AFTER seeing his side stumble to defeat Chorley manager Matt Jansen branded his side’s performance in the last 20 minutes as ‘not acceptable’.

The Magpies overturned an early deficit to lead after the break but conspired to lose 4-2 to Curzon Ashton.

Jansen said: “The team most likely to win the match was Chorley and the fact that Curzon’s goalkeeper was named man-of-the-match tells the story.

“But the gaps between our back four and midfield were too big. Curzon played well, but we have got to defend better than we did today.”

The Magpies started strongly and Max Cartwright wasted a clear chance by volleying over from 10 yards, before Curzon struck against the run of play on 17 minutes, when the ever-dangerous Matty Warburton raced onto a ball over the top and rounded keeper Sam Ashton to score. The Magpies deservedly equalised 10 minutes later when a great ball from Mark Ross teed up Andy Bond for a well-taken goal.

It was no surprise when Chorley went ahead on 58 minutes. Clever footwork by Darren Stephenson enabled him to set up Jack Lynch for a smart finish.

But the lead lasted only two minutes. A quick break by the home side beat the offside-trap and Niall Cummins scored comfortably. It all went wrong for the Magpies on 77 minutes as the referee played the advantage during a Curzon raid and Ryan Brooke squeezed an angled shot under Ashton.

Then on 81 minutes, the Chorley defence was undone by good approach play and Brooke bagged his second and Curzon’s fourth to seal the win. Chances came, but the Magpies had too often in this game left the back door ajar, if not wide open.