‘Outstanding’ Yellows display delights Mark Beesley

Warrington Town manager Mark Beesley has labelled their 1-0 New Year’s Day win at home to National League North heavyweights Chester as one of the best performances of the season.

The Yellows’ only goal came from captain Josh Amis with just four minutes on the clock – the powerful forward stabbing the ball home from close range after the Chester backline failed to deal with a floated cross in from Andy White.

Town’s margin of victory should’ve been far greater, with Seals shot-stopper Wyll Stanway producing a magnificent reflex save to deny Amis midway through the half and Connor Woods also striking the woodwork from a tight angle.

The second half saw the hosts continue to hold firm, with Amis squandering two one-on-one situations – the second of which was cleared off the line – as they failed to put the game to bed.

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However, Dan Atherton was left without a save to make all afternoon as the Yellows recorded their fourth home league win in a row at a sold-out Cantilever Park.

Speaking post-match, Beesley said: “I thought we were outstanding today. It was one of the really good performances of the season.

“From start to finish, we were outstanding with and without the ball. In possession, we looked a threat and created chances.

“We pressed well and we controlled them without the ball, which is something we’ve been working on this week.”

On the performance of Amis, Beesley added: “He’s probably disappointed he hasn’t walked off with the match ball today, because he won’t get better chances than he got today.

“He’s always there as a leader for us. He gives everything, and I’m made up that he got the match-winner.”

Town reverted to a more familiar four-man backline on New Year’s Day, having opted to change to three central defenders and wing-backs for their trip to the Leap76 Stadium for the reverse fixture on Boxing Day.

When asked about the change in formation, the Town boss said: “Tuesday got a little bit more criticism than it probably deserved, because if we don’t give a poor goal away, that change probably works.

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“We were going to the team with the best home record in the league and were trying to show them a bit of respect, but we changed things a bit [today] and had time to look at how we could attack and hurt them.

“We spoke about controlling them without the ball and we did that brilliantly. The shape was brilliant, and we were aggressive in trying to win the ball back.

“We played some really good football as well at times. We opened them up and created chances. In my opinion, they will probably be in the top three, so it’s a great performance.”

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