JORDAN Buckley scored for the sixth league game in a row to earn Warrington Town a point at Nantwich Town.
The striker came up with a leveller midway through the second half, converting James Baillie's cross for his ninth goal of the campaign.
Yellows had trailled at the break as a result of an error from goalkeeper Dan Atherton, who dropped a high ball on the goalline for Dabbers skipper Joel Stair to convert.
Listen to post-match reaction from Yellows boss Paul Carden here
Read sports reporter Matt Turner's full match verdict below
A COUPLE of weeks ago, this may have been a game Warrington Town would have lost.
At times when things have gone against them this season, this Yellows group have been too accepting of defeat and haven’t believed a way back was possible.
The manner in which they fell behind on this occasion would have made anybody feel a bit sorry for themselves and wonder if somebody above was not smiling on them.
Dan Atherton – so assured between the sticks for Yellows this season – made arguably his first serious error in a Town shirt, uncharacteristically dropping a simple catch on his goalline and Nantwich skipper Joel Stair accepted the gift.
Dan Atherton spills the ball to allow Nantwich to take the lead. Pictures by Karl Vallentine
Frustrating it was as until that point, Yellows had carried the greater threat.
Jay Harris and Sean Williams were again the midfield metronome that kept things ticking over to allow Town to dominate possession against a strangely passive home side.
Perhaps a sign of a side that had lost four of its six home games coming into the fixture, the Dabbers were happy to sit off and let the pace of the game be dictated.
While Town were accepting of the invitation, they could not really convert that into clear-cut goalscoring opportunities as Jordan Buckley struggled ploughing a lone furrow up front.
Too often he was forced to face his own goal as Josh Langley in particular did a good job of marshalling the in-form hitman.
After the hosts had grabbed the lead, things became more frantic for Town and if anything, there were periods in which they looked like falling further behind.
Matt Grivosti competes for possession. Picture by Karl Vallentine
Indeed, they were wide open on the counter-attack and if the hosts had been more clinical in their execution, they could have made the situation irretrievable.
Yellows needed to show character, and they did just that.
Their goal was as well crafted as the hosts’ was fortunate – a delightful ball down the channel from Harris, an adept cross from Baillie and a typically ruthless finish from the irrepressible Buckley.
He certainly improved after the break after Josh Amis had come on to take the brunt of the physical workload, allowing him to stretch the defence with his pace and power.
Josh Amis was brought on at half time. Picture by Karl Vallentine
Paul Carden has spoken about his side playing more to Buckley’s strengths and it appears he is more capable of doing that when he has somebody up alongside him.
From the moment the hitman’s ninth goal of the season bulged the net, Town did not look like losing the game.
Given the chances they created as well – Luke Duffy’s in particular after two exquisite touches had earned him a one-on-one chance that he struck straight at home keeper Matt Gould – they may well feel they merited all three points.
Another building block is in place, but high-flying Whitby Town will arrive at Cantilever Park on Saturday intent on sending Yellows back to square one.
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