Ben Rhydding 1 Oxton 1

BEN Rhydding may be off the bottom of the Premier League table but they will rue this as a missed opportunity.

With just three games to go they face an uphill struggle to beat the drop. They are one point adrift of third-bottom Timperley but have played one match more.

Rhydding's first-half display was extremely disappointing. They were getting beaten to the ball, were slack with their marking and made poor decisions.

The home side took the field with a lack of conviction and allowed Oxton to make a game of it when they should have taken the upper hand.

Both teams were looking to break on the counter attack before the visitors took the lead. Full back Connor Dowley mis-timed a sliding interception and Oxton scored a miraculous goal.

Their centre forward was actually leaping into the air when getting the luckiest of touches on a flying ball into the circle. It was the most remarkable deflection and left Rhydding utterly bewildered.

The game continued to be a messy and rather sluggish affair. Had it not been for Will Rutter in goal, Rhydding could have been several goals down.

He pulled off repeated last-ditch saves to keep them in the game. Rhydding had a much better second half and had the lion’s share of possession.

Elliot Dowley was too much for the Oxton’s defence to handle and inevitable corners and yellow cards ensued. Young starlet, Matthew Ramshaw was on hand to sling a one-handed touch to a corner strike to convert and level the scores.