BARNOLDSWICK Town were hoping that a 'nothing to lose' trip to top of the table Kirkham & Wesham might be the chance to end their poor start to the season, but instead there was only further grief for the West Close men in the shape of a 6-0 defeat.

Town are now bottom of the table without a win in four outings and a minus-11 average in the goal-scoring stakes - not the kind of start new coach Lee Bowyer was hoping for.

"We weren't good enough by a long way," said Bowyer. "Kirkham were more than useful, but we didn't do ourselves any favours.

"We're struggling in key areas, but we are a side with a lot of potential and promise. The problem is that we do not have the tools to cope with sides of this calibre and we have to learn to battle harder in a tough physical environment. It was a case of men and boys on Saturday.

"We did well enough for the first 25 minutes, but we were 3-0 down at half-time and the game was lost. In that situation, we don't show the pride and effort I expect and that is something we have to discover.

"I'm still confident we can turn the situation round and we're determined to do so. We're a better side than this, but we have to show more maturity."