Dial passed up the opportunity to move back to the top of the Surrey Premier County Football League table today (6 Dec.) after losing 4-2 away to Keens Park Rangers at Pyrford Cricket Ground.

The defeat brings an end to Dial's 10-match unbeaten run after the hosts took full advantage of some defensive mishaps to claim all three points.

With manager Steve Brown unavailable, assistant Mike Kinsella took charge of team affairs and was boosted by the return of Harry Rice, who is dual-registered with Hanwell Town.

And it took Rice just 15 minutes to make his mark on the proceedings after he was held back by Doug Noble in the box, which Wayne Ingram saw fit to award a penalty. True to form, Rice tucked away the resulting spot-kick to give Dial the lead.

However, Dial's advantage was short-lived when Archie Harris sent Daniel Way’s corner kick into the roof of the net to level the scores in the 24th-minute.

Rangers’ striker Luke Mitchell then capitalised on a wayward defensive header from Ross Ewen to give his side a surprise lead three minutes later.

As frustrations began to mount, George Frith was booked for backchat after being on the receiving end of a rash challenge.

Rice looked odds on to equalise for Dial when he pushed the ball past goalkeeper Adrian Giles, but Noble was on hand to block the shot at the near post 10 minutes before the break.

After a period of sustained pressure, Dial were back on level terms when Zac Hawker’s looping header - from Jordan Carter’s corner - dropped in over Way’s head at the back post to make it 2-2 five minutes before half-time.

Another erroneous pass, this time from George Lawrence, led to Michael Woods’ restoring the hosts’ lead just four minutes after the restart. Although the winger’s cross-shot carried an ounce of good fortune as it deceived everyone, including George Mead, to drop in off the goal-frame at the back post.

Change was needed and quickly to help reignite Dial’s fire, with Jimmy Norman and Danny Taylor entering the fray to help shore up the backline and add another attacking option.

Despite the change in personnel, Dial struggled to breach Rangers' defensive line, with Harris and James Crouch using their height to thwart a number of crosses into the box.

Dial’s best chance arguably fell to Norman, who connected superbly with Rice’s in-swinging freekick. But the former Knaphill and Abbey Rangers’ midfielder’s header flew inches wide of the far post from 12 yards.

With Dial searching for an equaliser, gaps began to appear across the backline, which Mitchell seized upon to good effect to notch his second and Rangers’ fourth in the 78th-minute.

Hawker came close to reducing the arrears when his header sailed just wide, and Mitchell looked on course to score a hat-trick in the dying embers only to toe-poke the ball wide after Mead had closed down the angle. In the end, Rangers were worthy 4-2 winners.

Speaking after the match, Kinsella said: “You won’t win football matches if you give the opposition the chances that we gifted to Keens Park Rangers.

“We have been on a great run of late, but our performance [v Keens Park Rangers] was well-below the level that it needed to be.

“There were too many players that were simply going through the motions; they lacked the determination and bite to win. That cannot continue, and the players know that,” he added.

DIAL SQUARE: Mead, Ewen (Doran), Vass (Norman), Hawker, Corner, Rogers (Campbell), Carter, Adag (Cenzano), Rice, Lawrence (Taylor), Frith.

MOTM: Zac Hawker