Report: Buxton 2-0 Warrington Town

Ten man Warrington Town said goodbye to the National League North with a 2-0 defeat away at Buxton.

They were very much in a contest when Murphy Bennett was shown a straight red card just after the half hour mark following a fracas, triggered by a dubious foul given against Jay Harris.

The controversy continued in to the second half, when Kieran Burton’s header that came off the underside of the bar was flagged by the linesman as a goal, despite not appearing to cross the line to give the hosts the lead they craved to earn a play-off spot.

They did secure the three points late on through John Johnston, with results elsewhere meaning they will now go to Chester in the play-offs on Wednesday night.

But for the Yellows, it was another frustrating afternoon where they had to play with their backs against the wall for an hour.

Before the red card, they had been in the game as much as Buxton, Josh Amis having the best chance of the opening quarter, heading Aaron James’ cross off the bar.

Oli Ewing rattled the crossbar with a 20-yard shot at the other end, and Johnston missed a gilt-edged chance eight yards out from Ewing’s cross.

The game changed when the referee gave a foul and quickly pulled out a yellow card for Harris, after he had poked the ball away from Luke Brennan and the players came together. A reaction followed, and Bennett was eventually shown a red card for an alleged punch.

The referee then lost control of the game and the remainder of the first half was littered with fouls and unusual decisions, and the Yellows were grateful for the half-time whistle to enable them to regroup at 0-0.

Buxton knew only a win would do to get them in to the play-offs, and with scores elsewhere going in their favour, their fans urged them home.

They broke the deadlock when Amis gave the ball straight back to Brennan on the left hand side, and his cross was headed against the bar by Burton and then bounced in to Atherton’s hands, the ‘keeper left perplexed when the flag went up to signal a goal, and Atherton was booked for his protests.

There was no real way back for the Yellows from there, lacking manpower and having a numerical disadvantage, not to mention Buxton could manage the game comfortable by retaining possession knowing they didn’t need any thing more.

Atherton made a good save to deny Tommy Elliott’s free-kick, before with four minutes of normal time remaining, they did get a goal that did hit the back of the net.

Elliott nipped in to get the ball away from Matty Makinson and laid off for Johnston, who was first denied by Atherton but the loose ball fell to him to lash home through the bodies covering on the line.

Warrington Town’s two season journey in National League North comes to an end, and they will return to the Northern Premier League for the 2025/26 season, which gets underway on August 9.

Buxton: Grant, Lusala, Mann, Faulkner, Kirby, Elliott (Sault), Brennan (Popoola), Coleman (Martin), Johnston (Trueman), Burton, Ewing (Viggars).

Warrington Town: Atherton, Bennett, Makinson, Clarke, Hont, James, Harris (Amaral), Dixon (O’Neill), Gill, McDonald (Green), Amis. Unused subs: Roper, Noone.

Post-match reaction