THIS match could be described as Warrington Town’s calendar month in a nutshell.

For the third time in their four December matches, they got themselves into a winning position.

Once again, though, they shot themselves in the foot – Tom Warren the culprit this time with a clumsy foul to concede a penalty barely two minutes after Mark Roberts’ opener.

If the soft nature of the goal that allowed Witton Albion to escape with a point irked Paul Carden, the timing of it will be of even greater annoyance.

Witton’s game plan of being compact and organised has brought them great success and has made them an extremely tough side to beat.

If Town would have held the lead into the second half, however, you feel it would have asked different questions of the visitors to bring them out of their rigid shape and make them even more exposed than they normally are.

The immediacy of their equaliser, however, played straight into their hands.

That is not to say the visitors were completely benign going forward – indeed, Tony McMillan had to be alert on a couple of occasions after the break, including once in injury time.

However, the general theme of the match was Town pressure and Witton resistance, but Yellows could not convert that into an advantage of note thanks to a combination of good goalkeeping, bad finishing and even worse luck.

Albion goalkeeper Chris Renshaw, his defenders, the woodwork and the linesman’s flag formed an immovable alliance after the break as Town pounded away at the door without success.

It all underlined how desperate Yellows are for a different option up front, to ease the burden on the always willing but clearly overworked Tony Gray if nothing else.

Warrington Guardian:

Tony Gray could have had several goals. Picture by John Hopkins

Josh Amis’ long-term injury means Town have gone for much of the season with Gray as their only fit and recognised striker.

At his sharpest, he would have had two goals before the break on this occasion while he could consider himself unfortunate to be denied by first the post and then a marginal offside call after it.

He has now not scored since early November and when Carden has nobody else to call upon, that is bad news.

The good news? Tyrone Duffus continues to learn and grow at centre-back, Jack Dunn is getting sharper by the game and Scott Brown looks a classy addition in midfield.

Warrington Guardian:

Scott Brown was impressive on debut. Picture by John Hopkins

In all, though, Town have picked up just three points from 12 available in December.

With leaders South Shields and second-place Lancaster City both losing, Town could have finished the day hot on their heels. Instead, they end 2019 outside the play-off spots.

While that is far from critical at this stage, they cannot afford for this sticky patch to go on for much longer.