DESPITE taking the lead three times, Warrington Town were forced to settle for a point against promotion rivals Buxton.

Jamie Ward's second-half equaliser - his second goal of the game - ensured a share of the spoils in a rip-roaring encounter at Silverlands.

Jordan Buckley had earlier taken his goal tally to 16 for the season with a first-half double, with the Bucks coming back via Ward's penalty and Tommy Elliot's tap-in.

Sean Williams' stunning goal on the stroke of half time gave Town the lead for a third time.

Listen to Yellows boss Mark Beesley's post-match thoughts on the game here

Read sports reporter Matt Turner's verdict below

UNDER most circumstances, a draw away at promotion rivals would not be a bad result.

In this context, however, the waters are somewhat muddied.

After the game, Mark Beesley affirmed that this one felt like a point gained and two dropped at the same time for Warrington Town.

On three occasions they took the lead but each time, they found themselves pegged back by the pre-season favourites for the Northern Premier League title.

No matter the opposition, failing to convert that kind of position into three points has to go down as a disappointment.

Judging by the way they were hanging on in the final stages, however, there will be some element of relief that they got out of Silverlands unbeaten thanks to a miraculous goalline block from skipper Mark Roberts

What will also rankle is that all three of Buxton’s goals – particularly the second and third – came during periods in which Town had the game under their spell.

The concession of them was sloppy, too – the hosts were allowed to progress to an attacking position too easily and Dan Atherton flapped at a cross to present Tommy Elliott with a second equaliser before Jamie Ward was left unmarked to head home what was ultimately the final goal of the game.

There may have been an element of controversy about the award of the penalty for Ward’s first goal – Roberts appeared to get a foot to the ball when tangling with Warren Clark – but again Buxton found it too easy to get into that kind of position.

At the other end, though, Town gave a further demonstration of their improvement going forward as they caused the hosts no end of problems at the back.

Jack Mackreth tormented Bucks left-back Nathan Fox and once that became evident, they looked to get the ball to him at the earliest opportunity.

Standing out once again, though, was Jordan Buckley.

Even aside from his two clinical finishes to take him to 16 goals for the season, this was a tireless centre forward’s display.

Despite having two centre-halves to occupy, he did so admirably and ran himself into the ground.

While the end-to-end nature will not have done much for the heart rates of either manager, this was a quite excellent game to watch for the neutral – a fine advertisement for Northern Premier League football.

For Town, it is a definite case of mixed emotions.