Nantwich Town returned to winning ways in the league with a 3-1 victory over Cheshire rivals Runcorn Linnets, writes Liam Price.
An astonishing five-minute spell saw Dabbers go down 1-0 before turning it around to lead and eventually win.
The hosts suffered yet more injury issues in the warm up, with Perry Bircumshaw forced out of the starting XI to be replaced by Dylan Thompson, who himself is only just back from an injury lay-off.
The first half was controlled by Nantwich and was defined by set pieces.
Ahmed Ali headed over a corner in the first 10 minutes that had Bayleigh Passant worried in the Linnets goal.
Former Marine keeper Passant did well to punch clear as Stevie Hewitt tried to measure a ball in towards Connor Heath, before Eden Gumbs fired over following some strong forward play to create Runcorn’s first real chance of any note.
A Heath free kick was well struck but clipped the wall and went out for a corner.
From that corner, Hewitt looked as if he went directly for goal, deliberate or not Passant had to push it away or it may well have dipped in.
Another decent opportunity came from skipper Troy Bourne, shooting over after the ball dropped from another corner.
Heath kept at it and was keeping Passant on his toes, before Adam Moseley became the first to test Scott Moloney with an effort he had to help over the bar.
Nathan Okome headed over right on half time to make it a hat trick of presentable chances from dead ball situations not taken by Nantwich in the first half.
So it became an all too familiar feeling for Dabbers fans, especially at home, to see Linnets come back into it in the second half.
Heath was challenged strongly on the edge of the box as he continued to threaten the Runcorn back line.
Then the best Dabbers chance yet, Byron Harrison played in behind only to see Passant block his shot, with time and space on his side you’d have expected a player of his quality to finish there.
Linnets then started to play their best football of the game, Moseley again the one to take aim and force Moloney to parry.
Then a great block from Scott Butler stopped former Dabber Will Saxon from getting a shot away near the Nantwich goal.
Saxon did get an opportunity moments later, Joel Connolly robbed on the edge of his own box and Saxon drawing the save from the feet of Moloney.
Ryan Brooke, another former Dabber, miscued a decent headed chance from a lovely Sam Barratt cross as the knocking on the Nantwich door was growing louder.
Eventually the pressure told, and the away side took the lead.
On 71 minutes, a tidy move in the Dabbers box couldn’t be cleared and Saxon was able to poke in past Moloney for a deserved lead.
He celebrated wildly in front of a strong away following, especially for a Tuesday night.
But that was only the start of the scoring.
Despite it feeling in the stands like a hammer blow to the Dabbers, a flame had been lit under the players and they responded perfectly.
It was, as Paul Carden commented afterwards, a ‘great team move’, culminating in an excellent floated ball met by an even better header from Harrison, who used all his experience to cushion it past the oncoming Passant to equalise only two minutes after going behind.
The Dabbers weren’t done.
On 75 minutes, a scruffy scramble in the Linnets box saw it come for Ahmed Ali who was able to finish in a crowded box and send the home fans mad.
It’s been a great few days for Ahmed, scoring in this game to give the Dabbers the lead just days after scoring the winning penalty in the shootout victory over Bradford (Park Avenue).
Hewitt made Passant make another save, before Runcorn curled an effort over the bar as they looked to salvage something from a game that had been in the palm of their hands but fallen apart in a crazy three-minute period.
Okome got away with one 2 minutes from time, in trying to head back to Moloney he allowed Brooke to nip in and poke towards goal, only to see it hit Moloney in a case of right place, right time.
Hewitt and Runcorn traded shots, before the inevitable rush of players in the Nantwich half allowed a chance on the counter.
The ball came to Eric Yahaya, a recent signing who was, as a result of the injuries mentioned earlier, one of only two fit outfield subs the Dabbers could turn to in this game.
He brought it under control and tucked it away for his first Nantwich game to seal what feels a significant three points for the Dabbers, a win from behind against a team who finished in the play-offs in this league last season.
(Images courtesy of Jonathan White)
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