Stalemate at Gorsey Lane

by Garry Clarke Pictures John Hopkins

MICHAEL Clegg picked up his first point as manager of Warrington Rylands as his new charges played out a goalless draw at Gorsey Lane with FC United of Manchester.

There were very few goal-scoring opportunities in a typical, at time scrappy, end-of-season game between two mid-table sides with little to play for as their hopes of clinching a playoff place faded.

With the visitors shading the game Rylands Luke Pilling was the busier of the two custodians twice denying United’s Dantai Gabidon with smart saves, one in each half. Following the second save United’s Matt Van Wyk in bizarre moment tapped the ball into the net after Pilling put placed it on the ground but the referee restarted the game with a free kick in the Rylands area.

United ended the game the stronger with both Keegan Hartley and Alex Wollerton going close in the closing minutes. Hartley shooting over the bar from outside the area and Wollerton heading over from a cross.

Rylands who failed to register a shot on target had two strong penalty claims turned down by the referee. In the first half Mo Touray was brought down in the area, and in the opening minutes of the second half Sean Cooke was hauled down with the goal at his mercy as he tried to get on the end of a Johnny Hunt cross.

WARRINGTON RYLANDS: Pilling Mantack (Cooper) Hunt (Mustoe) Duxbury Egerton Hockenhull Neild Furman Touray Cooke (Leitch-Smith) Sargent; Subs not used: Barnes Wright

FC UNITED OF MANCHESTER: Lavercombe Vaughan (Griffiths) Hall Vincent (Dodd) Halls Jones Ennis (Wollerton) Donohue Wyk Hartley Gabidon; SUBS: Palinkas Costa

Referee Chris Porter Attendance 781
Man of the match selected by match sponsors Daulby Insurance – Matthew Sargent

After his first home game in charge Warrington Rylands manager Michael Clegg said “I thought we had some really good moments in the first half, but we were poor in the second half and I’ve told the lads that,” Clegg said.
“The message at halftime was to up it and take the game to them, and we didn’t do that.
“I don’t think they necessarily took the game to us – they applied a little bit of pressure and then we looked dangerous on the break.
“I thought Matty Sargent did well coming in, Scott Duxbury was really strong and we got Ajay (Leitch-Smith) back in off the bench so there are positives for us, be it was disappointing the way we allowed them to come onto us.”