HORWICH Victoria manager Danny Holmes is adamant the basement club have turned a corner, despite going down to their ninth defeat in 10 games on Saturday.

The ESSA Academy based outfit went into the match with their firsy victory of the campaign under their belts following a 4-1 win at Old Blackburnians the previous weekend.

But after holding fourth-placed Bury GSOB for 80 minutes, Vics conceded two late goals to go down 2-0.

Holmes believes his players were more than holding their own up until midway through the second half, when they were forced to change their shape following a couple of injuries.

“We lost our right-back Matthew Makinson and young midfielder Danny Mills in quick succession and that disrupted our game,” he said.

“Up to that point, I believe we had the better of the play without really creating any clear-cut chances.

“We certainly had more of the possession until the final 20 minutes and were more than comfortable until the substitutions.”

Vics conceded from a set-piece 10 minutes from time before Bury sealed the victory from the penalty spot with five minutes remaining.

“I feel like we are turning the corner now after a difficult start to the season,” added Holmes.

“We lost a number of players at the end of the last campaign and have had to promote a number of lads from the reserves, while also bringing in a couple of new faces.

“It has taken time to gel, but after our victory against Old Blacks I felt this was another step in the right direction.

“What we need to do now is work on our play in the final third.

“Losing our main goalscorer, Sam Parkinson, to Ladybridge was a big blow and we haven’t really replaced him yet.

“If we can find a little bit more creativity and start banging in the goals then i am confident we will start to move up the table.”

Castle Hill manager Rob Rostrun is at the start of a rebuilding process after losing “six or seven” players recently.

But he was pleased with the effort put in by his newly assembled side on Saturday in a 2-1 defeat at home to Old Mancunians.

James Edmondson finished off a breakaway midway through the first half to put them a goal up, but Old Mancs capitalised in the second half as Castle Hill tired to score two goals - the winner with the final kick of the game.

“I cannot fault the lads for effort, they gave me everything, we just paid a little bit in the second half for a lack of fitness and strength in depth, but that will come with a few more bodies,” said Rostrun.

Farnworth Town won 3-1 at Roach Dynamos to move up to fifth place in the Division One table.

Kieran Ward scored twice either side of the break and Grant Dean rattled in a third from 30 yards before Roach got a late consolation.

Zac Casey and Alex Luby both scored hat-tricks as Howe Bridge Mills won 8-2 at Leigh Legion in the Lancashire FA Amateur Cup. Chris Anderton and Shaun Farrimond also weighed in with a goal apiece.

Old Bolts also won through to the third round with a 6-0 win against Wigan Rovers, but Little Lever SC were knocked out after losing 4-3 at home to Morecambe Royals, despite goals from Adam Carter, lee Valentine and Mike Fay.