FROM the brink of despair, a hero emerged for Warrington Town.

Josh Amis did exactly what he was sent onto the pitch to do – make a nuisance of himself in and around Nantwich’s defenders.

After a superb second-half display looked to be in vain, the big striker’s presence was sufficient to force visiting keeper Greg Hall into a mistake.

In bundling home the loose ball, he ensured a point that was the minimum Yellows deserved for their efforts.

“Although they’ve scored in the second half, I thought we were the only team really looking for a win,” manager Paul Carden said.

“We certainly didn’t deserve to lose the game and if there was going to be a winner, I think it would have been us.”

It is certainly true of the second half at the very least, which was one-way traffic throughout after a superb Jack Dunn equaliser.

Above all, though, this was another captivating battle between these two Cheshire rivals and perennial promotion contenders.

It is Warrington who have had the best of these clashes of late, which is perhaps why Dabbers boss Dave Cooke paid them the ultimate compliment.

“They completely changed how they played,” said Carden, who himself made a slight tweak to his system “They put a centre-half up front and launched it to him.

“They didn’t look to play how Nantwich usually play because we’ve done a job on them the past few times we’ve played.

“I guess you could say they were paying us a compliment but it was their way of trying to get a result.”

Ben Harrison – usually a totem of strength in the Nantwich defence – was used as a focal point in attack and for long spells, it had the desired effect.

He won everything in the air, with Sean Cooke and Joe Mwasile picking up scraps around him.

Yellows themselves had Callum Grogan screening an unchanged back four, with Bohan Dixon pushed wide to the left of Jordan Buckley up front.

Whichever system they played, however, the goal that gave Nantwich the lead slightly against the run of play was avoidable as they allowed Mwasile a free header from a second phase set-piece.

“We started the game really well but we caused our own problems for the first goal,” Carden said.

“We went away from what was causing them problems and giving us joy. For a period, it rocked us a bit.

“It was quite nip-and-tuck in the first half, but we’ve come out in the second half and scored a great goal.”

The goal Carden references was indeed poetry in motion all round.

Charlie Munro – excellent again in a crowded midfield – found the perfect pass to release Dunn, whose control and lob over Hall was superbly judged.

After coming in for criticism for his display in the defeat at Mickleover 10 days ago, it was the perfect repayment of Carden’s faith in him.

“It’s a great move with five or six passes in, a great ball from Charlie and a great touch and finish by Jack,” the Town boss beamed.

“You’re then thinking about going on to win it – we had chances to put the ball in good areas but our final delivery and set pieces weren’t great at times.

“We were still trying and probing and they get a breakaway from our throw in.”

It truly looked to be a killer blow and on the balance of play, a completely undeserved one.

Charlie Albinson in the Yellows goal had been a virtual spectator since half time as wave after wave of attack pounded his opposite number’s goal, but he could do little about the goal that looked to steal the three points for Nantwich.

Substitute Connor Heath strode through on the counter-attack, with the yellow-carded Michael Rose fighting every instinct to avoid bringing him down and a certain sending-off.

His finish was unerring and now even more so, the Dabbers went into survival mode.

Yellows pressed on regardless and when Amis bundled in, they got their reward.

“You can’t fault the lads’ effort for keeping going and even after we equalised, we had chances to create opportunities,” Carden said.

“That final delivery and weight of pass just denied us the chance to make it happen.”

Perhaps as many eyes were on the action off the pitch, with the club taking more steps to ensure social distancing was adhered to at the ground.

In the main, the message seemed to have got through as fans were able to enjoy a thrilling spectacle safely.