The Ridge suffered another defeat away at Charnock Richard.

The home side broke into a two goal lead before Town pulled one back before half time through a Ryan McLean penalty.

However the Villagers restored their two goal lead with 25 minutes left to play.

Before the game, Lee Ashcroft named his side which included just the one change from the weekend, with McLean coming back into the XI.

Ben Fletcher and Daniel Wilkinson made their return to the bench.

The home side sent the tempo immediately.

Town failed to deal with a cross from the left sided Marcus Haydock, leaving Ben Carrier to tap home at the far post.

Charnock gave Town no time to breathe in possession, and managed to win the game's first corner.

Gareth Peet's delivery was into Shay Stansfield whose header was just inches wide.

Town looked to fight back, but Jack Anderton's 20 yard effort trickled wide.

Toby Coar then made two crucial defensive interventions to prevent the hosts grabbing another.

The Ridge then created two half decent chances in quick succession.

A tame effort from Will Procter rolled into the arms of Charnock goalkeeper Ryan Hamer.

Leighton Hewitt then saw a fierce effort deflect just wide from distance.

Haydock cut inside and came within inches of scoring with a powerful right footed effort.

With Jordan Darr then racing into a one-on-one with Charlie Brier, Coar slid in brilliantly from behind to stop the attacker in his tracks.

Whilst this did seem to boost Town somewhat, Charnock would double their lead on 43 minutes.

James Nolan latched onto a long ball from Hamer, and threaded his way past Brier and Josh Muir before passing into the empty net.

Town got a lifeline on the brink of half time, with a rash challenge going in on Procter inside the penalty area.

McLean stepped up and rifled it into the bottom right corner to get Longridge on the board.

Ashcroft and Russell, unhappy with the opening 45 made wholesale changes.

Trafford, Fletcher and Oscar Wright replaced Yuvi Dewan, Luke Smith and Procter.

Town started the second half like a house on fire, but had nothing to show for it.

As a result, Charnock got a third goal on 66 minutes.

Ethan Eccleston made his way into the Longridge box before smashing it low and hard into the bottom left corner.

Brier made a great save with 15 minutes left to play, keeping out Darr's close range effort.

Former Town midfielder Jordan Dainty almost put the icing on the cake for the hosts in stoppage time, with a first time left footed effort rising just over the bar from distance.

Brier then made another great save to deny Nickeas from point blank range in late stoppage time.

With the full time whistle then blown in almost the 100th minute, Charnock were back to winning ways, and Town were back to the drawing board.

However with three successive home games now coming the Ridge's way, with Prestwich Heys on Saturday, Chadderton on Tuesday and then AFC Liverpool the Saturday after, all at Inglewhite Road.

Thank you for your excellent support tonight, we go again.

The Goals

Charnock Richard: Carrier (4'), Nolan (43'), Eccleston (66')

Longridge: McLean (45')

The Teams

Charnock Richard: Hamer, Bibby, Stansfield, Peet, Haydock, Young, Carrier (Power 72'), Nolan, Eccleston (Dainty 84'), Nickeas (Sinclair 90+3'), Darr

Longridge: Brier, Duwan (Trafford 46'), Coar, Muir, McLean (Arrowsmith 71'), Gough, Smith (Fletcher 46'), Hewitt, Anderton, Procter (Wright 46'), Atkinson