Goals either side of the break saw Moors fall to National League North defeat at the hands of Southport at Haig Avenue on Tuesday night.
Chris Sze’s 32nd-minute penalty put The Sandgrounders ahead when he found the bottom right corner from the spot, before Luke Tabone thumped home a wicked effort into the roof of the net with four minutes to play.
Moors started the game brightly, as Frank Nouble’s cross found Glen Taylor in the middle, only for his effort to be blocked.
A long ball from Dan Jones found Taylor on the edge of the area with 14 minutes on the clock, but the frontman couldn’t find the net as Chris Renshaw got down well to save.
Malakai McKenzie looked to fire his side ahead when he drove into the area from the right-hand side and curled an effort on goal, only to see it deflected behind by Jones.
The hosts won a penalty just after the half-hour mark when Mackenzie Heaney dragged down Jordan Slew inside the 18-yard box, which Sze calmly tucked home into the bottom right corner of the net to give The Sandgrounders the lead.
Moors looked to draw level just before the break, as Heaney drove into the penalty area from the right-hand side, before flashing a low ball across the face of goal. The pass found Nouble at the back post, who couldn’t direct his effort on target, as his strike flew narrowly wide.
Neil Danns’ men came out for the second half like a house on fire, as a flurry of chances fell the way of Southport in the early stages.
Slew had a golden opportunity to double the lead just four minutes in, when the ball fell to him four yards from goal. The number 9 struck a powerful effort, which somehow flew over the bar.
The host’s frontman saw other chances go amiss soon after, when Slew saw his low driven effort deflect inches wide of the mark, before his header from the resultant corner dropped off target too.
Sze looked to double his tally on 54 minutes as he controlled the ball inside the area, but he couldn’t find the target with his volleyed effort on the turn.
Glen Taylor saw some chances to drag Moors level go begging after the hour mark, first when he fired a free-kick over the bar from the edge of the area, before being brilliantly denied at stretch by Renshaw following his powerful volley from the edge of the box.
Southport thought they’d doubled their advantage in the 81st minute when substitute Danny Lloyd’s free-kick looked destined for the bottom right corner. However, an incredible stop from Brad James prevented the strike from finding the net, as he tipped the effort onto the post.
Despite this, the hosts went on to find their second of the evening just five minutes later. A corner from the left floated to the back post, where Luke Tabone, who had been thrust into the starting eleven during the warm-up after an injury to skipper Tom Moore, thumped home into the roof of the net with a powerful first-time finish.
Cam Salkeld had a half chance following his late entry to the field, but his inviting ball across goal couldn’t find a teammate, as it trickled behind for a goal-kick.
Full Time: Southport 2 Moors 0
Southport: Renshaw, Minihan (Miles 89), Tabone, Keane, Dwyer, Griffiths, Lavelle, Hilton (Lloyd 72), McKenzie (Gnahoua 78), Slew, Sze (Hope 72).
Subs not used: Burgess, Woltman.
Booked: Griffiths (10).
Moors: James, Dyson (Salkeld 87), Jones, Beals, Hill (Sutcliffe 62), Hancox (Mondal 62), Dolan, Heaney, Ramshaw, Nouble (McKeown 62), Taylor.
Subs not used: Johnson, Williams, Pollock.
Booked: Hancox (13), Jones (79).
Referee: John Mulligan
Attendance: 763
Written by Noah Betts