Report by Dan Jackson & images by Jonathan White
Saturday’s FA Trophy fixture saw Warrington Rylands return to The Swansway Stadium, after a thrilling 2-2 draw in the league back in August. Much has changed since then, and this was evident as The Dabbers fielded five of their recent new signings in their starting XI. Sean Cooke did not play following his switch between the sides, his hamstring injury ruling him out for a further 2-3 weeks.
Despite the sun shining it was a gloomy start for Nantwich Town. A smart through ball from Rylands captain Furman was met by full back James Neild who beat the offside trap and calmly finished to make it 1-0 after only 4 minutes played.
Rylands continued to press and looked dangerous in attack; Drummond, N’Mai and Payne all offering pace and options on the break for the visitors. The lead should have been doubled on 11 minutes when Callum Dolan played a ball into the box that evaded the home defence and was met by Kelly N’Mai, only for him to hit the crossbar from less than 6-yards out. A miss that will give him nightmares. The defence having a nightmare in the opening stages.
Sang and Leitch-Smith both had chances with their shots on goal, but loanee goalkeeper Torrance was equal to them both.
Rylands made their dominance count on 28 minutes, after a free kick on the edge of the box was neatly tucked into the bottom right of the goal by Dolan. 2-0.
Chances of a come-back were diminished in he second half when Troy Bourne went over the ball with a lunging tackle and received a straight red with just over 20 minutes to play.
With a man down and a new look midfield the home side looked laboured and Rylands found plenty of space. The dangerous Drummond running at the home team at will found Dolan in space within the box, only for the goal scorer to clatter the crossbar this time. N’Mai should also have scored moments later but for Sean Lawton blocking his effort on the line.
In truth the score line could and should have been more, but the defeat sees Nantwich Town crash out of the FA Trophy. Fans will hope to see the club bounce back quickly in their next fixture, home to Marine on Tuesday 11th October.
Teams
Nantwich Town: Louis Gray, Troy Bourne, Sean Lawton, Perry Bircumshaw, Jon Moran, Jamie Menagh (Matt Bell, 72), James Plant, Tom Scully, Chris Sang, AJ Leitch-Smith (Ivan Urvantev, 57), Levi Chiduku (Curtis Morrison, 39)
Subs not used: Jack Sherratt, Jack Williams, Shaun Miller, Jacob Edwards
Red card: Bourne (70)
Warrington Rylands: Joel Torrance, James Neild, John Hunt, Samuel Egerton, Jordan Mustoe, Jak McCourt, Callum Dolan, Dean Furman (Stephen Irwin, 77), Kane Drummond, Kelly N’Mai, Niah Payne (Harry Pratt, 69)
Sub not used: Kyle Hayde
Goals: Neild (4), Dolan (28)
Attendance: 303