BARNOLDSWICK Town's barren period continued on Saturday after they threw away a 2-0 lead at home to Vauxhall Motors.

The 3-2 defeat signalled a spell of three defeats in their last four league fixtures and their blistering to the campaign now seems distant.

It was a great chance for Town to push up the table as before the game, they were only one point behind Vauxhall and instead the away side have pushed up to eight in the league standings, whereas Clarkson's side have found themselves falling to 16th.

Despite their faltering league form, Barnoldswick had come off the back of an impressive FA Vase first round victory after edging AFC Blackpool in a thrilling (9-8) penalty shootout- 3-3 after 90 minutes.

And it looked like Town had found some momentum going into the Vauxhall fixture as Clarkson's side raced into a 2-0 half-time lead before the break.

The first came on minute 11 when Gareth Hill supplied a lovely flick on and the ball found Louis Barrow, who made a brilliant darting run into the box.

Barrow met Hill's flick in brilliant fashion- lashing a first time volley into the roof of the net.

It got better for Clarkson's men on minute 27 when prolific man, Paul Turner, doubled their lead.

The goal was very similar to the first scored by Town, but this time it was Turner who arrived on to a Hill flick on.

Turner steamed on to the pass before firing a volley under the keeper to send the hosts into a well deserved 2-0 lead.

All was well for Barnoldswick and it looked as if they were going into the interval with a valuable cushion, but suddenly the tide began to turn.

Five minutes before the break, Harvey Sample notched his first goal for the 'Motormen' after Ben Holmes had squared it inside the six yard box.

The half-time whistle blew just as the momentum had swung in favour of the away side.

Clarkson was left pondering whether another lead was going to be thrown away and only eight minutes into the second-half, his thoughts became reality.

Vauxhall were rewarded with a penalty and Leo Riley dispatched it with ease.

There was still plenty of time for the game to be completely turned on its head and on minute 62, Riley went close with a free kick.

However, the Vauxhall winner came seven minutes from time when Aaron Smith was teed up to strike the ball perfectly past the goalkeeper.

Barnoldswick will have returned to action on Tuesday, (written before fixture) on the road against Irlam.

However, they return to the Silentnight Stadium in a cup fixture against Heaton Stannington on Saturday, (3:00 PM) KO. Can they put their recent form behind them?