SION TUDOR JONES described Corwen’s 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Llanrhaeadr as a “sickener”.

A below-par first-half display left Corwen with a mountain to climb at Bala’s Maes Tegid as Llanrhaeadr struck through Joe Vaughan and Khyam Whyton.

Corwen reduced the deficit through Joe Williams, but Llanrhaeadr held firm to move level on 32 points with third placed Colwyn Bay, who drew 0-0 with Llangefni on Friday.

“We didn’t come out of the blocks and before we knew it they had a 2-0 lead,” said Corwen boss Jones. “We had a good chat at half-time about the silly mistakes we made that were punished.

“It was a good performance in the second-half and we were very unlucky not to get something, but two errors cost us.

“If we can take the second-half performance into next week then we’ve got a good chance of getting a positive result.

“We can’t take anything away from Llanrhaeadr though, they are joint third for a reason and they play to their strengths.

“I also can’t fault my lads. Their attitude has been very good and we are certainly heading in the right direction.

“I’ve only been here for five games and we’ve played the top three teams in that time, so we know the next fixtures are very important.

“Looking at the fixtures, the next six games are against teams in and around us and we certainly need to pick up points, which we are capable of if we keep sticking together.”