Written by Adam Bateman, photos by Jonathan White and Peter Robinson
Nantwich Town and Warrington Town played out an energetic 1-1 draw in both team’s first match of 2023 at the Swansway Stadium.
After the horror show that was the game against Stafford, Nantwich ‘stopped the rot in the very next game, which was perfect’ according to manager Ritchie Sutton.
Due to the injuries sustained against Stafford, manager Ritchie Sutton was forced to shuffle the pack for this game, which included a debut for Accrington loanee Oli Patrick (pictured below) and a spot on the bench for under 18s forward Archie Angles for the very first time.
It seemed to have worked to absolute perfection, as before most people had taken their seat, or found a place to stand at the Swansway Stadium, Mo Malumo found himself in space in the visitors area, and he slotted the ball past Tony Thompson (pictured below), to give the Dabbers the lead after just 17 seconds, the fastest Dabbers goal since Ethon Varian’s after 9 seconds against Hyde almost exactly 3 years ago.
That was the perfect response to the Stafford game, to blow away any lingering doubts that either players or the fans might have had.
This seemed to sow some doubt in the Warrington defence, and especially the goalkeeper Thompson, as on a few occasions, he looked very shaky and it almost resulted in a second goal for Nantwich, as a short pass hit James Caton and found its way to Malumo again, but when he tried to find Caton he was offside.
Nantwich were firmly in control in the early going, and the goal was the least that they deserved.
After a very nervy first few minutes Warrington settled down and found their rhythm, but just before the half hour mark, Nantwich again tested Thompson, with a double save, first from a Jack Sherratt shot, then he reacted smartly to punch the ball away from Byron Harrison, to stop the latter from tapping the ball into the net.
From there, Warrington seemed to get much more of a foothold in the game, and they had their first real set of chances, first from Buckley-Ricketts, and then Sean Williams, this seemed to give Warrington some much needed confidence after that very early set back.
Eventually this paid off for them, as after a bit of a scramble in the Nantwich penalty area, former Dabber Andy White pounced and thumped the ball into the top corner (pictured below), to give Warrington an equalising goal.
The game was very much in the balance, and both teams seemed to be a bit wary of each other after that goal in the lead up to the half time whistle.
And that is how the teams went in, level, with Nantwich failing to capitalise on their very bright start to the game.
The second half started much like the first half ended, with Warrington on the front foot, and Nantwich looking to play on the break.
The visitors had the first real chance of the second half, as Tom Booth in the Nantwich goal produced an outstanding save from a Luke Duffy shot that was arrowing into the top corner, to push the shot over for a corner.
The game seemed to be in the balance, and Warrington looked to press home their advantage, as the next chance of the game once again fell to Duffy, who did very well to fashion a shot under a great deal of pressure from Troy Bourne in the Dabbers penalty box, but his shot went just wide.
For all of the hard work that Nantwich had put into this game, for a very brief moment, it seemed to have all been for nothing, as some very good play down the flanks resulted in substitute Josh Amis putting the ball into the net for the visitors, but thankfully for the home side and their fans, the offside flag was raised, and the goal was chalked off.
Warrington continued to mount pressure on Booth and the Dabbers defence, with the attacking play becoming few and far between for the home fans.
Josh Amis had another good chance, as his header from a corner went wide, to keep the game level.
With Nantwich managing to repel the oncoming attacks from Warrington in the last few moments of the game, the match finished as a draw, one that on the balance of play was probably a fair result.
Nantwich are next in action away to Guiseley on the 7th January.
Teams
Nantwich Town: Tom Booth, Oli Patrick, Sean Lawton, Troy Bourne ©, Jon Moran, Caspar Hughes, Mo Malumo (Levy Chiduka, 61), Jack Sherratt (Perry Bircumshaw, 61), Byron Harrison, Tom Scully, James Caton
Substitutes not used: Jacob Edwards, Archie Angles, Ollie Hawkins
Goal: Malumo (1)
Warrington Town: Tony Thompson, Mitchell Duggan (Josh Seary, 50), Andy White, Tom Hannigan, Evan Gumbs, James Harris, Isaac Buckley-Ricketts, Sean Williams, Jordan Buckley (Josh Amis, 69), Bohan Dixon ©, Luke Duffy (Eddie Clarke, 69)
Substitutes not used: Stefan Mols, Declan Walker
Goal: White (38)
Attendance: 626