Penrith went down 1-0 to West Auckland to stay in a relegation battle at the wrong end of Northern League Division One.
An experienced West Auckland side played the game at their own pace, slowing it down at every opportunity – particularly after scoring what proved to be the only goal of the game.
Cieran Jackson scored the only goal of the game on 62 minutes and were happy to see it through without any risks, taking the tempo out of the game.
Manager Darren Edmondson said: “We created a couple of opportunities after that but rather snatched at them.
“We huffed and puffed but didn’t really get control in a game there wasn’t much between us.
“Yes we were short of key players but that’s not an excuses it’s a reason to get over and we just have to roll our sleeves up and get on with it.
“We had a couple of injuries in the game but we might have one or two back for Tuesday night when we entertain Redcar Athletic.
“I’ve said for a while that March was going to be a big month for us and it is proving to be. We have to treat our remaining home games like Cup finals and give them everything to get the points we need.”
Penrith are third bottom but have games in hand of all their rivals – starting with Tuesday’s clash at Frenchfield against a Redcar side who are ninth in the table and had been on a good winning run until beaten 3-0 at home on Saturday by title challengers Ashington.
