MALVERN Town's winless run in the Southern League Division One South stretched to eight games as they paid the price for another poor first-half in the 3-1 defeat at Bristol Manor Farm.

The hosts were 3-0 up at half-time on Saturday after first-half goals from Ben Bament, Owen Brain and Lloyd Mills.

Joe Bullock added a late consolation for the visitors but the damage had been done in the first 45 minutes and Malvern once more returned to Worcestershire with nothing.

Malvern had started the game reasonably well and had the ball in net in the 15th minute, but Matt Turner's goal was ruled out for offside.

And then within 60 seconds, the hosts went up the other end and took the lead, Bament slotting past Archie Burford in the Town goal.

Malvern had already conceded the most goals in the division going into the contest, and a large portion of those have come in the first halves of games.

They then shipped two more in quick succession before half-time as Bristol took total control of the contest. 

Brain picked up the ball on the half-way line and strode forward before placing the ball into the bottom corner, which was quickly added to by Mills when he powered home a header from an inviting cross from the right. 

At 3-0, the game looked beyond the visitors and the second-half was a low-key affair that saw Malvern have a lot of the ball without really troubling their hosts.

They did pull a goal back in the final 10 minutes as Bullock fired home a consolation after an attack from deep but it will not act as much comfort for The Hillsiders, who continue to struggle to adapt in their new higher league.

Having been promoted to this league for the 2023/24 campaign, they sit fourth-bottom in the table but have played at least two games more than the sides below them, meaning they could very easily drop to the bottom if results elsewhere go against them.