WARRINGTON Town eased past Consett to book a tie against Telford in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup.
Two lovely early goals from Tony Gray and Bohan Dixon, both inside the first 12 minutes, virtually ended the tie as a contest and it was a far cry from the 3-3 thriller in the north east on Saturday.
The Yellows will now welcome National League North side Telford to Cantilever Park on Saturday October 6.
From early on, Dylan Vassallo was causing problems for Consett and a weaving run in to the box was well stopped by Ryan McKinnon.
The hosts didn’t have to wait long for a breakthrough, and it came in some style. The tireless Ben Garrity won the ball back in midfield and released Gray and he checked inside and then back out on to his right foot before hitting a beautiful shot over the keeper and in to the far corner.
Vassallo created the second goal five minutes later, sending Dixon down the left and his long striding run took him inside the box and he finished clinically as the keeper approached.
From then on, it was a case of controlling the game for the Yellows and they did with the minimum of fuss for large parts.
Consett had a couple of sighters in the first half, an improvised overhead kick by Michael Sweet and a free-kick by David Craggs both clearing the bar by about a yard apiece.
Their best chance came seven minutes before the break, the tricky Luke Carr beating two defenders in the box to find Michael Mackay in a great central position, and he was denied by a fine point blank stop by Tony McMillan.
Warrington consolidated further after the interval, and Consett struggled to break down a Yellows defence that had gone 700 minutes without conceding a goal before Saturday’s meeting.
A third goal should have come on 70 minutes when substitute Josh Amis somehow missed with a header from five yards out after Garrity had nodded back Vassallo’s deep free-kick.
Amis had another chance moments later, only to be denied by the keeper coming out to save at the very edge of the box, and Vassallo had a shot well saved by Kyle Hayes.
Warrington’s attention returns to the Evo-Stik Premier League this Saturday when they host top of the table South Shields at Cantilever Park (3pm).
Pictures John Hopkins
Warrington Town: McMillan, Duggan, Hughes (Carden), Garrity, Roberts, Raven, Mackreth, Evans, Gray (Amis), Dixon (Dunn), Vassallo. Unused subs: Williams.
Consett: Hayes, Green, Holden, Cassidy (Gray), Purewal (Male), McKinnon, Craggs, Juul, Sweet, Carr, Mackay (Dowson). Unused subs: Lawrence, Lavery, Convery.
