An early goal from Josh Amis was enough to lift Warrington Town up to fourth place in the Northern Premier League with a 1-0 win at Basford.
Amis lifted the ball beautifully over Kieran Preston inside the first five minutes and the Yellows held out to win 1-0 and leapfrog Scarborough Athletic.
With four games to go, a third placed finish and crucial home advantage in the play-offs is well and truly in Warrington’s hands.
Their inconsistent run of late meant the signs pointed to a win on Tuesday night, though they will be hoping to break the win-loss run of late when Stafford Rangers visit on Saturday.
Mark Beesley responded to the disappointing defeat at home to Mickleover at the weekend with several changes, as Isaac Buckley-Ricketts, Ben Hough and Eddie Clarke returned to the starting line-up.
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Clarke’s return was a particularly welcome one, with him having not played since the goalless draw with Whitby back in October due to injury.
He impressed with his attacking play and it was his direct running on the left that helped the Yellows get on the front foot in the early stages.
The goal came from the other side though, with Bohan Dixon’s clipped ball in to the right channel pounced on by Amis, brought in from the start in place of the injured Jordan Buckley, and with Preston hesitant on his line, the striker lifted it over him in to the far corner.
A direct run from Clarke and subsequent shot was deflected up for Preston to claw away, and the ‘keeper then got down to save with his legs from Hough’s rebound shot.
The hosts gradually came in to the game, but Mark Roberts and Evan Gumbs were largely able to contain Courey Grantham and Tyreace Palmer, meaning Dan Atherton was a mere interested observer for much of the first half.
The Yellows had the final chance of the first half, when Hough sent Stefan Mols away on a diagonal run on the left, he cut in and shot but at a comfortable height for Preston.
Basford started the second half on the front foot and caused a few problems from set pieces, but only really troubled when Jordan Helliwell was allowed to get along way down the left and tried to sneak one in at the near post that Atherton kept out.
As the hosts committed men forward, the Yellows were having some half chances on the break – a number of crosses coming to nothing.
And they managed to restrict Basford to not having anything in the way of a clear cut chance, and even eight minutes of added on time weren’t enough for the hosts to find an equaliser.
Basford United: Preston, Frogson, Helliwell, Roma, Gascoigne, Carr (Hearn), Hasani, Dunn, Palmer, Grantham, Wilson (Chettle). Unused subs: Betts, Peters, Musson.
Warrington Town: Atherton, Duggan, Clarke (Regan), Harris, Roberts, Gumbs, Buckley-Ricketts (Mackreth), Mols, Amis, Dixon, Hough (Williams). Unused subs: Grivosti, Duffy.
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