Report: Darlington 1-1 Warrington Town

Connor Woods’ 90th minute equaliser nicked a point for Warrington Town away at Darlington.

The below-par Yellows had been second best and looked to be slipping to defeat until Woods won a free kick late on, and then fired in to the back of the net after Sean Williams’ delivery was cleared.

Jarrett Rivers had earlier headed the hosts in to a 15th minute lead and despite their lowly league position, they were able to control territory and possession.

But in spite of that, they were unable to create clear-cut opportunities and finish the Yellows off, and in the end Darlington were thankful for Tommy Taylor’s acrobatics deep in to injury time as he denied Andy White a winner.

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After the disappointing FA Trophy exit to Blyth Spartans, Josh Amis, Connor Woods and Isaac Buckley-Ricketts all returned to the starting line-up.

And the Yellows started relatively well, looking like they could exploit the high line that Darlington played, and Bohan Dixon struck the crossbar inside the first 10 minutes.

The compact midfield was causing the Yellows to cough up possession and it was from giving the ball away that they fell behind, Darlington finding the ball out wide to X Griffiths, who delivered for Rivers to stoop and head home.

Other than a chance when Woods forced Taylor to kick the ball away at his near post, the Yellows struggled to push Darlington back as the hosts kept them in their own half.

They nearly added a second on 27 minutes when Dan Atherton was caught in possession close to his own goal, Adriano Moke poking against a post and then putting the rebound in, only for the Yellows’ blushes to be spared by a linesman’s flag for the ball going out of play.

Half time couldn’t come soon enough for the Yellows to regroup, and White soon came on to add some balance to the left hand side.

It turned the game in to a stalemate as Darlington were happy to maintain possession without hurting the Yellows, while keeping the visitors at arm’s length.

A chance fell for Isaac Buckley-Ricketts with 13 minutes left, firing over from Mitch Duggan’s cross, and it looked like defeat was on the cards.

But Woods, as he so often does, kept a cause alive on the left wriggling between two defenders and winning a free-kick in a dangerous area. Williams’ delivery was on the money and as it was cleared to the edge of the box, Woods fired in to the ground and bounced the ball in to the back of the net for an equaliser.

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Then three minutes in to injury time, after a succession of corners, White got a decent header to Duggan’s cross and found goalkeeper Taylor at his best, tipping over to deny an unlikely win.

Warrington head to Scunthorpe United on Saturday, for arguably the biggest league game in the club’s history.

Darlington: Taylor, Hedley, Sukar, Platt, Lees, Moke (Asante), Hatfield, Rivers, Salkeld, Griffiths, Lindley. Unused subs: Rowe, Winfield, Harker.

Warrington Town: Atherton, Walker, Hannigan, Woods, Williams, Amis, Dixon (Bennett), Buckley-Ricketts, Duggan, Wisdom (Kay), Grivosti (White). Unused subs: Goudie, Gill.

Featured photo credit: Andy Futers

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