Beesley praises Yellows’ fight after Darlington draw

Warrington Town manager Mark Beesley says he couldn’t be prouder of the resolve his side showed at Darlington on Tuesday night, having left it late to rescue a draw of the road. 

It looked like Jarrett Rivers’ headed opener 15 minutes in would prove enough for the hosts to secure all three points at Blackwell Meadows, until Connor Woods rifled home an equaliser in the 90th minute.

Town had been below-par for much of the game and struggled to get to grips with the questions asked by the Quakers, but a late rally almost saw them steal victory at the death as Andy White’s goal-bound header was turned away acrobatically by goalkeeper Tommy Taylor.

Speaking post-match, Beesley was left to reflect on what he described as a “Jekyll and Hyde” display from his side.

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“We didn’t do enough to win, that’s for sure,” he admitted.

“We started pretty well and Bohan [Dixon] hits the bar with a great effort – it’s probably a different game if that goes in. Then they then go up the other end and score with their one chance of the first half.

“Although they had a lot of territory and caused us problems, it wasn’t like Dan was making save after save.

“They were the better team and it didn’t look like anything was coming, but the young lads coming on in Paddy Kay and Aaron Bennett gave us a bit of energy and balance and we managed to nick a draw.

“One thing you can’t fault with the lads is the way they keep going. There’s a lot of adversity around at the moment, but we keep going and putting a shift in for the club. Everyone who travelled up to support us tonight will have seen the effort was there.

“Performance-wise, we know we weren’t at our best and we’ve got to improve on that. We’ve been a bit ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ with our performances – we’ve played well at times and not so well at other times, so we’ve got to look at that and understand why its happening.

“When we’ve not played well this season, we’ve got nothing, but we’ve changed that tonight. We’ve played really well at times this season and got nothing, so you take points when you can in this league.”

The action continues for Beesley and his squad on Saturday, with the Yellows embarking on a trip to Scunthorpe United – a game which was earmarked by many as one of the biggest in the club’s history when the fixtures for the 2023/24 season were first announced.

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The Iron enter the weekend second in the National League North, having lost just four times in 19 league games this season. Nevertheless, Beesley says his players mustn’t let the magnitude of the occasion get to them.

“It’s a game that everyone should look forward. We’ve worked hard over the last two years to get here,” he added.

“To go and play at Scunthorpe in a league game is what we’ve been after. The supporters and people who put countless hours in should go and enjoy the day – win, lose or draw.

“For us, it’s a game of football, 11v11. We’ve got to dust ourselves down, get ourselves ready on Thursday and get a plan to go and play Scunthorpe.”

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