Report: Rushall Olympic 2-3 Warrington Town

Reece Daly lashed home an injury-time winner to make it third time lucky for Warrington Town in a 3-2 win at Rushall Olympic.

The Yellows had taken the lead on two previous occasions in the match, only to be pegged back controversially on both occasions.

But they had the last laugh when Daly took on the returning Joe Rodwell-Grant’s lay-off and fired a half-volley home from the edge of the box.

Rodwell-Grant had the first chance of the match inside three minutes, when he rode several challenges on his way from the halfway line to inside the box, screwing a shot wide of the ‘keeper’s right-hand post.

Rushall are the only opponents Warrington will face this season who they played last season, having both been relegated from the National League North and making underwhelming starts to life back in the Northern Premier League.

The hosts had the next two chances, the busy Kian Ryley firing over the bar on the stretch from a corner and then Nick Clayton-Phillips played a nice one-two with Carter Lycett before firing a shot wide.

But the Yellows took the lead on 21 minutes when a cross from Jay Harris was only partially cleared by ‘keeper Jake Davies-Manton, wiped out by his own defender in the process, meaning that when the ball fell to Matty Waters, he just had to divert a volley in to the empty goal.

The lead lasted until 34 minutes when Lycett screwed home a shot from just inside the box, but the Yellows were more than aggrieved about what they felt was a foul on Max Thompson in the build-up that wasn’t given.

Some of the referee calls became increasingly peculiar, not least one to ignore an offside flag by the assistant to award Rushall a late first-half corner.

Daly’s shot in first-half stoppage time landed on the roof of the net, though the main worry for the Yellows was goalkeeper Liam Isherwood going down injured in the latter stages, and although he signalled he needed to come off, he remained on the pitch.

With kicking out of the equation for Isherwood, who seemed to have a thigh injury of some sort, there was added work for the Yellows back division to do but they managed it well, and despite his struggles, Isherwood made some crucial second-half saves.

The Yellows started the second half positively and retook the lead on 49 minutes, Jack Doyle’s free-kick headed in to the top corner by Troy Bourne, who returned to the starting team in place of Harry Flowers.

But that lead was short lived, as two minutes later Rushall equalised from the penalty spot. Jay Harris appeared to make little contact with Ryley, who stuck his leg out and went to ground in the box, with the referee showing no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Mckeal Abdullah stepped up to convert the penalty, though it squeezed under Isherwood.

Waters hit a rising half-volley from a narrow angle just over the bar before Abdullah had a glorious opportunity to put Rushall in front for the first time, firing over the bar when free in the box from Brad Burton’s cross.

An unsighted Isherwood beat away a shot from Ryley and then watched a shot from Clayton-Phillips come back off the post, as the hosts perhaps most likely to find a winner.

But it was the Yellows that pinched the two points in the third minute of injury time thanks to Daly’s strike.

Rushall Olympic: Davies-Manton, Burton, Lycett, Willets, Brown, McGlinchey, Unitt, Moore (Okuonghae), Abdullah (Wakefield), Clayton-Phillips (Whittall), Ryley (Enright). Unused sub: McAlinden.

Warrington Town: Isherwood, Melhado, J Doyle, Gumbs, Bourne, Vela, Rodwell-Grant, Harris (Lloyd), Thompson (Morris), Daly, Waters (Brazier). Unused subs: Flowers, Gabidon.

Post-match reaction