THE Villagers first away trip of the new season saw them fall to a frustrating defeat away to Ashville on Tuesday evening.

Liam Page’s men paid the price for not making the most of a lively start that saw them take the lead after only six minutes thanks to an effort from outside the area from Joe Levey.

Despite continued pressure Barnton were unable get the second goal their dominance warranted.

The lively Josh Maldon levelled up the game with the home side’s first foray into the Barnton half, and they found themselves in front when Tom Johnstone was on hand to fire into an empty net after Arran Lyons failed to deal with an effort from distance.

A disastrous spell for the Villagers was compounded when a defensive mix up between Jack Duffy and Lyons allowed Johnstone to walk the ball in to make it 3-1.

Somehow the Villagers didn’t reduce the deficit on the stroke of half time with an initial effort from Harvey Sample being blocked, before Tom Edwards struck the bar with a header and then a follow up effort from Levey was blocked.

The second half saw Sample get his first goal for Barnton as he nodded home from a corner, as the Villagers chased the game the home side quickly restored their two-goal advantage with Maldon’s corner going in directly off Lyons.

The game was put beyond the Villagers five minutes later with Sam Hughes finishing off a well worked goal leaving Lyons with no chance.

There was late drama with Barnton being awarded two penalties but both Liam Kennington efforts were saved down low by Michael Dixon in the Ashville net.

Next up for the Villagers is a trip to Cheadle Heath Nomads on Saturday afternoon with kick off at 3pm.

Team: Lyons, Ball, Hunt, Jones, Duffy (Avies), Lewis Edwards (Garbutt), Kennington, Sample, Tom Edwards, Levey Unused Subs: Holmes, Hutchins, Cross Attendance: 192