WARRINGTON Town registered back-to-back wins for the first time this season with a 1-0 victory over New Mills.
Ciaran Kilheeney’s first half goal was enough to earn three points in the absence of manager Shaun Reid, resting at home having been taken ill at Trafford on Monday.
It was far from a vintage performance from the home side against a team who had lost all five of their previous league outings, but the win lifts Town up to 6th in the table.
For spells of the first half, it looked like Warrington would score a few on a pleasant afternoon at Cantilever Park.
Karl Noon, starting on the right flank, was linking up well with Kilheeney and they created the first chance for Scott Metcalfe, who took on a low cross and then half volleyed wide.
Kilheeney then shot straight at the keeper after being laid on by Ben Wharton, who himself flicked a Metcalfe cross just wide on 14 minutes.
Strike pairing Wharton and Kilheeney were both guilty of squandering good chances from crosses, the latter opting to chest rather than stoop for a header, and the former guilty of wasting a gilt-edged chance with a free header after everyone had stopped expecting an offside flag.
The New Mills defence stopped again on 37 minutes, waiting for a free kick, and that enabled Nathan Burke a free run on goal, his low right footed shot pushed away by Liam Higginbotham.
The deadlock was finally broken two minutes later, Kilheeney notching his third of the season with a tap in from the edge of the six yard box.
It could have been two by half time, Wharton breaking the offside trap to latch on to Noon’s slide rule through ball, but his shot across the goalkeeper lacked any real conviction.
The second half turned in to more of an arm wrestle, though Karl Wills wasn’t really called in to action, other than claiming a handful of crosses and then rushing out of his box quickly to stop a New Mills counter attack.
Town never found the second goal that would have made the final quarter a little more comfortable for the home supporters, despite Wharton finding the back of the net shortly after the hour mark, only to be flagged offside.
Wharton just couldn’t find the goal he craved, even when his determination created the space for a shot inside the box which wrong footed Higginbotham, who did superbly to push the ball away and over.
Warrington held on to maintain their unbeaten home record, which will face another test when Lancaster City come to town on Tuesday night (7.45pm kick-off).
Goal scorer Ciaran Kilheeney – PICTURES JOHN HOPKINS
Warrington Town: Wills, Brown, McQuade, Ventre, McCarten, Robinson, Noon (Lester), Burke, Kilheeney, Wharton (Roberts), Metcalfe. Unused subs: O’Donnell, Turner, Gillespie.
New Mills: Higginbotham, Beswick, Alexander, Regan, Whiteoak, Vincent, Elliott (Buckurt), Owolabi, Sherlock (Warburton), Hopper, Stringer-Moth. Unused subs: Windsor, Crane, Martin.
