Dramatic equaliser earns Warrington Town point in six-goal thriller

A DRAMATIC injury-time equaliser earned Warrington Town a deserved point in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Spennymoor Town.

Dylan Mottley-Henry leapt highest to head home from Sean Williams’ corner deep in to injury time to complete the comeback after the Yellows had twice trailed by two.

They had thrown everything at the visitors and even goalkeeper Dan Atherton was in the box for the final throw of the dice and it paid dividends.

Atherton had been brilliant at the other end, pulling off a miraculous save to deny Lebrun Mbeka to keep the Yellows alive in a game that swung both ways throughout.

The Yellows set a good tempo from the kick-off and Spennymoor more than matched that, and it was the visitors who had the first chance, Glen Taylor shooting just wide of the far post after excellent chest control on the edge of the box had created space.

Bohan Dixon was twice denied by James Montgomery at the other end, before Atherton had to spring to his right to tip over a header from Ben Pollock.

The stalemate was inevitably broken on 20 minutes when Will Harris, who played four games for the Yellows in a brief loan spell in 2020, expertly steered home to the far corner after being found in space on the edge of the box by the dangerous Josh Popoola.

Popoola nearly set Taylor up for a second shortly after but they didn’t have to wait too much longer, when Pollock fired home after the Yellows failed to clear a corner just before the half hour mark.

That didn’t quell the chances, and Montgomery made a brilliant one-handed save to deny Mottley-Henry in a period of play where Dixon, Isaac Buckley-Ricketts and Connor Woods all had shots charged down in the box.

At the other end, Pollock nearly got a second when his header glanced the cross bar, and then Mottley-Henry drilled a shot just wide.

The Yellows did get themselves a lifeline right on the stroke of half time when Peter Clarke guided a Williams cross home for 2-1.

That lifeline was surrendered two minutes after the restart when nice build up play around the edge of the box opened things up for Danny Greenfield to bend in a third.

But the hosts weren’t done, and within five minutes they were back within one goal, Dixon pacing down the left and his pull back fell for Buckley-Ricketts, who became the first Yellows player to reach two for the season by steering in to the back of the net.

Buckley-Ricketts then took charge of the game for a spell, hitting the post after a mazy run and then having a header saved from a brilliant Mottley-Henry cross.

The game barely stopped for breath and there were chances at both ends as the Yellows pushed for an equaliser.

Atherton’s leg denied Taylor at his near post before the ‘keeper somehow managed to divert Mbeka’s shot over the bar with one hand as he fell in the other direction.

Mottley-Henry had been denied by a combination of Rob Ranshaw and the crossbar with three minutes of normal time to go, but he wasn’t to be denied in the fifth minute of injury time, sending the home crowd in to raptures with the most dramatic of equalisers.

Warrington Town: Atherton, White, Hannigan, Woods (Grivosti), Williams, Dixon, Mottley-Henry, Buckley-Ricketts (Walker), Duggan, Clarke, Bennett (Pettifer). Unused subs: Goudie, Smalley.

Spennymoor Town: Montgomery, Popoola (McKeown), Staunton, Ross, Mbeka, Harris, Taylor, Ranshaw, Pollock, Greenfield (Fielding), Gallagher (Ferguson). Unused subs: Curtis, Doherty.