EAGLEY'S title aspirations suffered a severe blow at the weekend when they went down 3-1 in their West Lancashire Premier Division fixture away at Coppull United.

The Villagers failed to find any kind of form in the first half and were made to look second best against a busy Coppull side.

Apart from a solitary Carl Grimshaw effort on 16 minutes, Coppull's keeper was rarely troubled, while at the other end Eagley keeper James Raynor needed to be on his toes as his defence came under constant pressure.

On 25 minutes a long clearance was not dealt with by the Eagley defence and Steve Barnes skipped through to put his side in front.

On 38 minutes, Hughes increased Coppull's lead when he firmly headed home at the far post following a free kick.

In the second period, Eagley started brightly but on 57 minutes Taylor put his side 3-0 up after sloppy defending by the visitors. Carl Grimshaw grabbed a consolation goal for the Villagers after 71 minutes but it was too little too late as the home side deservedly took the three points..

Eagley Reserves went through to the Houston Cup Quarter Finals, defeating Springfields 2-0.

Chris Longthorne and Tom Birch were their scorers.