Mark Beesley reacts to Hereford loss

Warrington Town manager Mark Beesley has refused to be too critical of his players after they fell to a 2-1 defeat at Hereford, having played the entirety of the second half with nine men.

A straight red card for Connor Woods with the score still at 0-0 was almost immediately followed by the opening goal from Jason Cowley shortly before the half-hour mark.

Bohan Dixon was sent off for a second bookable offence not long after, but the Yellows went into half-time at 1-1 as Sean Williams converted from the penalty spot in first half stoppage time -against the run of play – after captain Josh Amis was brought down in the box.

The second half saw Beesley’s players defend manfully for large parts, but they were unable to hold out as Ethan Freemantle netted a winner for the hosts late in the day.

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“With nine men, it’s a difficult task as Hereford are a good team,” the Yellows manager said post-match.

“They’ve got a lovely pitch and they play some good stuff. For us to come here and get to 78 minutes still at 1-1 with nine men is a testament to our lads, and I must credit them.

“For the effort they’ve put in and the team spirit they showed, it was a really big performance.

“That’s two in a row now at really tough, established clubs that we’ve got no points for, but we have to take heart from the performances.

“We knew this year that we wouldn’t win as many games, but we have to take positives and there are loads from tonight.”

Woods and Dixon will now serve respective three and two-game suspensions following their sending-offs at Edgar Street

However, due to the “seven-day” rule which applies to suspensions at this level, both will be available for Saturday’s home game against Scarborough Athletic before their bans kick in against King’s Lynn Town the following week.

Discussing the red cards, Beesley said: “Obviously, Connor has been stupid. We can’t condone that and he’s let us down.

“Bohan’s two yellows are the softest I’ve ever seen in my life. The first one arguably isn’t even a foul, but the referee was card-happy against us all game.

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“Josh Amis has gone clean through and is about to shoot but is brought down for a penalty, but he says it’s careless? If he’s booking Bohan, he’s got to book him [the Hereford defender].

“He’s running around chasing our goalkeeper to get the ball, but I can’t fault our players’ effort.

“With nine men for 60-odd minutes, it was an unbelievable performance. We limited them mainly to shots from outside the box, but we then make a little mistake which has cost us the winner.”

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