TEN-MAN Warrington Town crashed to a disappointing 4-1 defeat at Burscough, their first loss of the new season.
Town never recovered from conceding inside the first 30 seconds as the hosts picked up their first win of the new campaign in what was a lacklustre performance all round by Shaun Reid’s men.
Two down at half time, the sending off of Danny Ventre did little to help Town’s cause and even when they did hand themselves a lifeline with nine minutes to play, they went on to concede minutes later to end any hope of snatching what probably would have been an undeserved point.
The 151-strong crowd had barely took to their positions in the stands and the ball was in the back of the net, a poor clearance by Karl Wills falling to the feet of Liam Caddick, who didn’t need a second invitation to finish in to the virtually empty net.
That left the visitors, with one win and two draws in their opening three games prior to this, shell-shocked although they almost restored parity within two minutes when Joe Camozzi cleared off his own line after his touch had taken Steven Gillespie’s tame shot past the goalkeeper.
Wills atoned for his earlier error with a smart fingertip save to deny Matty Devine, who had got in behind the defence and tried to slide a left-foot shot low past the big number one, as Burscough enjoyed plenty of the play.
They doubled their lead shortly before the half hour mark from the penalty spot. Ally Brown was adjudged to have committed a foul just inside the box after a scramble involving a handful of players from both sides, and Burscough captain Paul Williams made no mistake, hitting his spot kick high and wide of Wills’ left hand.
The chance to regroup couldn’t come soon enough for Warrington, whose only real chance of note came when Scott Metcalfe tried a speculator from inside his own half, almost catching Burscough ‘keeper Calvin Hare off his line.
For the first 10 minutes of the second half, Town at least hinted that they were finding some rhythm, Gillespie firing a shot over the bar and then Metcalfe having an effort deflected wide.
Their chances of a comeback were made more difficult when Ventre was handed a straight red card for a lunging tackle in midfield on 55 minutes.
Two minutes later, despite the numerical disadvantage, the deficit could have been halved when Chris Gahgan’s effort struck the crossbar, before Ciaran Kilheeney headed wide from Alex McQuade’s cross.
A goal did come with nine minutes to play, substitute Karl Noon’s fiercely struck shot from the right was parried by Hare straight in to the path of Kilheeney, who managed to stretch out and poke home the rebound.
But any hopes of a comeback were quashed barely two minutes later, when Wade Joyce hit home first time with his right foot after being left unmarked at the back post from a deep cross.
Burscough rubbed salt in the wounds in injury time, Chris Tyson finishing sharply from inside the box, to leave Town with lots to ponder ahead of their return to FA Cup action at Abbey Hey in the Preliminary Round on Saturday.
Burscough: Hare, Camozzi (Brown), Quirk, Gumbs, Ryan, Williams, Joyce, Toner, Devine, Caddick (Conway), Monaghan (Tyson). Unused subs: Smith, Ramsbottom.
Warrington Town: Wills, Brown, McQuade (Noon), Ventre, McCarten, Robinson, Gahgan (Roberts), Burke, Kilheeney, Gillespie (Wharton), Metcalfe. Unused subs: O’Donnell, Collins.
