PROMOTION chasing Warrington Town were forced to settle for a point on a frustrating Tuesday night against Workington.
A David Symington equaliser in the early stages of the second half earned the visitors a 1-1 draw as the Yellows struggled in front of goal, just as they did at Stalybridge on Saturday.
They had taken a first half lead through Mehki Leacock-McLeod but the returning Luke Pilling was the busiest of the two goalkeepers.
After missing two games on international duty with Wales Under 21s, Pilling returned to the side with Leacock-McLeod making his home debut from the start having impressed as a second half substitute at the weekend.
No doubt keen to bounce back from seeing their six-game unbeaten run ended, the Yellows started brightly and Leacock-McLeod had his first chance inside six minutes as he nipped in front of a defender and dragged a shot wide of the near post.
Joe Piggott shot over from wide out and then headed over a difficult chance from a Sean Williams cross.
The hosts weren’t having it all their own way and Pilling made a superb double stop on 21 minutes, first denying Conor Tinnion one-on-one and then scrambling across to save the rebound from Joshua Calvert.
It was a well-matched contest and the deadlock was broken shortly before the half hour mark as Aaron Taylor spilled what looked like a routine cross at the back post and Leacock-McLeod nipped in to stretch and prod the ball in to the empty net for 1-0.
Half time came at the right time for the hosts, Tinnion shooting wide on the whistle, but within three minutes the scores were level.
It started from a throw in back in their own half, but the Reds moved it forward and released Symington on the right and he hit a well-struck shot across Pilling, who couldn’t keep it out despite getting a hand on it.
The momentum was with Workington and they almost made it a double sucker punch a minute later when Robert Wilson marched forward in to the box and pulled back for Steven Rigg, who couldn’t get a decent connection as he fell backwards.
Allison had a couple of chances that came to nothing but the best chance came on 62 minutes when a cross from the left fell perfectly for Wilson and it looked like a certain goal, but for an excellent one handed save by Pilling to his left.
Warrington were struggling for fluidity in the final third and didn’t really test Taylor. They were restricted to a couple of shots from Tony Gray that dropped wide and eventually both sides were forced to settle for a point.
A big win for Altrincham over Shaw Lane means the Yellows have now fallen six points behind the league leaders, having reduced the gap to just one point seven days a go.
Warrington travel to Whitby on Saturday before hosting play-off rivals Witton Albion on Easter Monday.
Warrington Town: Pilling, Carden, McKeown, Williams (Jennings), Goulding, Green, Kinsella (Bakare), Piggott (Beeley), Gray, Leacock-McLeod. Unused subs: Barnes, Hayhurst.
Workington: Taylor, Douglas, Rowntree, Wordsworth, Calvert, Wright, Symington, Wilson (Brown), Allison, Rigg, Tinnion (Mellen). Unused subs: Smith, Mossop, Hetherington.
