Warrington Rylands reaffirmed their title credentials and increased the pressure on the top two with a win over Marine.
Two goals in the second via a splendid free-kick from David Webb and a thumping effort from Callum Dolan sent the FA Vase holders to within four points of the league leaders.
David McNabb’s side followed up their last-gap win over Mossley seven days earlier with a professional display against a side who were league leaders at the start of the proceedings.
A top-of-the-table clash always has a bit of a needle and the clash in Crosby was no different with the two promotion hopefuls going hammer and tong.
The visitors almost found themselves in front early on when Kane Drummond raced through on goal only to be denied by the legs of the onrushing Bayleigh Passant.
Marine had the better of the early openings through Mark Howarth, George Newell and Neil Kengni but they failed to test Rylands captain Graeme McCall between the sticks.
The two biggest flashpoints came in both penalty areas. Firstly after Kengni weaved through the Blue bodies on the edge of the area before firing goalwards only to see his effort blocked by the arm of the visiting defender, despite a chorus of pleas from the home supporters the referee allowed play to continue.
At the other end, Drummond – a constant threat for McNabb throughout – showed the defender a clean set of heels before he was hauled down but the official wasn’t interested.
Shortly after the break, a turn from Howarth played him into danger and he pulled Webb down, from the resulting free-kick the midfielder curled it around the wall into the goalkeeper’s top-left corner sending the away supporters and the visiting bench into raptures silencing the home fans after the restart.
Marine looked to bring the game level but lacked the final pass and quality in the third.
Their best chance of the game when Steven Irwin, Owen Watkinson and Newell all combined in the Rylands box, it fell to the Southport loanee who fired his effort into the ground and with McCall going the other way he produced a magnificent save to push the effort onto the post.
With the Mariners chasing the game and the clock ticking, the final blow was landed after Connor Teale was robbed in his own half by Dolan, the forward burst inside and unleashed a ferocious effort into the roof of the net to seal the three points for the visitors.
Neil Young’s side slip to second, with a game in hand whilst Rylands move to within two points of Saturday’s opponents and four of Workington.
Match Info
Marine 0-2 Warrington Rylands
Scorers: 47′ Webb, 85′ Dolan.
Bookings: 9′ Winnard, 54′ Teale, 71′ Watkinson, 72′ Smith, 76′ Buxton, 78′ Irwin, 79′ Neild, 83′ Scarisbrick, 89′ McCall.
HT/FT Score: 0-0/0-2.
[Featured image: Warrington Rylands – Mark Percy]
