Report – Wealdstone 2 – 1 Warrington Town
Wealdstone
3R2 - 1
Warrington Town
A brace from Danny Green was enough to send Wealdstone into the quarter-finals of the FA Trophy in a hard-fought and dramatic 2-1 win over a valiant Warrington Town side.
Green opened the scoring midway through the second half from the penalty spot after Eddie Oshodi went down in the box. Joseph Piggott equalised in the 82nd minute and looked to be sending the tie to a Tuesday night replay in Cheshire but Yellows keeper Anthony McMillan spilled Greens 88th minute effort into his own net.
Bobby Wilkinson was forced into several changes from the side that started in last week’s victory over Weston-super-Mare. Taofiq Olomowewe, Glenn Wilson, Ricky Wellard, Mustafa Tiryaki and Ashleigh Artwell all returned to the starting eleven with Marcus Johnson-Schuster, Ian Gayle, Iffy Allen and David Pratt all cup-tied and Abo Eisa transferred to Shrewsbury Town on deadline day.
It was the visitors who started the strongest with William Hayhurst stinging the palms of Jonathan North and Jamie McDonald having a goal disallowed for offside inside the opening 15 minutes.
This prompted Stones boss Wilkinson into making a first half tactical change with Dan Fitchett partnering Tiryaki up top in place of defender Olomowewe. The impact was almost immediate.
Fitchett almost grabbed a goal just before half time when played through on goal by Green, but McMillan rushed out quick to deny the forward.
Warrington almost took a spectacular lead early in the second half when Sean Williams’ 25-yard half volley was acrobatically tipped over by North.
They came even closer soon after, Tony Gray was denied twice by North from point-blank range before eventually beating the Welsh stopper, only this time he was denied on the line by Sam Cox.
On 64 minutes Wealdstone took the lead. Oshodi went down from a clumsy challenge by Jack Higgins and Green sent McMillan the wrong way from 12 yards in cool fashion.
Warrington battled the whole way throughout and grabbed a deserved equaliser on 82 minutes. A rare mistake at the back allowed Piggott a clear run on goal and he slotted past North with the easiest of finishes having been on the pitch for less than a minute.
However, there was to be one more twist in this enthralling cup tie. Green made excellent space but hit a fairly innocuous effort at goal from the edge of the box, McMillan got down well to stop it, but it looped up and over the keeper, hitting him on the back and rolling into the empty net behind to send the Stones fans, management and players into a frenzy and into the quarter-finals.
The draw will be made live on talkSPORT 2 on Monday at 1PM, in the meantime Stones will prepare for the longest league trip of the season as they visit Truro City on Saturday.
WEALDSTONE: North, Olomowewe (Fitchett 33), Okimo, Wilson, Oshodi, Wellard, Whichelow, Cox, Tiryaki (Goodger 81), Green, Artwell. Subs not used: Bonfield, Day, Sellers.
By Chris Woods
Colin Evans Pictures HERE