WARRINGTON Rylands stormed up to second in the Northern Premier League West Division table.
Three second-half goals saw them thrash Kidsgrove Athletic at Gorsey Lane.
It allowed them to move to within two points of leaders Workington with a game in hand, although Marine and Mossley immediately below them have played fewer games than Dave McNabb's men.
Declan Walker opened the scoring just after the hour mark when his inswinging free kick from the left wing evaded everybody to find the bottom corner.
Kane Drummond doubled Blues' lead with 15 minutes remaining with a tidy finish before Callum Dolan weaved through the Kidsgrove defence to round off the scoring.
From top, Kane Drummond and Callum Dolan score against Kidsgrove. Pictures by Mark Percy
Check out the post-match thoughts of manager Dave McNabb below
Here’s the thoughts of @davidmcnabb82 following today’s victory⚽️#WeAreRylands pic.twitter.com/cwDA5m89Nw
— Warrington Rylands FC (@RylandsFC) October 16, 2021
Outstanding performance from start to finish today. Completely controlled the game against a very good Kidsgrove side 🙌🏻👌🏻
couple of brilliant goals as well 👏🏻👏🏻@RylandsFC 3-0 @OfficialKAFC pic.twitter.com/FATErPA9z6
— David McNabb (@davidmcnabb82) October 16, 2021
Read Garry Clarke's match report below
WARRINGTON Rylands kept up the pressure on the league leaders, moving up to second place in the NPL West table after a comfortable win over Kidsgrove Athletic at Gorsey Lane.
In a scrappy, goalless first half, both sides were restricted to shooting from distance although Joe Coveney engineered an opening for Callum Dolan, who stabbed the ball wide with only the keeper to beat.
Dolan and Owen Robinson both fired shots from outside the box off target while Kidsgrove goalkeeper Kieran Harrison tipped a Lewis Earl strike over the bar.
Kidsgrove’s Alex Morris cleared a Joe Bunney header from a corner off the line in the 30th minute while in the closing stages of the half, Bunney had a shot from another corner blocked and Robinson flashed the ball across the face of Kidsgove’s goal.
Having rarely troubled the Rylands goal in the first half, Kidsgrove had three great chances to score in the opening 10 minutes of the second.
Kieran Brown broke away from the Rylands defence and with only goalkeeper Graeme McCall to beat, screwed his shot inches wide of the post.
After Harrison had saved bravely at the feet of Kane Drummond, McCall pulled off a brilliant save to keep out a Kingsley Adu-Gyamfi volley.
After Anthony Malbon had headed a cross over the Rylands bar, the home side started to dominate the game.
A 57th-minute Declan Walker free kick caused confusion in the Kidsgrove penalty area, in the scramble several shots were blocked until Joe Denman’s was deflected over the bar for a corner.
Five minutes later, another Walker free kick evaded everyone as it flew past Harrison, who got his hand on the ball but could only help it on its way into the net.
Kidsgrove pushed extra players forward in search of an equaliser, which left gaps at the back.
For all their efforts, the visitors could not find a way past a resolute Rylands rearguard while their own defence was having difficulties coping with the pacy Rylands forwards who were eager to exploit the additional space available to them.
Harrison reacted well to tip a deflected Dolan shot onto the roof of the net and Rylands had claims for a penalty turned down when Ste Milne went down in the box.
Rylands doubled their lead in the 75th minute when Dolan slipped the ball into the path of Drummond, who drilled the ball underneath the diving Harrison.
Dolan completed the scoring in the 82nd minute when he ended a mazy run through the heart of the Kidsgrove defence – beating several defenders on route – by slipping the ball coolly into the net past a helpless Harrison.
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