Warrington Town boss on defeat to Scarborough Athletic

Yellows saw their nine-match unbeaten run ended by James Walshaw's second-half winner at the Flamingo Land Stadium – a game which saw them kept off the scoresheet for the first time since November 10.

READ > Match report from Saturday's defeat at Scarborough

Carden saw his side dominate the first half against their promotion rivals, who had goalkeeper Tommy Taylor to thank for a string of excellent saves to keep the game level before Walshaw capitalised on Dave Raven's mistake to score the winner.

"We had enough opportunities to score but we didn’t and we left ourselves open to a mistake that can happen on a windy day. That’s what’s cost us," he said.

"We had a couple of chances late on as well. On the balance of play, they have had the best chances but we had more chances.

"They had two good chances – one they’ve taken and the other Tony makes a great save to.

"We’ve had a few in the first half where the keeper has done well, but done well in a way you’d expect him to.

"The wind did pick up a bit. It was more gusts rather than just a constant breeze but that’s not an excuse.

"They didn’t really catch us cold. They just capitalised on a mistake and a forward like Walshaw will do that.

"That’s what happens. It’s fine margins in all games but against promotion rivals, that’s what it can boil down to."

Scarborough goalkeeper Tommy Taylor kept Yellows at bay with a string of excellent first-half saves. Picture by John Hopkins

Carden changed much of his frontline, with Josh Amis rewarded for his two-goal display from the bench in the 3-3 draw at Farsley Celtic with a start while Jack Mackreth and Jack Dunn returned from injury.

However, Carden feels there were certain elements of his team selection that he got wrong on Saturday.

"We brought Dunny, Jack and Dylan in. Josh warranted a start with his two goals at Farsley," he said.

"Those two goals came from crosses and I don’t think we put enough balls in the box to get the best out of Josh.

"It’s for me to learn rather than point a finger. Rather than go on the back of what you should do, I have to do what’s right for that game.

"If someone comes off the bench and scores four but in the next game it’s not tactically right to play that person, unfortunately we’re at a stage of the season where you can’t go on sentiment.

"You have to go horses for courses. That’s where I feel I got it wrong."

Josh Amis was brought in for a rare start on Saturday. Picture by John Hopkins

One of the game's most controversial incidents was Boro's Nathan Valentine only being showed a yellow card for a hefty challenge which left Yellows full-back Alex Whittle sporting a sizeable cut on his shin.

Carden believes referee James Unwin should have showed Valentine a red card and with the match just 22 minutes old at that stage, he feels it would have been a game-changer.

The Town boss also says Whittle, who was able to complete the game, was fortunate to avoid a more serious injury.

"It’s a different game if that goes your way. Whitts is upright and clears it with his left and the lad comes down on his right which is planted in the ground.

"He comes down just under his knee and right down his shin. He’s got a nasty cut there.

"If the linesman is that side of the challenge instead of behind Whitts, he would have seen it clearly.

"We don’t know what the referee has seen or who has ran across him so he’s not realised it’s happened that way.

"The top and bottom of it is we never got it. It happens and we can’t use it as a reason why we lost.

"The lad goes down like he’s been hurt, but he wasn’t. He’s played it and rode his luck a little bit.

"He probably knows he’s thrown a naughty one in but sometimes they go for you and sometimes they go against you.

"Whitts is lucky, but we can’t be reliant on referee’s decisions to win games. We have to be better than the decisions."

The aftermath of Nathan Valentine's challenge on Alex Whittle. Picture by John Hopkins