Warrington Town 1-1 Scarborough Athletic, by James Gordon pictures John Hopkins
SUBSTITUTE Anthony Hickey rescued a point for Warrington Town at home to Scarborough Athletic.
Hickey (pictured top) stood up a defender and crashed home with a clinical finish to level the game at 1-1 and virtually end the visitors slim hopes of reaching the end-of-season play-offs.
Scarborough, looking to avenge a 4-2 home defeat suffered in the reverse fixture, were thankful to in-form goalkeeper Joseph Cracknell at times, though they always looked threatening in attack, particularly through impressive left midfielder Daniel Clayton.
There were early warning signs for Town when a loose ball was allowed to bounce across the edge of the box, before Alex Medcalfe fired over the bar.
Captain Gary Bradshaw then picked up the ball with his back to goal following a missed clearance by a Warren Beattie, although his cheeky backheel was easy enough for goalkeeper Karl Wills to collect.
Athletic took the lead on 18 minutes when the dangerous Clayton found space on the left, took on right-back Liam Turner, and just as it seemed the youngster had done enough to force him out wide, Clayton guided a shot in to the far corner.
From then on, Town generally had the better of the first half. Hard-working striker Stephen Tames got in behind the defence down the left, took the ball along the by-line and forced a smart stop from Cracknell at his near post, with Ben Wharton waiting on the far side.
On a rare occasion that the hosts managed to spring Scarborough’s tight offside trap, Tames had to wait for the awkwardly bouncing ball to come down before drawing an athletic stop from Cracknell, who parried the ball to his left and safety.
Bradshaw and Clayton were behind most of the good things the visitors did, and Clayton had another sighting of goal on the stroke of half time. He was found in acres of space on the left, but this time Turner did enough to close the space and take the sting out of the shot, allowing Craig Robinson to clear.
Robinson had the first half chance of the second half, acrobatically attempting to divert Scott Metcalfe’s (pictured) teasing free-kick towards goal, and then Metcalfe was denied at point blank range by Cracknell following a terrific right-wing delivery from Nathan Burke.
With only pride to play for in the league, Town now have eyes on the Doodson Sport Cup final against Farsley on April 30th, and they were dealt a worry when substitute Gerard Kinsella was forced off injured just 15 minutes after being introduced at half time.
Clayton had a chance to put the game to bed, though Robinson did enough to put him off and the shot ballooned high and wide of the goal.
It was Kinsella’s replacement, Hickey, who levelled the scores on 68 minutes, standing up his man and then finally beating Cracknell’s resolve.
From then on, Town looked most likely to find a winner with Scarborough restricted to a handful of fruitless counter attacks, though a third goal never came and both sides had to settle for a point, which will more than likely mean the visitors hold on to 7th place in the table, one above Warrington.
Shaun Reid’s side are back in action at home to Ossett Albion on Saturday, kick off 3pm, followed by the visit of Darlington next Tuesday.
Warrington: Wills, Turner, Hardwick, Beattie, McCarten (Corrigan), Robinson, Gahgan (Kinsella, Hickey), Burke, Wharton, Tames, Metcalfe. Unused subs: Mannix, Collins.
Scarborough: Cracknell, Plummer, Robson, Middleton, Wilkinson, Clayton, Bradshaw, Davidson, Blott, Corner (Murray), Medcalfe. Unused subs: Ridley, Lisles, Beadle, Skelton.
