Warrington Town 1

Castleton Gabriels 2

NEW Town boss Steve Jackson let rip in the dressing rooms after Tuesday night's North Western Trains League opening defeat at Cantilever Park.

It was Jackson's first game in charge after arriving from Bootle and he thought his team should have won.

Club official Dave Hughes, last year's manager, said: "It should have been all over by half-time. We should have been 5-1 up.

"In the second half we never played. Our players never did what we asked them to do and Castleton threw an extra man up front which our players didn't seem to be able to handle."

Town's sliding fortunes in the game seemed to coincide with an injury to skipper Fadi Hannah.

The former Bootle player was exceptional in the first half, spraying passes all over the park, running with the ball and putting his foot in when it counted. But in the second half he disappeared and was substituted.

Hughes said: "He took a knock in the first half. He had been buzzing but it affected his game after the break. It is fair to say he was the difference."

Castleton took the lead in the 35th minute against the run of play when Neil Collier forced the ball home with his chest.

Three minutes later Town, whose side included seven new faces from last season, were back on level terms. Ian Bold, who had missed a sitter previously, banged home the ball after it fell to him in space from a scramble.

The Rochdale side hit their winner through striker Tony Diamond six minutes from time to make it a good start to the season for them with two away wins.

Team: Paul Knights, Steve Weston, Chris Hunt, Ian Murphy, Mark Cowell, Mike Arnold, Ian Bold, Jerry Coll, Fadi Hanna, Phil Farrelly, Paul Berry. Subs: Kevin Tyrell, Tony Stockton, Neil Holden.

Tomorrow, Saturday, Town are home to Chadderton, kick-off 3pm.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.