MARK Beesley thought Warrington Town were “back to their old selves” as they safely negotiated a tricky FA Trophy tie at Hebburn Town.

Facing a side flying high in the division below, Yellows secured a 2-1 victory thanks to Sean Williams’ last-minute penalty.

Hebburn had taken the lead just after the interval thanks to Oliver Martin’s spot kick, with Josh Amis levelling with his first goal of the campaign just shy of the hour mark.

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“The performance was very good I thought,” Beesley said.

“The first half looked like we were back to our old selves, even in parts of the second half it was back to how we had been.

“We’ve got to keep doing that and results and goals will come. If we play like that, it will happen.

“I thought we were very good in the first half. They had one header from a set piece but apart from that, we controlled the game.

“We created chances and I felt it was only a matter of time before it came.

“We had 11 opportunities to score in the first half, which is good but we need to make them count.”

It looked as though the tie would be decided by the lottery of a penalty shoot-out until Williams got the chance to settle the game in the final minute after Josh Seary was felled inside the box.

“For teams at a lower level, penalties is a good result for you. They were happy with penalties because it’s a lottery then,” Beesley said.

“At that point, we hadn’t done enough to win but eventually, we got over the line.

“Their penalty is soft but it’s good forward play. He’s done it all his career.

“As soon as he gets contact, he goes down and because he’s a big lad, it looks a penalty.

“We spoke to the ref about watching it and I thought they did in the first half but then in the second half, he was a totally different referee.”

Town gave a debut to forward Connor Woods, who started the game after joining on a month’s loan from Southport on Friday.

His arrival eases a growing injury list in attacking areas, with Isaac Buckley-Ricketts (appendicitis) and Mikey Howard (knee) joining Jordan Buckley (ankle) on the sidelines.

Yellows are back in league action on Tuesday when they welcome Gainsborough Trinity to Cantilever Park.