Market Drayton number 9 Martyn Davies running for the ball.

Ten-man Market Drayton Town’s disappointing UniBond League Division One South form continued as they suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Loughborough Dynamo.

After an even first half the game turned on the 61st minute dismissal of Town centre-half Paul McMullen, who was sent off for bringing down Carl Adams in the box.

Neil Morgan converted the resultant spot kick and Reece Lester sealed the points for the visitors with 10 minutes left on Saturday.

Town’s best moments actually came when they were a man short with Martyn Davies seeing his right foot effort headed off the line by Alton Pennells at Greenfields.

The loss was Town’s fifth in their last six games and manager Simon Line was left to rue McMullen’s dismissal and his shot-shy strikers.

“It was a stalemate of a game really and I don’t think either side had a foothold in it,” he said.

“The penalty and the sending off changed the game. Once you go down to 10 men against sides which play football it makes life very difficult.

“I felt we never gave up and I thought the effort was there, but again we were not looking as though we were going to score which is an issue for us at the moment.

“When you are down on your confidence, which at the moment we clearly are, it’s difficult enough trying to win 1-0 but when you’ve got to come back from a 1-0 deficit it’s even more difficult and we just found it too much.”

Town were missing several regulars through injury and unavailability with Line forced to name himself among the substitutes.

Loughborough had the best of the few first half chances and should have gone in front just past the half hour.

Ashley Burd’s back-pass was intercepted by Alex Johnson who teed up Adams but his right foot shot was superbly kept out by Town keeper Steve Taylor.

The home stopper came to Town’s rescue again in first half injury time when he clawed away Karl Noble’s header.

Moments after the re-start ex-Telford stopper Taylor was once more called into action as he brilliantly denied Adams after McMullen’s slip left the striker through on goal.

At the other end Tom Rogers went close with a dipping volley and Davies hit the bar before the penalty, and the red card, left Town too big a mountain to climb.

By Alex James