A SELL-OUT crowd watched Warrington Town kick off the New Year with a 1-0 home win over Chester.
Skipper Josh Amis scored the only goal after just four minutes in what was ultimately a comfortable victory that avenged the Boxing Day defeat in the reverse fixture and ended Chester’s eight-game unbeaten run.
Goalkeeper Wyll Stanway denied Amis a second with a point blank save in the first half, and Amis could have had another two late in the second half too, shooting wide and being denied by Harrison Burke’s goal line block.
It was just the response Mark Beesley would have wanted to losing less than a week ago, reverting back to their more familiar 4-3-3 system and starting positively, Amis pouncing on a mistake by Matty Williams to nip in and poke home from Andy White’s ball forward.
The positive start continued when Matt Grivosti, starting in the number 10 role, got a shot away from a crowd of bodies which was well saved by Stanway, who then denied Amis from Woods’ teasing cross.
A foul by Mitch Duggan earned him a yellow card on his 199th appearance for the Yellows, halting a promising looking Chester counter attack, as the visitors struggled to harm the hosts, despite enjoying plenty of possession.
At the other end, Woods almost made it 2-0 when he hit the post from a narrow angle after a superb ball by Jay Harris.
Chester were forced to change things up at half time to try and find a way in to the game, introducing captain George Glendon to try and gain control of a midfield that was being expertly marshalled by Jay Harris and Sean Williams.
There was little in the way of chances at either end until the final 20 minutes. Chester’s only real sight at goal came from a Kieran Coates cross, that Elliott Whitehouse headed wide, albeit after what seemed like a push on Andre Wisdom, whose protests earned him a yellow card for dissent.
The Yellows though had three chances to finish the game off, the first when Isaac Buckley-Ricketts seized on a loose ball in front of the Chester defence and put it on a plate for Amis, who was perhaps outdone by a bobble just as he shot and steered the ball agonisingly wide of Stanway’s left hand post.
Substitute Matty McDonald then won the ball back high up the pitch, attracted the last man and fed Amis, who shot left-footed and beat Stanway, only for Burke to get back and slide away. Buckley-Ricketts also had a run at Williams only to have his efforts blocked in the box.
It moves Warrington Town on to 36 points in their maiden season in National League North, ahead of Saturday’s trip to old adversaries South Shields.
Warrington Town: Atherton, White, Hannigan, Harris, Woods (Walker), Williams, Amis, Buckley-Ricketts (Clarke), Duggan, Wisdom, Grivosti (McDonald). Unused subs: Goudie, Dixon.
Chester: Stanway, Weeks, Burke, Williams, Whitehouse, Norton (Glendon), Murray (Windsor), Hall, Coates, Roberts, Edwards (Taylor). Unused subs: Calderbank-Park, Sparrow
