HOLYHEAD Hotspur remain bottom of the Huws Gray Aliance standings after a 2-0 defeat at Prestatyn Town.

The Holy Islanders were unable to add to a series of impressive performances of late against the resurgent Seasiders, and Darren Garmey’s men are now eight points adrift of safety ahead of their crunch home clash with second-from-bottom Penrhyncoch on Saturday (2.30pm).

The home side began the game on the front foot and almost went ahead on five minutes when striker Oli Buckley’s superb strike on the turn rattled the post, and Spurs also came within inches of breaking the deadlock with nine gone after Mel McGinness failed to convert from close range.

Returning forward Ian Griffiths narrowly missed out on contact following a through ball from Warren Adam, with the midfielder sending a long-range effort over during an impressive spell of dominance after 19 minutes.

They did not have to wait much longer for the crucial breakthrough, with Jones timing his run perfectly on 25 minutes to steer home a Buckley delivery at the far post.

This was swiftly followed by another on 33 minutes, and once again it was Jones who was the difference as he unleashed a ferocious strike into the top corner to double Town’s advantage.

The captain nearly secured a hat-trick soon after when he turned a Ben Maher cross over, and Griffiths could only put a chance over after the interval with 47 on the clock.

Garmey’s side almost capitalised on a mistake by Aaron White to get themselves back into the contest, but keeper Ryan Roberts diverted the chance with a smart stop, with Chris Bennett forcing former Seasiders’ stopper Carl Jones into an outstanding save at the other end on the hour mark.

Griffiths’ frustrations continued when he had an opportunity hacked off the line after rounding Jones, but the hosts managed to see out the remainder of the game in comfortable fashion to pick up another valuable three points.