With Alywns Lane failing an early morning pitch inspection, the match was switched to Royal Holloway Sports Centre (3G) just five hours before kick-off. And for once, it was a move that played to the visitors’ advantage.

Despite sitting fifth in the table at the start of play, the Chiswick based club had only lost once in the league since October (2024), making them one of the inform teams.

Meanwhile, Dial boss Steve Brown was able to field an almost unchanged side that lost 3-1 against AFC Walcountians two weeks earlier, with Aidan Doran and Charlie Marshall the only notable absentees.

Dial started strongly and could have taken the lead after three minutes when Blues’ goalkeeper Sam Harrison was caught out of position, but Jordan Carter sliced his shot well-wide of the target.

Similarly, Olly Price should have hit the target for the visitors when he was put through on goal 10 minutes later.

With Dial beginning to enjoy more of the possession, George Lawrence was inches away from opening the scoring when his shot, from an acute angle, hit crossbar midway through the first half.

Despite being a spectator for much of the first period, Andy Rider was called into action to deny Daniel Sparks five minutes before the interval.

However, Dial hit the self-destruct button when Will Neville was disposed in an advanced position, gifting the opportunity for Callum Orris to run on and pick his spot past Rider to give the Blues a 42nd-minute lead.

Dial notably turned up the heat shortly after the restart, with Aidan Phillips and Carter both firing over the bar in quick succession.

The decision to move defender Matt Bunyan up top presented an aerial threat, but left Dial more susceptible to the counter-attack, which Orris almost exploited; denied only by a finger-tip save from Rider.

At the other end, Harry Rice passed up a glorious opportunity to equalise after being put through on goal, but Harrison stood his ground well to thwart Dial’s leading marksman.

It was nervy last 15 minutes for the visitors, but the west Londoners defended resolutely, restricting the hosts to just a couple of half chances.

And Dial's high press almost backfired when Orris managed to wrong-foot Louie Rogers in the box, before somehow scuffing his shot wide of the target in stoppage time with the goal at his mercy. It didn’t matter though as Cubo went on to secure all three points.

Speaking after the match, Brown said: “It was a disappointing weekend. It was another match where we failed to take our changes, which is fast becoming a theme.

“Things aren’t clicking as they should; we’re just not clinical enough in-front of goal. The players are under no illusion that the performances need to improve. There is no room for anymore slip-ups.

“I believe we have the squad to turn things around, but the players need to stand up and be counted. We cannot afford to go through the motions; it’s a results-based business and we need to find that winning mentality again.,” added Brown.

DIAL SQUARE: Rider, Rogers, Vassell (Vass), Averiss, Bunyan, Neville, Carter, Phillips, Rice, Lawrence (Dembele), Aziz (Cenzano). Unused subs: Rose-Davies, Brown.