CARDEN THRILLED BY WIRE
Win sees hosts leapfrog Shields
WARRINGTON Town went top of the NPL Premier Division with a comfortable victory over previous leaders South Shields at Cantilever Park.
It was a professional and workmanlike performance as they claimed all three points when it mattered most against determined and difficult opposition.
A sublime goal by Bohan Dixon and second-half strikes from Jake Kirby and Josh Amis made it seven games unbeaten without conceding a goal for the home side, a run which includes five straight wins.
Warrington Town boss Paul Carden said: “I’m delighted with our play and what we’re doing and the intelligence the players are showing in working the opposition out.
“The lads are buying in to it and they can see the success they’re getting, but we’ll remain grounded and keep working hard.”
The right hand side would be the main source of threat from the Yellows in the first half as they went to go-to man Jack Mackreth as often as possible with mixed results.
He did get one good ball in early doors but he was largely hounded out by two defenders for large parts of a first half in which South Shields had a lot of possession without creating a great deal.
And by the half hour mark, Warrington started to grow in the game with Robbie Evans starting to get more control in midfield, and it was after he won the ball back that he drilled a shot over from the edge of the box.
The Yellows took the lead on 37 minutes when good work by Tony Gray fed the ball in to Dixon, who turned beautifully in to the box and then lashed a shot past the keeper.
Warrington set about containing the visitors in the second half and the expected barrage never really came as
the home side dictated play.
In the end, it was a mistake by South Shields that settled the game, a sloppy pass from a defensive free-kick falling to debutant Kirby, who hammered it past a helpless Connell for 2-0.
With Scarborough losing at home to Nantwich, Warrington went top of the league and added icing to the cake as substitute Amis poked home from Ben Garrity’s pass late on.
South Shields manager, Graham Fenton, said: “Warrington deserved to win.
“We weren’t anywhere near our best.
“We were a little bit disappointed with our reaction to going a goal behind and we really need to show a lot more character in certain areas.
“We’ve had a couple of performances similar to that this year and it’s getting a bit too regular for our liking.” STAR MAN: Bohan Dixon (Warrington) ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★