WARRINGTON Town fought back from 2-0 down to draw at Mickleover in what could be Paul Carden’s last game in charge.
The Yellows trailed to two first half Dexter Walters goals, but earned a point through Luke Duffy and a Sean Williams’ free kick.
After the game, the club confirmed that it had received an approach for Carden from an unnamed club in a higher division.
Carden has been in charge at Cantilever Park since October 2016, leading the club to the Northern Premier League play-off title in 2019, when they were cruelly denied promotion.
The draw at Mickleover was Carden’s 221st game in charge, and it could have ended a lot worse given the first half.
Led by veteran front man Stuart Beavon, John McGrath’s side caused the Yellows problems on their new artificial surface.
The opening goal came on nine minutes, when Walters sat down James Baillie in the box and then curled a lovely shot in to the top far corner.
In a relatively open game, the Yellows struggled to be incisive in the final third though as the game went on, Stefan Mols looked most likely to create something.
They were dealt a blow on 35 minutes though when a missed clearance by Mitch Duggan was pounced upon by the lively Dempsey Arnott-John, who rounded Dan Atherton. The striker kept his cool to pull back for Walters, who evaded a lunge from Mark Roberts and then sidefooted home past two covering defenders on the line.
The Yellows had created virtually nothing in the way of clear cut chances, but within five minutes of the restart they were back in the match.
Matt Grivosti dummied inside his man and when his shot was clawed away by Callum Hawkins, Williams tapped back inside for Duffy to score from six yards out.
If Mickleover had the better of the first half, the Yellows certainly had the better of the second and the hosts’ threat was restricted to the counter attack.
The equaliser came on 67 minutes when Williams fizzed a low free-kick straight in to the far corner from the left of the penalty area and the Yellows pressed for a winner.
Jamie McDonald was introduced as a substitute to make his second debut for the club and within five minutes he had warmed the fingertips of Hawkins after Williams had released him in the left channel.
The best chance fell to Duggan, who forced the save of the match from Hawkins to deny the defender’s header from Duffy’s deep cross.
A draw was probably the end result – but a greater concern for the Yellows will now be the future of their manager.
They are next in action on Saturday against Morpeth Town in the FA Trophy.
Mickleover: Hawkins, Bennett, Gough, Butler, Watt, Agustien, Bateman, Warren, Arnott (Dales), Beavon, Walters (Davidson-Millar). Unused subs: Mann, Mills, Lee.
Warrington Town: Atherton, Baillie, Regan, Williams, Roberts, Duggan, Grivosti (Mackreth), Mols, Reid (J McDonald), Dixon, Duffy. Unused subs: Gumbs, M McDonald
