge of the box found the far corner.

The goal sparked a remarkable passage of play, with first of all goalscorer High finding the back of the net again almost immediately, but on this occasion he was flagged offside.

Two minutes later a long-range effort from Ashton’s Jack Smith hit the bar, and within a minute Smith found the back of the net, but once more the flag of the assistant ruled the strike offside.

However, Daisy hit back and on 19 minutes Prifti collected a neat through ball in behind the home defence, and fired in a shot that Beswick diverted for a corner with an outstretched leg.

Three minutes later Prifti was denied yet again by Beswick, with the keeper racing from his line to smother the ball at the striker’s feet as he shaped to shoot.

But Daisy were left ruing the missed opportunities when, in the next attack, Ashton’s Deklan Hill met a cross into the box beautifully with a volley into the far corner.

Daisy finished the half on the front foot, with first Charlie Roberts having a shot blocked by a covering defender before an overhead kick from Talbot was safely gathered by Beswick.

After the break, Daisy created the first clear chance of the second half, when Prifti was unlucky to see his shot across the face of goal just miss the far post.

But eight minutes into the second half, Nathan Beca added a third goal for Ashton, when he beat the offside trap to advance into the box and slide the ball past Newns.

From then on, the second half was largely a dogged midfield battle, until Ashton added a fourth goal with eight minutes remaining, when Zach Conway reacted quickly to collect a through ball that split the Daisy defence and slot past Newns.

A minute from time, Ben Unsworth was penalised for a tackle in the box, and Ashton captain Joshua Nicolson stroked home the resulting penalty kick for his side’s fifth of the afternoon.

But in the third minute of stoppage time Daisy managed to get on the scoresheet, when good work by substitute Ryan Lockett down the right set up a chance for Talbot to side-foot home a consolation goal.

Daisy are back in action in the North West Counties League First Division North on Saturday, when they host Route One Rovers at the Plumb Factory Stadium (3pm).