Jimmy Eyles is held by goal-scorer James McCarten
Table-toppers Warrington Town gained revenge for their FA Cup defeat to Ossett Town in a lacklustre game at Ingfield, writes James Grayson.
James McCarten’s fifth minute free kick was all Evo Stik Division One North leaders Warrington needed in a match that was devoid of quality.
Despite a second consecutive league defeat Ossett boss Craig Elliott was happy with his team’s performance as he had wanted a better display to the one in the 4-0 capitulation at Bamber Bridge last week.
“I can’t fault the lads today, it was an even match and there was nothing between both teams,” he told Sports Performer.
“They scored a free kick after three minutes, which was a debatable free kick as well and after that I don’t think there were many chances in the matches. Both teams seemed to cancel each other out.
“We’ve played them about four times since I’ve been here and we’ve had four draws. I know we won after extra time in Warrington, but after 90 minutes we’ve had four draws and today was a smilar game.
Fernando Moke moves away from Chris Gaghan
“Me and Shaun Reid have had some good battles and if I’m being honest, I thought we deserved a draw today. But, that’s football, they got their lead and they hung onto it. We had a couple of chances, the keeper made a good save from Jimmy Eyles, but both teams were restricted to 25 to 30-yard attempts.
“Both teams were lacking a bit of quality in the final third and I think both defences were on top. After last week when we were poor, I asked the lads to give a solid performance and we did do.
“I wanted us to be a harder team to beat and I didn’t want us to be exposed like we were last week. We’ve been playing 4-3-3 in most matches and today we went with a 4-4-2 to try and make us more solid. It worked, but we just didn’t get the luck.”
James McCarten celebrates his goal
Ossett had started the game well, but on Warrington’s first attack, Elliott’s men conceded a free-kick 25-yards away from goal. McCarten stepped up and managed to lift the ball over the four-man wall and into the bottom corner past goalkeeper Tom Taylor.
Warrington almost extended their lead soon after. Scott Metcalfe’s long range effort seemed destined for the top corner until Taylor pulled off a tremendous save by palming the ball for a corner.
Ossett had a couple of half-chances through headers from Steve Jeff and Ryan Qualter, but that was it. The first half was littered with errors and little fouls and never flowed into a spectacle.
Shaun Reid shouts at referee Donahue
Warrington boss Shaun Reid provided some entertainment towards the end of the opening 45 minutes when he was warned by the referee for heckling. This woke the young Ossett fans behind his dugout up and they started chanting “off, off, off”.
Reid, who was sent off in the FA Cup second qualifying round replay between the two sides, was allowed to stay in the dugout on this occasion, but he cut a frustrated figure in the second half as his side failed to build on their lead.
Ossett enjoyed a good start to the half as the home side searched for the equaliser. Calum Ward made his first appearance at Ingfield since joining from Glasshoughton Welfare and he did well against two physical defenders in Craig Robinson and McCarten.
Calum Ward battles with the Warrington defence
Ward supplied Andrew Fox, who saw his effort saved by Joshua Cook in the Warrington goal, early on in the second half. On the hour, Eyles was denied by Cook.
Ossett continued to huff and puff, but Warrington were comfortably holding out. Ossett substitutes Gareth Grant, Kyle Hawthorne and Chris Wood failed to make a difference in the final act of the game and Cook was never properly troubled.
But, Warrington were sporadic with their attacks which meant Ossett were defensively sound. McCarten saw another free kick go high over the crossbar in one of few attempts. During injury-time when Ossett were bombing forward, former Radcliffe Borough striker Ben Wharton broke clear, but he blasted the ball straight at Taylor in the one-on-one situation.
That was one of the last chances of the match and Ossett have to pick themselves up for the local derby with former Town boss Paul Lines’ Wakefield FC on Tuesday night at Ingfield.
Ossett Town: Taylor, McGrory, Jeff, Patterson (Hawthorne 80), Connor, Qualter (captain), Fox, Sharry, Eyles, Ward (Grant 80), Moke (C Wood 71). Subs unused: N Wood, Fisher.
Warrington Town: Cook, Davies, Thompson, McKenna (Ruane HT), McCarten, Robinson, Gaghan (Wharton 70), Mannix (captain), Bowen (Newby 80), Meakin, Metcalfe. Subs unused: Kilheeney, Dawson.
Referee: M Donohue
Attendance: 120
Man of the match: Craig Robinson (Warrington Town)
Match Photos are HERE