A LATE equaliser cost Warrington Town two points as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Lancaster City at Cantilever Park.
It will have almost felt like a defeat for the home side, and absent manager Shaun Reid, when Matthew Poole flicked Garry Hunter’s free-kick over the onrushing Karl Wills in the 90th minute.
They had led through Ciaran Kilheeney’s first half goal, but the decisive second never came and they were made to pay and lost yet more points in the early stages of their promotion chase.
Lancaster had enjoyed long spells of possession throughout the match, without really showing much potency in attack, despite the presence of former Football League striker Danny Carlton in their ranks.
There were a couple of familiar faces on their bench, manager Darren Peacock and assistant Trevor Sinclair, both former Premier League players, while Sinclair was on the pitch at Cantilever Park last season – as part of the BBC’s live coverage of the famous FA Cup win over Exeter City.
An early indication of Lancaster’s danger at set pieces was highlighted in the second minute, when captain Neil Marshall managed to sneak in to the box unmarked and get a header on a dangerous Hunter delivery.
Town had the best chance of the early exchanges though, Nathan Burke rifling a first-time shot that whistled just over the bar from Kilheeney’s lay-off.
The hosts started to take charge around the half hour mark, Conor Roberts long range effort tipped over by goalkeeper Michael Hale which prompted an intense spell of Town pressure.
From the resulting corner, Kilheeney header struck the inside of the post and flashed across the goal, before James McCarten struck the rebound through a ruck of bodies and it was cleared off the line.
The pressure told, and on 33 minutes, Ben Wharton won the ball back from a Lancaster defence who had been eager to play from the back for the whole match, hit a shot against the far post and this time the rebound was tapped in by Kilheeney.
There were a handful of chances to make it two before the break too, first Wharton broke through and was denied by Hale, before Kilheeney’s header from Chris Gahgan’s free kick was beaten away by the Lancaster goalkeeper.
The half ended with a tough chance for Wharton, a header at the back post from Ally Brown’s cross, and the break came at a good time for the Dolly Blues.
A slow-starting second half turned in to an arm wrestle, and Town started to retreat.
Hunter gave another reminder of his threat from dead balls with a teasing free-kick that was flicked goal wards on 62 minutes, that Wills did remarkably well to tip wide for a corner.
At the other end, a neat turn and acceleration by Gahgan saw him in to the box before a defender intervened and conceded a corner.
As time ran out, captain Craig Robinson was increasingly called in to action at the back and the rearguard action just couldn’t hold out for long enough.
Hunter’s free kick landed in an area of uncertainty for Wills, who rushed out of his goal and was beaten to it by Poole to the delight of the sprinkling of Lancaster fans behind the goal.
Town are next in action at Mossley on Saturday (3pm).
Warrington Town: Wills, Brown, McQuade, Roberts, McCarten, Robinson, Gahgan (Turner), Burke, Kilheeney, Wharton, Metcalfe. Unused subs: O’Donnell, Noon, Lester, Gillespie.
Lancaster City: Hale, Antoine-Clarke, Freeland, Davies, Marshall, Hunter, Winder, Akrigg, Carlton (Poole), Taylor, Clark (Gregson). Unused subs: Hudson, Street, Donlon.
