WARRINGTON Town made a huge statement to start 2022 by thrashing promotion rivals Bamber Bridge.

In front of a bumper crowd of nearly 900 at Cantilever Park, three goals in 10 second-half minutes saw Mark Beesley's men dispatch their third-placed hosts.

Evan Gumbs and Josh Amis struck before Sean Williams converted a penalty for the second consecutive game as Town produced an emphatic scoreline.

Mitch Duggan had given Yellows a half-time lead with just his second league goal for the club, with Isaac Sinclair scoring a late consolation for the visitors.

Listen to Yellows boss Mark Beesley's post-match reaction here

Read sports reporter Matt Turner's verdict below

MAKE no mistake, this is a huge result for Warrington Town.

Seeing off a promotion rival with such consummate ease while teams around them drop points in front of a bumper New Year’s Day crowd.

Indeed, the only thing stopping it from being a perfect day was the concession of a late consolation goal to deny them a clean sheet.

That may well irk Mark Beesley, and indeed he admitted his side allowed things to get “messy” in the late stages, but he can look back on a thoroughly satisfying afternoon’s work.

Warrington Guardian:

Evan Gumbs celebrates doubling Yellows' lead. Picture by Jonathan Moore.

They had to ride out a storm as Bamber Bridge dominated the first quarter, setting a ferocious tempo both on and off the ball.

Even during that period, though, their goal wasn’t unduly threatened, and they were never really opened up – the closest the visitors came to a goal was Fin Sinclair-Smith grazing the post with a lob that came about from Dan Atherton’s poor clearance.

Once Town got a foothold, though, they started to threaten.

The midfield triumvirate of Jay Harris, Sean Williams and Bohan Dixon will not lose many engine room battles and they got a firm grip of this one, particularly after half time.

There was a bit of danger when Dan Martin hit the crossbar for the visitors with the score at 1-0, but 10 glorious minutes after the hour mark saw them build on the half-time lead given to them by a bullet Mitch Duggan header.

Time and again, Town found space going forward and the aforementioned spell saw them score three goals and threaten a few more.

Josh Amis produced another totemic display leading the line and was involved in all three second-half strikes.

It was from his header onto the post that Evan Gumbs turned in goal number two, he hit the target himself two minutes later before winning the penalty that Sean Williams converted.

With the top five now separated by just three points, things are boiling up nicely for a thrilling end to the campaign.

As they embark on a critical month of fixtures, they have made the perfect start. Happy New Year indeed!