MALVERN Town started brightly in this Travel Factory Midland Football Alliance fixture on Tuesday at Langland Stadium.

MALVERN TOWN 1, CRADLEY TOWN 2

Town however finished the game with just eight players and suffered their first home defeat of the season.

In the 10th minute Duncan Preedy made good ground down the right hand side and crossed the ball into the area but brother Phil couldn't quite reach it.

In the 12th minute a Cradley corner was superbly volleyed home from the edge of the box by Nathan Bennett for 0-1

Malvern came back strongly and following a good Phil Preedy run down the left, his cross was met by Nathan Jukes whose shot was deflected for a corner.

In the 25th minute another good run by Duncan Preedy saw his cross again just elude both Phil and Scott Morris in the six yard box. Five minutes later, following a mix-up in the Cradley defence, the loose ball fell to Duncan Preedy but neither he nor nearby Phil could force it home.

Malvern eventually equalised in the 35th minute when Nathan Jukes crossed the ball into the area for Scott Morris to head home.

Two minutes later Malvern goalkeeper Adam Moss was called upon and he finger-tipped a shot over the crossbar.

Four minutes into the second half Phil Preedy appeared to be brought down in the box but the referee waved play on. A minute later a good through ball found Scott Morris but his shot went wide of the goal.

In the 55th minute a goal kick was awarded to Cradley with the Malvern players appealing for a corner.

In the ensuing argument Craig Heaney was shown the red card.

Five minutes later Cradley hit the bar with a long range effort, Malvern regained possession and Phil Preedy's shot went just wide.

In the 66th minute Cradley were awarded a penalty and Gavin Mole duly put the ball away to regain Cradley's lead.

Still Malvern continued to attack and both Andy Chalmers and Nick Clayton saw their shots go just wide of the post. In the 78th minute Adam Moss brought off another fine save to prevent Cradley increasing their lead.

Unfortunately tempers began to boil and in the dying minutes both Craig Williams and Chris Jones were shown red cards for dissent reducing Malvern to just eight players.

Both Phil Preedy and Scott Morris picked up knocks during the game making them doubtful for the game against Biddulph tomorrow (Saturday) leaving Neil Hunt with a selection problem as a total of seven players are now ruled out.