GRESFORD ATHLETIC boss Steve Halliwell felt his depleted side’s 2-0 home defeat to Guilsfield was unduly harsh.

Goals in either half from Sammy Litchfield and Adam Davies were enough to down the hosts, who have taken seven points from their opening eight games.

“I’m not going to make excuses or blame the referee for the result, because the scoreline doesn’t lie,” said Halliwell.

“But some big decisions went against us and as a manager it’s frustrating when things you can’t control have an impact on the game.

“When Alex Buxton is hauled down by the neck and the referee decides not to show the Guilsfield player a red card you know it’s not your day.

“I couldn’t fault the lads’ efforts and can’t praise them enough for the commitment they showed to trying to turn it around.”

With several key players missing for the clash, including Jack Challinor, Jack Jones, Jordan McCarter and Paul Willow, Halliwell was forced to field a young side.

Owen Roberts had the chance to put them ahead on 24 minutes but fired over the crossbar from Jake Eyre’s driven cross into the box.

And they were behind a minute later when Litchfield fired beyond Athletic keeper Ben Jones.

Despite pushing hard for a leveller in the second half, Gresford were undone in injury-time when Davies fired home with a well-placed free kick.

Halliwell added: “It’s a tough one to take but we’ll dust ourselves down and try to make sure we get back on track against Corwen in the next game.”