Striker takes the Mick out of Town's defence (From Warrington Guardian)

Striker takes the Mick out of Town's defence

Warrington Town 1 Ilkeston Town 2

THE moneybags beat the paupers on Saturday as Ilkeston continued their UniBond League first division title charge at Warrington Town's expense.

Ilkeston have the highest wage bill in the league - paying £750 per week to star names like ex-Nottingham Forest professionals Steve Chettle and Nigel Jemson.

Warrington, on the other hand, are on the lowest rung of the wage pool ladder but that did not stop them from giving Ilkeston a tough test and a mighty scare.

They will be encouraged by their performance and will look to build on it in Saturday's UniBond League President's Cup quarter-final with Bamber Bridge, kick-off 3pm at Cantilever Park.

Town's main plus point against Ilkeston was the form of striker Mike Heverin. He posed the visitors plenty of problems despite missing Warrington's last two games with a knee injury.

He opened the scoring on 15 minutes, latching on to Chris Bermingham's weighted through ball and nudging the ball past Ilkeston's onrushing goalkeeper.

Heverin also thundered a shot against the crossbar while lively strike partner Graeme Mitchell came agonisingly close to scoring with a deflected second half drive.

But the game's most potent attacking force was Ilkeston's Mick Goddard.

With all eyes on fellow forward Jemson, who looked a shadow of the player who knocked Everton out of last season's FA Cup, Goddard stole the limelight with a quality brace.

He took advantage of Adrian Riley's untimely slip to blast the ball home on 20 minutes and he settled the scrappy encounter 45 minutes later with an angled drive.

Warrington goalkeeper Colin Flood got a touch on the winner but, to the home fans' horror, it squirmed inside the post.

Team: Colin Flood, Iain Dyson, Danny Salt, Terry Nestor, Lee Webster, Adrian Reilly, Dave Tickle (Phil Mitchell, 73mins), Steve Latham, Mike Heverin, Graeme Mitchell (Terry Anderson, 78mins), Chris Bermingham (Paul Clarke, 87mins).