Mark Beesley reflects on play-off final defeat

Warrington Town boss Mark Beesley says he is proud of the club and its players following their heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Scarborough Athletic in the Northern Premier League play-off final. 

In front of a sell-out crowd of over 2,800 at the Flamingo Land Stadium, the Yellows came from behind as Josh Amis’ first half header cancelled out Seadogs captain Michael Coulson’s opener. 

However, Town were reduced to 10 men inside the second half after Mitch Duggan was shown a straight red card for a strong tackle on Ashley Jackson.

Despite a gallant second half effort with a man less, the visitors were unable to hold on as Bailey Gooda netted the winner after 81 minutes.

@theyellows gutted but proud of everyone, we gave it everything it just wasn’t meant to be. We will be back 💛

— Mark Beesley (@MarkBees30) May 2, 2022

The result was a tough one for Beesley and his coaching staff to take, but the Yellows boss – appointed last November – was full of praise for his players following the conclusion of the season. 

“Things didn’t go our way and sometimes, it’s just not meant to be,” he told the Warrington Guardian. “Obviously, I’m really, really gutted, but I’m proud of the club and the players.

“They’ve given everything since I took over and have been excellent.

“They’ve been written off, had ups and downs but we were so, so close to achieving our goal.”

Beesley also paid tribute to the club’s supporters, with up to 600 fans travelling to the Yorkshire coast.

https://twitter.com/dannyatherton_/status/1521174344323457025

“I must mention the fans – I want to apologise for not going over to thank them at the end,” he said.

“It was for the safety of the players with the situation on the pitch. My primary concern was that none of our players or supporters got hurt.

“We were trying to make sure the Scarborough fans goading our supporters didn’t turn into something really nasty, which it could have done.

“To take 600 supporters up to Scarborough on a Bank Holiday Monday was special. They were fantastic and I’m just sorry we couldn’t do it for them.”

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