WARRINGTON Town boss Stuart Mellish admits his side’s last-gasp defeat to Cheshire rivals Nantwich was “a real kick in the teeth”.

Goals from Lewis Codling and Jay McCarten had given the Yellows a two-goal lead with just 10 minutes remaining at Cantilever Park on Tuesday night.

However Sean Cooke and Curtis Jones pulled the visitors level before Cooke curled in a 95th-minute free-kick to leave Town stunned.

“We’re extremely disappointed, at 2-0 up with 12 minutes to go we have to be seeing the game out from there,” Mellish said.

“Their first goal killed us, the defending was disappointing with the mix-up between Karl Wills and Jay McCarten.

“It gave them a glimmer of hope and it was a real kick in the teeth.

“Lewis Codling has got bags of pace and was causing them all sorts of problems in the hole behind the striker before he had to come off injured.

“It looks like a Grade One tear in his hamstring so he could be out for four to six weeks.”

Mellish’s side started well and were in front with 10 minutes on the clock when McCarten’s raking ball found Metcalfe on the left wing.

His pull-back found Codling in the area and he steadied himself before finishing powerfully at the near post.

After repelling Nantwich’s pressure with some stout defending, Town doubled their lead when Mike Grogan’s knock-down from a corner caused chaos, allowing McCarten to steer home.

That sparked Nantwich into life, and a mix-up between McCarten and goalkeeper Wills allowed Cooke to stab home and pull one back.

Jones then rose high above the Town defence to head a right-wing corner forcefully into the bottom corner.

Cooke was to have the last laugh when he stepped up to curl an exquisite free-kick past a helpless Wills to ensure the Dabbers left with the points.

The result comes on the back of a 2-1 win on the road at Coalville Town on Saturday, a game in which goals from Steven Gillespie and Ciaran Kilheeney sealed the points.

Town now sit ninth in the Evo-Stik Premier Division table ahead of Saturday’s home clash with struggling Corby, kick off 3pm.

Despite the agonising nature of the Nantwich defeat, Mellish was determined to take the positives and stressed his players would be “raring to go” on Saturday.

“It doesn’t feel like it right now but there are positives to take,” he said.

“We’re playing against better teams and we have to take these things as part of a learning curve.

“We’re in the top 10, I think plenty would have taken that in August but tonight is disappointing.

“Nantwich are a good side, you don’t get to the semi finals of the FA Trophy for no reason. They are a quality outfit; they pop the ball around with purpose but we got to grips with it.

“The lads did ever so well for 80 minutes to get ourselves into a position to win the game but a lack of concentration gave them a foothold in the game.

“We’ve got another home game on Saturday, it represents the perfect chance for us to get back on track.

“The lads are gutted and down but we’ll get back into training, dust ourselves down and make sure we’re raring to go.”

After the weekend, Yellows are on the road again when they make the long trip to face high-flying Blyth Spartans on Tuesday, kick off 7.45pm.