Warrington Town 1
Nantwich Town 1
League (NW Counties League Div 1)

Match Report

Missed chances cost Nantwich dearly as a late equaliser gave Warrington a share of the spoils in a frustrating afternoon for the Dabbers.
Nantwich enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and took the lead as early as the tenth minute. Dangerman Chris Hampshire pounced on a loose ball in the box and his shot on the turn left Terry O’Hanlon stranded in the home goal.
Hampshire’s pace terrorised the home defence and O’Hanlon denied the Nantwich centre-forward a second on the quarter hour. Danny McVey was on hand to clear off the goalline and Stuart Heeps foiled the tricky Neal Smith in rare Warrington sorties.
But Nantwich failed to add to their account with Wes Wilkinson putting a free header wide, Hampshire dragging a shot wide after speeding past four defenders and, on the stroke of half-time, Wilkinson again failing to hit the target.
The second half was more even but Wilkinson, looking strangely out of sorts in advance of his trial with Crewe Alexandra, struck a shot at O’Hanlon and Knight failed to capitalise on the rebound.
To their credit, Warrington kept grafting and their reward came five minutes from time when substitute Paul Anderson latched on to a ricochet in the penalty area to fire past Heeps. Smith even had a late chance to seal an unlikely home victory but was off-target from 15 yards after breaking from the half-way line.
It was another Jekyll and Hyde performance from Nigel Gleghorn’s promising young side who are still looking for the consistency to challenge for a top six spot.
Warrington O’Hanlon, Pick (Hennessey,h-t), Cartledge, Tague, Webster, Hives, Latham, Cavanagh (Sweeney,66), Smith, McDonagh (Anderson,66), Moore. Booked: None
Nantwich Heeps, McVey, Melling (Thomasson,87), Packham, Hall, Vickers, Brookes, Knight, Hampshire (Dawson,53), Wilkinson, Hackney. Booked: None
Star Man Lyndon Hall – Strong in the centre of defence

Match report written by Michael Chatwin