By Liam Price
Nantwich Town came from a man and a goal down to claim a point from promotion chasing Lower Breck in a 2-2 draw in Liverpool.
There were a couple of big calls from Luke Goddard and staff on team selection, notably Paddy Kennedy and Byron Moore dropping out, but that did allow Adam Rooney to make his first start for the club in defence.
Breck’s front three of Buckley, Burns and Cherera have been striking fear into NPL West defences all season and were at it again in this game. Sam Burns curled an early effort wide.
Lewis Buckley came closer, bringing down a ball on his chest and unleashing a dipping effort on the volley that hit the bottom of the post.
Callum Saunders, another of the changes from the win over Newcastle, got the break of the ball in the box and sent a shot wide but was pulled up for a foul in the build up.
Burns was on target with a shot that was straight at Ben Garratt, who was making his 100th appearance for the Dabbers in goal.
Saunders was involved again in the penalty area, a tangle of legs saw both him and the Breck defender go down, no foul was given either way but the confrontations down that side were building up.
That may go some way to explaining, but not excusing, what then happened in the 30th minute. Perhaps frustrated with those earlier skirmishes, Saunders was shown a straight red on the half hour for a lunging challenge in front of the Nantwich bench. Goddard afterwards had no arguments with the referee’s decision and the Dabbers were left on the back foot
And it didn’t take long for Breck to take advantage as Burns made it 1-0 8 minutes later. A bit of hesitation between Garratt and the defence from a ball in from the right was a crucial factor in allowing Burns to steal in at the back post.
Nantwich supporters could be forgiven for thinking that Breck would most likely go on to rack up the goals in a similar way to how they did in the reverse game in November with a man and now a goal advantage.
But Nantwich held fast and managed to get an equaliser before half time. Alex Panter was able to poke in at close range after Breck keeper Patrick Wharton spilled a ball from the right.
Lower Breck had a couple of early shots in the second half, including one from sub Nathan Corness that may have brushed the outside of the post.
But for the most part the home side seemed leggy and a little short of ideas, certainly not the free flowing menace they were at the Swansway in November. That’s been borne out in their form so far in 2026.
Buckley and Barrow also had pot shots for the home side, but Nantwich had started the second period sharply and completed a superb turnaround just past the hour mark.
Wharton was again partly culpable, dropping a looping ball to Byron Harrison who lifted it over him and in for 2-1. Breck were unhappy about an aerial challenge on Wharton by Panter that left the pair of them on the floor but it was there to be won.
Lower Breck were shellshocked and had to respond as fellow title chasers Bury and Avro were both winning in their games.
They needed something to get them going and got that 10 minutes after going behind. A crazy few seconds unfolded where Garratt bravely dived at the feet of a Breck attacker, taking a whack to the head in the process, before Liam Morris was booked for a challenge on Rooney. Both of those seemed to be perceived as injustices and put the energy back in both the players and fans of Lower Breck.
A minute later they did have a penalty. That man Burns drew a trip in the box and emphatically put the penalty away to make it 2-2. Burns has scored 19 league goals this season and 5 of them have come against Nantwich.
They had other moments but struggled to create clear opportunities to win it, other than a free header from Michael Fitzgerald from a corner that went into the side netting.
It was last ditch at times but the 1o men defended brilliantly after the forwards had done their job earlier in the game. All in all it has to go down as one of the results of the season for the Dabbers given the opposition and the circumstances, with the FA Trophy win at Ossett, also with 10 men, a similar contender.
Teams
Lower Breck: Patrick Wharton, Liam Morris, Danny McKenna (Dan Lowey, 59), Michael Fitzgerald, Jordan Barrow, Connor Millington (C), Alex Cherera (Nathan Corness, 46), Connor Murphy (Billy Edmondson, 86), Lewis Buckley, Sam Burns, Paddy Kay (Frazer Cookson, 90+3)
Goals: Burns (38, 72 (pen))
Nantwich Town: Ben Garratt, Aidy Roxburgh (James Baillie, 76), Perry Bircumshaw, Joe Robbins (Fenton Green, 76), Ben Hockenhull, Adam Rooney, Callum Saunders, Joe Collins (Paddy Jarrett, 87), Byron Harrison (Byron Moore, 76), Joel Connolly (C), Alex Panter (Paddy Kennedy, 87)
Goals: Panter (43), Harrison (61)
Attendance: 212