Kendal Town's hopes of making the play-offs suffered a setback after a 2-1 defeat at Easington Colliery.

The Mint Cakes were below par and struggled against a team sitting 14th in the league table, leaving them four points adrift of the play-offs.

Easington nearly scored within the first minute, forcing Kendal's Christopher Cheetham into a diving save.

Jim Craig (Image: Supplied) However, Kendal had their own chance four minutes later when Ryan Winder's low free kick hit the post and went behind for a goal kick.

The Mint Cakes started to apply pressure, with Jim Craig shooting straight at the keeper.

Easington's first clear opportunity came when Thomas Bott's effort was comfortably saved by Cheetham.

Bailey Kenny (Image: Supplied) Cheetham was called into action again, denying Liam Wright in a hard-fought first half.

Kendal made a perfect start to the second half when Josh Winder slotted the ball under Keaton Marrs after getting on the end of James Bailey's pass across the penalty box.

However, the home team equalised on 56 minutes when Andrew Nelson headed in Wright's cross.

Joseph Sowerby goes in for the challenge (Image: Supplied) The goal spurred Easington into action, forcing two more saves out of Cheetham.

Kendal began to gain some momentum, with James Bailey heading over the bar from Ryan Winder's free kick, while Winder's effort was comfortably saved by the keeper.

However, there was controversy in the 88th minute when the home team was awarded a penalty kick.

James Bailey goes for the ball in the air (Image: Supplied) The decision caused confusion for the away team after a free kick initially headed over the bar saw Cheetham collide with an Easington player.

Once play resumed, James Fairley stepped up to take the penalty and placed the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the net.

Kendal's afternoon worsened in the fifth minute of injury time when Thomas Russell received a straight red card from the match referee, sealing their defeat.

Kendal now face two important games in four days, welcoming West Auckland Town to the Westmorland Flooring Stadium on Saturday, before travelling to play Newcastle Blue Star on Tuesday night.