WARRINGTON Town ended their run of home defeats on Tuesday evening but dropped more points at Cantilever Park.
Josh Miles’ leveller just after half time cancelled out an opener from Leamington’s Callum Stewart, both both sides were forced to settle for a point.
Miles was on hand to slide the ball home after a surging run through midfield from Matty McDonald, who played the ball into the path of the on-loan Blackpool winger.
The first half had seen Town fall behind to Stewart’s close-range poke after Town had failed to decisively deal with a corner.
Read Matt Turner's verdict on the action below
A GAME neither side can claim with any real certainty that they did enough to win.
And for Warrington Town, that is a concern in itself.
A run of four consecutive home fixtures was a chance to build a solid foundation for themselves in this most difficult of seasons and after an impressive win over well-fancied Kidderminster Harriers to start it, they looked well set to take advantage.
However, the point they shared with Leamington is their only other return and in truth, it looked like the previous two defeats to Needham Market and Farsley Celtic had piled an inescapable pressure onto this largely young and inexperienced Town side that is learning on the job in the school of hard knocks that is the National League North.
Groaning under the weight of further injuries – evidenced by winger Matt Grivosti being forced to play out of position at right-back – manager Mark Beesley changed his system to best suit what he had available.
Initially, it looked as though the switch to a 4-4-2 to pair strikers Joe Rodwell-Grant and Gez Sithole together may pay off as Town made the early running, with the latter looking particularly lively.
However, the limitations of that system soon became clear – pressing was difficult and with an extra man in midfield, Leamington found it relatively simple to play through although that cause was aided by sloppiness in possession from the hosts.
And when Callum Stewart somehow found space in a crowded penalty box from a corner to control the ball, set himself and poke home – the latest in a line of highly preventable goals conceded – a familiar feeling of dread swept around Cantilever Park.
What would their response be? Initially at least, not what they would have wanted as the goal seemed to knock them completely off stride.
Immediately after half time, however, that response came. Josh Miles will get the credit for the goal and while his finish was calm, it stemmed from the kind of driving run through midfield that Matty McDonald has made his trademark.
He has undoubtedly been the jewel in Town’s crown this year but the squad situation has forced him into a deeper role than he would perhaps like to play. This goal only served to highlight the importance of getting McDonald back into a more advanced position as soon as possible.
From there, the stage was set to kick on and secure a precious three points, but it is difficult to remember either side creating a clear-cut chance after parity was restored.
The flow of the game was not helped by some overzealous officiating from referee Alexander Beckett as Cantilever Park echoed all too often to the sound of his whistle, but Town must take their share of the blame for that for conceding needlessly soft free kicks to allow Leamington to take the sting out of the game.
And as the half went on, Beesley not turning to his bench even just to freshen up an increasingly tired-looking side seemed mystifying even if his options – two men carrying heavy knocks in Mikey O’Neill and Ollie Southern and the untested trio of Sam Gill, Deacon Smalley and goalkeeper Harry Roper – were somewhat limited.
Overall, though, this was the display of a team whose effort cannot be called into question, but one that is clearly scratching around for confidence.
And with a tough run of games to come, things are not going to get any easier and frustration – both on the pitch and on the terraces – is starting to build.
Warrington Town: Atherton, White, Hannigan, Gumbs, Woods, McDonald, Rodwell-Grant, Dixon, Sithole, Miles, Grivosti. Subs not used: Roper, O’Neill, Gill, Smalley, Southern
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