Pictures courtesy of Sean Walsh
Nantwich came out on the wrong side of the latest Cheshire derby as Warrington Town won 2-1 at Cantilever Park.
Louis Gray was forced into a couple of scrambling saves early on in the match, the second from Luke Duffy stopping what looked a certain goal and he held on well afterwards too.
Troy Bourne headed straight at Tony Thompson, and Sean Cooke scuffed an effort over the bar as the Dabbers began to open up from an attacking perspective.
The prolific Jordan Buckley was forced off injured for Warrington with less than half an hour on the clock, but this didn’t seem to deter the Yellows at all.
And this was borne out just a minute after Buckley departed, as his semi-namesake Isaac Buckley-Ricketts opened the scoring.
A couple of direct through balls had already caused the Dabbers problems, and this one cut the defence open, allowing Buckley-Ricketts a free run at goal and he finished calmly past Gray (pictured below).
Dave Cooke had switched things up at the start of the game by playing a 3-5-2 formation, with the intention of getting more bodies around Dan Cockerline. Eventually, things began to play out that way and the chances started to follow.
Joel Grant tested Thompson with a low drive, before the goal the Dabbers were desperate for finally arrived.
Joe Robbins tested Thompson, his parry went to a Dabbers man though, and the recycled ball was tucked away by Dan Cockerline who got off the mark for the season and meant the Dabbers went into half time level.
The second half started in a very open fashion and stayed that way, and this played into the hands of the hosts who began to assert themselves more and more.
Buckley-Ricketts fired over, and sub Michael Howard did the same in what was his worst miss since that Paxman interview.
Cooke was found with a quick free kick but dragged his shot wide as Nantwich tried to fashion another goalscoring opportunity.
But, with skipper Sean Williams pulling the strings brilliantly in the middle, Warrington began to push hard to take back the lead.
A clipped cross was flicked towards goal by Buckley-Ricketts, it missed everyone and came off the far post and was hastily scrambled away.
A corner just moments later came even closer, another sub Stefan Mols headed on target and it was blocked on the line by Jack Sherratt, with the ball somehow spinning over the bar as the Dabbers held on.
AJ Leitch-Smith threatened off the bench again for the Dabbers, stinging the palms of Thompson to let Warrington know the momentum wasn’t all theirs.
It wasn’t to be though, as the Yellows found a winner 6 minutes from time. From a free-kick, whose award was hotly contested by Dave Cooke after the game, the Dabbers failed to clear and a second cross was met by the diving head of Buckley-Ricketts for his and Warrington’s second.
A snapshot from Leitch-Smith was blocked late on to retain the win for Warrington Town, who return to the play-off places as the Dabbers still look for that all important first win in the league.
Teams
Warrington Town: Tony Thompson, Josua Seary, Andy White, Tom Hannigan, Evan Gumbs, James Harris, Isaac Buckley-Ricketts, Sean Williams (Matthew McDonald, 86), Jordan Buckley (Michael Howard, 29), Bohan Dixon, Luke Duffy (Stefan Mols, 74)
Subs not used: Oliver Putnam
Goals: Buckley-Ricketts (30, 84)
Nantwich Town: Louis Gray, Jacob Edwards (Connor Heath, 69), Perry Bircumshaw, Joel Stair, Troy Bourne, Jack Sherratt, Sean Lawton (Jon Moran, 78), Joe Robbins, Dan Cockerline, Sean Cooke (AJ Leitch-Smith, 80), Joel Grant
Subs not used: Joe Mwasile, Alfonso Castellano
Goal: Cockerline (45+2)
Attendance: 636