1874 Northwich produced a poor account of themselves as they lost their unbeaten league record.

Greens, who were missing four of their season’s regulars, were defeated 2-0 at home by mid-table Studley in the Midland League Premier Division.

Striker Kyle Moseley put the visitors ahead when he broke the offside trap after 39 minutes and Lewis Gill completed the scoring when he tapped home unmarked from a corner in the 81st minute.

The second goal came 60 seconds after Mike Shorthouse had saved a penalty for 1874, after Richard Taiwo had brought down his man inside the box.

Studley also came close when they hit the post in the second half.

Through injuries, suspension and unavailability, 1874 went into the game without the services of experienced quartet Matt Woolley, Mark Jones, Chris McCann and Mark Reed as well as striker Joel Jones.

Former Hanley Town forward David Ndene, one of three new signings on the day, made his full debut up front for ’74.

As a result of the defeat, 1874 have slipped to fourth in the table but have two, three and four games in hand on the sides above them.

1874 manager Chris Herbert said: “We knew what Studley were about, they’re a good side and they’ve deserved to win as simple as that.

“We weren’t at the races and you can’t turn up for games of football and play like that.

“We had nothing about us today, didn’t look like scoring, didn’t deserve to score, lucky we didn’t lose by more with Mike saving a penalty.

“Nothing went right for us and it just shows when you’ve not got the big players here with the experience it’s cost us today. The lads just didn’t perform and the lads who had their chance didn’t take the chance.”

“The lads coming in should be able to do the job but it just didn’t happen for us. When they come into the side they should be grasping it but they haven’t done that today.”

Forward Bartosz Kowalski and midfielder John Lyon were the other two signings made by 1874 yesterday.

Both were named on the bench and Kowalski figured for the last 20 minutes.

Winger Kowlaski, 18, has joined from Everton. He has electric pace and a very direct playing style.

Midfielder Lyon has also come on board from Everton’s academy.

Meanwhile, Winsford United extended their unbeaten run to eight matches with a 2-0 home win against Allscott Heath in North West Counties Football League Division One South.

Ollie Pope’s eighth goal of the season came after only 47 seconds, while Kal Boyle netted the second after 25 minutes.

Joint manager Dean Jones said he felt Blues got drawn into ‘a bit of a scrap’ after their great start but was pleased to see his players ‘dig in’ to get the job done.

It was Blues’ third clean sheet on the bounce as they hold down third place in the table.

In the same division, Barnton were beaten 1-0 at Market Drayton Town.