PAUL Carden and Warrington Town reaped the rewards for taking a risk with their team selection today.

Striker Jordan Buckley had a niggle in his hamstring, but he stayed in the team and scored the 29th-minute goal which secured a 1-0 win over Radcliffe – Town’s first victory of 2020.

It ended a run of six matches without a win and propelled Yellows back into the BetVictor Northern Premier League Premier Division play-off spots.

“He’s going to be a player for us,” Carden said of his match-winner.

“He’s carrying a bit of a niggle in his hamstring and he was feeling it in the warm-up.

“It was a risk starting him but it was a risk I think we had to take.

“I told him to let us know as soon as it got a bit worse and we got an hour out of him.

“We’ll get him repaired and right for next Saturday.”

Five of Town’s six winless matches have ended in draws – with all of them seeing Carden’s men take the lead.

This time, however, things proved different as Yellows impressively held Radcliffe’s increasingly direct approach at bay.

The margin of victory perhaps should have been wider – chances were squandered by the likes of Buckley, Jack Banister and Mark Roberts before the break – but Carden was happy to take what he got.

He also says he challenged a few members of his squad to show him they could work harder, including winger Banister, who was starting in place of Jack Dunn.

“It’s a big win and I’m glad for the clean sheet as well,” he said.

“It was massive because we’ve been in that position for every draw we’ve had in this run. We had to remind them of what it takes to see a game out.

“I told that at half time that the minimum was that it stayed 1-0.

“I can’t remember them having too many chances apart from hitting the bar in the first half, but Tony was right under it.

“Their kid throws it a mile with his long throw but in terms of chances, I can’t remember too many against us.

“Again, we should be two or three up before we actually score – Jack Banister’s had a great chance, Ben Garrity’s had a great chance.

“Then we score and Jordan has a one-on-one, Robbo should score with his header.

“We put it on a few players today about what it takes.

“If you look at Chris Wilder at Sheffield United – who has been a part-time manager in non-league – he talks about the non-negotiables in terms of running.

“I’m not saying we haven’t been working hard, but certain players can work hard and run harder.

“Jack Banister is one of them but today I thought he was outstanding.

“He came to me in training and asked what he needed to do. I told him I had to remember him in training sessions and then take it onto the pitch.

“He was fantastic in training on Tuesday and Thursday and today, I thought he was really good.

“The amount of times he won the ball back off their full-back was superb.”