AN injury-time equaliser denied Warrington Town a third win from as many games at the start of the season as they were held by frontrunners Cleethorpes Town.
One team’s perfect early record had to go, and it looked like the Yellows would be preserving theirs after Alex McNally put them in front just after the hour mark with the 7,000th goal in the club’s history.
But as the Owls pushed late on, Nathan Newall’s corner appeared to go all the way through everyone and in to the back of the net to earn a point.
Cleethorpes had the ball in the net for a second time in the additional time, only for the assistant’s flag to deny Marley Wilson’s tap-in.
It had been a cagey game between two teams that had won their opening two games, and there was no goalmouth action until the 34th minute, when Luke Burke had to clear the ball from under his own crossbar after Mateusz Hewelt had let Daniel Gallimore’s cross through his grasp.
Right-back Gallimore and left-back Newall were excellent throughout for Cleethorpes, which prevented the Yellows from finding their way down the sides.
Warrington’s right-back Burke had their only real chance of the first half, surging on to a loose ball and dancing through a couple of defenders on the edge of the box before his left-foot shot was well blocked by James Blunden, while at the other end the imperious Evan Gumbs somehow denied Josh Walker off Newall’s pull-back.
The breakthrough came on the 63rd minute, Lewis Earl’s free-kick met with a diving header by Scott Butler which brought an excellent save out of Ollie Battersby, only for McNally to be there to sweep home the rebound.
That prompted a decent spell for the Yellows, with Earl hitting a rising left-foot shot over and Josh Vela forcing a save out of Battersby.
Cleethorpes chucked on all five of their substitutes and tried to pile forward, but had to wait until injury-time to create their first real chance, Hewelt hesitating before saving to deny Walker.
But from the subsequent corner, Cleethorpes got their goal as Newall’s delivery was missed by everyone under the crossbar.
Warrington Town: Hewelt, Burke, Butler, Earl, Gumbs, McNally, Goodwin (Edwards 73), Vela, Elliot, Daly, Sadiq (Denton 90). Unused subs: Bjork, Doherty, Lloyd.
Cleethorpes Town: Battersby, Gallimore, Newall, Ravenhill (Elliot 74), Blunden, Foster, Fewster (Braithwaite 67), Ackroyd (Bramhall 70), Walker, Hey (Wilson 57), Ainley (Hughes 67).
