A DIFFICULT Bank Holiday weekend for Warrington Town was rounded off by a second defeat in three days.
Town were beaten 4-1 by Curzon Ashton to record their heaviest home defeat since September 2017, with only a late consolation goal from Dylan Mottley-Henry to show for their efforts.
After a quiet first half, the visitors hit Yellows with a double strike on the stroke of half time – Jordan Richards curled home a free kick before Will Hayhurst converted a penalty after ex-Town midfielder Stefan Mols had been brought down by Peter Clarke.
Mols then set up Hayhurst’s second goal after the break to end the game as a contest and although Mottley-Henry nodded home his first Town goal late on, substitute Isaac Sinclair rounded off the scoring on the counter-attack late on.
> Town boss Beesley keen to learn from 'sobering' Curzon Ashton defeat
Read Matt Turner's verdict on the action below
THERE will be plenty of “welcome to the National League North” moments for Warrington Town this season.
This was another and from their point of view, it was the wrong kind.
It has to be said that 4-1 is arguably a harsh scoreline on the hosts as they had the general run of play, but they were once again given a lesson in ruthlessness by a clinical visiting side.
Curzon had four attempts on target and all of them found Tony Thompson’s net having set up to soak up pressure without the ball before counter-attacking.
From their point of view, it was the perfect away performance as Stefan Mols – a big part of the Town squad that won promotion last year – proved his old side’s tormentor-in-chief.
He won the free kick that was curled home by Jordan Richards and the penalty that Will Hayhurst dispatched, with both coming on the stroke of half time following an utterly forgettable first half.
From looking pretty comfortable in the game, Town all of a sudden found themselves in a grave position and it was a blow from which they never recovered.
Mols was again the creator for Hayhurst’s second shortly after the break that ended the game as a contest and while Town continued to have plenty of the ball, moments of alarm for the Curzon defence were few and far between until Dylan Mottley-Henry, who often cut a frustrated figure on the right flank, at least ensured they would not be kept scoreless.
It was a game that bore similarities to the home loss to Blyth earlier this month in that Town had the lion share of the ball but were arguably too passive with it and nowhere near creative enough.
There is, of course, mitigation in the sheer number of key players unavailable to Mark Beesley but with the situation unlikely to be alleviated any time soon save for the return of Bohan Dixon from suspension, they must learn to use what they have better.
Things will not get any easier but they are finding out the hard way that any chinks in their armour will be ruthlessly exposed at this new level.
Warrington Town: Thompson, Walker (Buckley-Ricketts), White, Hannigan, Woods (Bennett), Williams, Pettifer (Buckley), Mottley-Henry, Duggan, Grivosti, Clarke. Subs not used: Atherton, Murray
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