WARRINGTON Town brought their losing run to an end with a critical victory on Saturday afternoon.
Yellows went into the game having lost their last three games but an early goal proved enough to see off high-flying Radcliffe at Cantilever Park.
Stefan Mols powered home the game’s only goal from a Mitch Duggan cross in the fourth minute before a combination of the woodwork, some good saves from goalkeeper Tony Thompson and desperate last-ditch defending kept the visitors out after the break.
Town: Thompson, Seary, Duggan, Hannigan (Mfuni), Gumbs, McDonald, Mols, Williams (Buckley-Ricketts), Amis (Walker), Dixon, Howard. Subs not used: Duffy, Murray
> Click here to read the post-match thoughts of Town manager Mark Beesley
Read Matt Turner's verdict on the game here
BY hook or by crook, Warrington Town simply had to win this game.
They did just that and while it wasn’t quite the swashbuckling, cavalier way in which many would have liked, their route to victory will no doubt have pleased under-pressure boss Mark Beesley.
Defeat here would have been a fourth in a row – the first time they will have had such a run for a decade.
However, it was clear in the second half that this Town side are one thing if nothing else – fighters.
Given the way in which they flung themselves in the way of shots as Radcliffe piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser, any suggestions supporters may have had that the players have stopped playing for their manager are surely wide of the mark.
Yes, they had to ride their luck – the woodwork even coming to their aid on one occasion to deny Luca Navarro on the one occasion in which their defence was truly carved open – but they will take so much confidence from the clean sheet as much as the victory.
At the heart of those efforts to stem the Radcliffe tide was Evan Gumbs, who was once again imperious in defence.
Now back to full fitness after an injury-plagued couple of seasons, he has arguably been Town’s player of the year thus far.
The difference-maker, though, was Stefan Mols.
His craft and movement caused the visitors no end of issues in the first half and it was his early header which caused a collective sigh of relief around Cantilever Park and eventually proved critical.
Matty McDonald was industrious in midfield in a slightly more adventurous variation on Town’s 4-3-3 formation, with McDonald and Sean Williams given more license to go and support Josh Amis, who led the line excellently.
They got what they needed, now can they use it as a base to launch themselves onto the kind of consistent run that has eluded them for so long?
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