Report: Warrington Town 1-0 Buxton

Warrington Town recorded their first home win of the National League North season as their depleted squad overcame Buxton 1-0 at the UNIS Compliance Stadium.

They struck the killer blow inside the opening minute as Matty Grivosti raced into the penalty area after being found by Aaron Bennett before lashing a shot across the face of Bucks goalkeeper Max Dearnley.

It was no less than they deserved either, with Connor Woods having chances to extend their lead – on a night where he led the line well in the absence of recognised strikers Jordan Buckley and Josh Amis – and Isaac Buckley-Ricketts also forcing a smart save from the visiting number one midway through the second half.

Injury to left-back Andy White last weekend meant Matty Grivosti was handed his first competitive start since returning to the club earlier this summer, with Mitch Duggan moving to left-back and Evan Gumbs to right-back, either side of the experienced centre-back pairing of Tom Hannigan and Peter Clarke.

With around 45 seconds on the clock, Grivosti made his mark. Having been found in a promising position by Aaron Bennett, the young forward entered the box and arrowed a shot into the far corner, well out of the reach of the Buxton goalkeeper.

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An error at the back from Duggan very nearly gave the Bucks the chance to respond soon after, only for Connor Kirby to blaze over the bar when well positioned on the edge of the penalty area.

At the other end, Connor Woods perhaps felt he could’ve done better after being found in the middle of the box by Grivosti following good work down the Yellows left, but the former Southport man scuffed his effort wide from 10 yards out.

With 11 minutes on the clock, there were appeals from the home side that Dearnley had gathered a header back to him outside his penalty area, but those shouts were waved away the referee, perhaps a little fortunately for the visitors.

Chances continued to come for Mark Beesley’s side, who threatened a second before the break as midfielder Sean Williams dragged his shot wide from distance and Evan Gumbs headed Williams’ corner narrowly wide at the back post.

The only other chance of note in the first half came 10 minutes before the break, with Woods linking up well with Buckley-Ricketts down the right-hand side of the penalty area before stabbing his shot beyond Dearnley but agonisingly wide of goal.

The hosts continued to dictate the flow of the game early in the second half, despite Buxton introducing fresh legs at the half-time break. Three minutes after the resumption, a wayward backpass by Francis-Angol was intercepted by Woods, who drove into the penalty area but couldn’t get a shot away after being crowded out by a couple of Buxton defenders.

Shortly before the hour mark, Tony Thompson – who hadn’t been called into action much during the game – was forced to dive down low to his right and beat aside substitute Diego De Girolamo’s free-kick, which was destined for the corner.

Buckley-Ricketts then came close to putting the result beyond doubt after excellent work down the side of the box from Woods, but once more Dearnley came to Buxton’s rescue, producing a fine save to keep out the Yellows forward’s deflected half-volley.

Despite the visitors’ best efforts, they were unable to create any further openings as the Town backline stood strong to record their second clean sheet of the season.

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The result also saw the Yellows climb up to seventh, a point behind early leaders Scunthorpe United, ahead of Saturday’s trip to Chorley.

Warrington Town: Thompson, Hannigan, Gumbs, Woods (Walker), Williams, Bennett, Dixon, Buckley-Ricketts, Duggan, Grivosti, Clarke.

Subs not used: Atherton, McNally, Kay.

Buxton: Dearnley, Brown, Shiels, Kirby, Elliott, Burrow (De Girolamo), Hull, McBurnie (Smart), Francis-Angol, Weston, Hunt (McKeown).

Subs not used: Newell, Boden

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