PENISTONE Church missed a chance to put distance between themselves and a promotion rival after going down 5-2 at Handsworth.

Church trailed 2-1 at the break with Nathan Keightley’s goal from the spot, which he had won, halving the deficit.

It was his 150th goal for Church.

Kieran Ryan struck them level on the hour mark but three goals in the final 19 minutes swung the game Handsworth’s way decisively.

They are now just a point shy of sixth-placed Church but have three games in hand.

Co-manager Steven Lenthall said: “I don’t think the score line warrants what we’ve got but on the flip side the errors that we’ve made to concede the goals were basic and we got punished.

“We got back to two-two after sixty minutes and to find yourself five-two down after eighty its bitterly disappointing.

“It’s not as if they’ve opened and carved us up we were masters of our own downfall and that’s what we need to look at.

“We’ve conceded five and all five were avoidable that’s what’s frustrating.

“We’re not out of running for the play offs, we’ve just got to keep going and show the true grit that we’ve shown in years gone by I’m sure the lads will commit to that.”

The other NCEL fixtures featuring Barnsley teams were postponed due to the weather.