Yellows snatch late win

WARRINGTON Town recorded their first away win of the season as they came from behind to beat Grantham Town 2-1.

A controversial red card for Grantham striker Luke Shaw midway through the second half with the hosts 1-0 up proved to be a turning point, as the Yellows secured all three points with a late winner.

Captain Ciaran Kilheeney scored both the goals as Warrington move up to seventh in the Evo-Stik League Premier Division following three wins and a draw in the last four.

After a fairly even first quarter, Warrington started to turn up the pressure half way through the first half.

Their best chance came when Kilheeney nodded down a cross from Ryan Winder, starting wide right in place of Scott Harries, for Gerard Kinsella, who hit the chance over the bar.

Striker Ben Deegan was starting to outmuscle the centre-halves, though his headers were often not finding their desired target.

They did on the half hour mark though, when his flick released Metcalfe only for the keeper to snuff out the chance.

Moments later, Deegan this time provided with the ball on the deck, giving Metcalfe time and space in the box to hit a firm left-footed shot which was well saved.

As half-time closed in, Warrington forced a succession of corners and it was after three of them that they created another chance through Winder. Metcalfe drilled a low cross from the left which was trapped by Kinsella for Winder, who should have done better than screwing wide from eight yards.

As it was, the Yellows would go in at half time a goal down. Against the run of play, Grantham created space on the edge of the box for Grant Ryan and when his weak shot was blocked, the ball fell kindly for Shaw who finished superbly low to Karl Wills’ right.

In the opening stages of the second half, it looked like that sucker punch was to prove too great for Warrington to recover from, as Grantham controlled the play.

Shaw almost added his second when his dipping volley landed on the roof of the net, but that was to prove his last shot of the game, as he was soon after given his marching orders.

As the tackles toughened up in midfield, Shaw went in studs up towards Ventre who was caught and went down in apparent pain, much to the annoyance of the home fans, who then watched their star man given a straight red card on the hour.

That shifted the momentum. Substitute Lewis Codling warmed the fingertips of the Grantham ‘keeper with an instinctive volley, and by 68 minutes the visitors were level.

Ventre’s corner found Deegan at the back post, and his nod down was tapped in by Kilheeney.

It was one way traffic as the Yellows pressed for a winner, rarely threatened on the break by the hosts.

Codling was looking the most dangerous threat on either flank, and his deep cross from the right was headed wide by Andy Nicholas.

As the game entered the final 10 minutes, Ventre forced a smart stop from the ‘keeper low at his near post having had his own corner headed back to him.

The pressure eventually told, as Codling’s cross to the back post was smartly knocked back over by Deegan for Kilheeney to nod home at the back post.

The win avenges the 1-0 home defeat Warrington suffered to Grantham back in August.

The Yellows are next in action on Tuesday night when they travel to Mickleover Sports.

Grantham: Turner, Meadows, Storey, Carr, Galkinski, Beckett (Durkin), Clifton, Lewis, Shaw, Ryan, Burrows (Saunders). Unused subs: Rorks, Sinclair.

Warrington Town: Wills, Grogan, Nicholas, Ventre, McCarten, Shaw, Winder (Codling), Kinsella, Kilheeney, Deegan, Metcalfe (Lenighan). Unused subs: O’Donnell, Gillespie, Cook.