MARK Beesley laid the blame for Warrington Town’s latest home defeat at the door of a poor first-half performance as they slumped to a fifth consecutive loss on home soil.

Hereford left Cantilever Park with a 2-1 victory, with first-half goals from Lewis Hudson and Andy Williams giving Town too much to do after the break.

They did get one back after the break as skipper Josh Amis netted, but Matt Grivosti’s red card shortly afterwards cost them the chance to build momentum.

“It’s really disappointing, especially the first half,” Beesley said.

“We came out and showed a little bit more in the second half, scored a good goal but then obviously went down to 10 men but we stayed in the game.

“After that, we didn’t really get far enough up the pitch to get any real momentum.

“It’s something we can’t let happen again. We’ve had very patchy form at home – there was a period when we won four or five on the bounce then we lost a few.

“The Gloucester game was a big loss – we performed really well and should never have lost.

“Perhaps the games have caught up on us a little bit – I’m not sure – but we’ll have to sit down, find out the reasons why and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“To lose and not perform as we’d have liked in the last few home games is frustrating, not just for myself and the players but for the supporters.

“As we’ve gone round to thank them for their support, the amount of good wishes we got was outstanding and I’d just like to thank them again publicly because they’ve been excellent home and away.

“The club is growing all the time – to have a 1,200 average gate this season is unbelievable and the place is unrecognisable to when I walked in.”

Amis’ goal – a left-footed curling effort in the early stages of the second half – was the captain’s first goal since New Year’s Day and his seventh of the season in total.

He has struggled for fitness throughout the campaign and will have shoulder surgery when the season finishes, but Beesley says his continued desire to play through the pain barrier speaks volumes about his skipper.

“He has to have an operation in the summer and we all know that, but he still wants to play,” he said.

“He wants to play through something that he could potentially make worse.

“He’s a talisman – he’s been good for this club since the day I walked in and he’ll continue to be good next season.

“We just need to get him fit, get his injuries fixed and hopefully get him firing.”

As Amis netted for Town, top goalscorer Isaac Buckley-Ricketts was on the turf having sustained an injury that would force him off the field.

With Connor Woods absent with an injury he picked up during last week’s draw at Tamworth, it meant Yellows were without the services of two men who have scored 28 league goals between them this season.

“The two of them are potent and are our biggest goal threat so when they’re not playing, they’re a loss,” Beesley said.

“I can’t blame it on a lack of bodies or players – the team we had out on the pitch was good enough to perform better and that’s what I’m looking at, particularly in the first half.

“Everyone who went out on that pitch needed to perform better in the first half.”

Around 10 minutes after Amis’ goal, Town’s hopes were dealt a blow by Grivosti’s dismissal for a late challenge on Hudson.

A similar challenge from the Hereford left-back on Grivosti went unpunished shortly beforehand and while critical of referee Jon Chadwick’s overall display, Beesley says his forward was wrong to seek that kind of retribution.

“The same tackle happened on him two or three minutes before and between them, they didn’t see it,” he said.

“I’ve spoken to Matty and regardless, he then can’t do the same tackle on him.

“If their guy got away with it then maybe he should in his defence, but he shouldn’t be doing that.

“He should try and be more professional about it but he’s got himself sent off, which means he’s going to miss the last game and the first couple of next season.

“It’s affected him and affected us in the game today.

“I thought there was a foul on Peter Clarke for their first goal, Matty McDonald has gone through the middle of the pitch with them trying to kick him three or four times and he’s just played on. It’s a booking at least.

“I don’t like talking about referees – the one today wasn’t great but that’s just the way they are at the moment.”