Nantwich Town earned an important point in a Bank Holiday 1-1 draw with Warrington at the Swansway Stadium, writes Adam Bateman.
After the horror show 3-0 defeat at Stafford, Nantwich “stopped the rot in the very next game, which was perfect” according to Dabbers manager Ritchie Sutton.
Sutton was forced to shuffle the pack and included a debut for Accrington loanee Oli Patrick and a spot on the bench for under 18s forward Archie Angles for the first time.
It seemed to have worked as before most people had taken their seat or found a place to stand, Mo Malumo found himself in space in the visitors area and he slotted the ball past Tony Thompson to give the Dabbers the lead after just 17 seconds.
It was the fastest Dabbers goal since Ethon Varian’s after nine seconds against Hyde almost exactly three years ago.
This seemed to sow some doubt in the Warrington defence, and especially the goalkeeper Thompson.
On several occasions, he looked shaky and it almost resulted in a second goal for Nantwich as a short pass hit James Caton and found its way to Malumo but when he tried to find Caton he was offside.
Warrington settled down and found their rhythm, but just before the half hour mark Nantwich tested Thompson again with a double save, first from a Jack Sherratt shot, then he reacted to punch the ball away from Byron Harrison.
The visitors then had their first real chances through Buckley-Ricketts, and then Sean Williams.
Eventually, it paid off when a scramble in the Nantwich penalty area saw former Dabber Andy White pounce and thump the ball into the top corner for the equaliser.
The second half started like the first half ended, with Warrington on the front foot and Nantwich looking to play on the break.
The visitors had the first real chance when Tom Booth in the Nantwich goal produced an outstanding save from a Luke Duffy shot that was arrowing into the top corner.
Warrington looked to press home their advantage as the next chance of the game once again fell to Duffy.
He did well to fashion a shot under pressure from Troy Bourne in the Dabbers penalty box, but his shot went just wide.
Some good Warrington play down the flanks resulted in substitute Josh Amis putting the ball into the net for the visitors, but the offside flag was raised and the goal was chalked off.
Warrington continued to mount pressure on Booth and the Dabbers defence.
Amis had another good chance but his header from a corner went wide.
Nantwich clung on to what could be a vital point in their battle to beat the drop.
The Dabbers are next in action away to Guiseley on January 7.
(Images courtesy of Jonathan White)
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