MALVERN Town crashed to a disastrous West Midlands League Premier Division home defeat against Little Drayton Rangers at Langland Stadium on Saturday.

MALVERN TOWN 3, LITTLE DRAYTON RANGERS 4

Appalling defending during a bizarre opening 20 minutes saw Little Drayton's Martin Davies (two) and Luke Reynolds give their side a 3-0 lead, despite Malvern enjoying the lion's share of the possession.

Dean Roberts pulled a goal back for Malvern after 30 minutes and during a spell of intense Town pressure, Lee Hooper and Nathan Owen both missed from point blank range.

However, Reynolds restored the visitor's three goal advantage with a fierce strike from the edge of the box in the 44th minute.

The second half was totally dominated by Town, Roberts scored his second goal in the 50th minute and Ricky Halion reduced the deficit to 3-4 when he stabbed home from close range after 65 minutes.

A Town equaliser seemed inevitable, but for Malvern, the hill was just too big to climb, although their cause was not helped by some over zealous challenges and lenient refereeing which saw Town have two penalty appeals rejected for apparent fouls on Hooper and Roberts, but in the end Town had only themselves to blame, following that dreadful opening 20 minutes.