Warrington Rylands boss David McNabb expressed his delight at their win over City of Liverpool last weekend.
First-half goals from Rick Smith and David Webb were enough to see the league leaders to yet another win as their run continued.
It was far from smooth sailing as the Purps came out firing in the second half with Rylands having to withstand pressure from the hosts.
A controversial penalty provided Michael Ellison’s side with an avenue back into the game. Despite some criticism in their performance, McNabb hailed a “really important” win.
He told Off The Park: “It was good. It was really important we kept the momentum going, we knew it was going to be a tough game and it was. It was one of those typical game of two halves, first half thought we were really good, probably should’ve come in three or four up rather than the two.
“Fair play to City of Liverpool, they came out second half and probably took advantage of us being nervous about seeing the game out. They played really well and got the goal – I don’t think it was a penalty – but they did create another couple of chances as well, just pleased to get the win.
“It’s always pleasing that you’ve won in that sort of manner. Obviously, having to dig in, defend long balls into the box, you’re having to defend the 18-yard box, it’s pleasing to know you can do that. Although it’s a learnings [curve] around our ability to manage that pressure and keep the ball a bit better.
“Our ball retention in the second half was really poor which obviously assisted City of Liverpool to be the attacking team and keep the ball in our half.
“It’s just about being a bit more calm and relaxed. Knowing you’re going to come under periods of the game against any team where they’re going to be on top, it’s about managing those circumstances a little bit better.
“We were poor in the ball which gave the impetus back to City of Liverpool, not taking anything away from their performance, I just thought we could manage periods better but you do expect to have them especially when you’re only winning by a goal. It was more sustained during the second period and City of Liverpool were the better team, a lot of that in my opinion came from us.”
Their lead at the top remains a point after Marine’s win. But for Warrington Rylands, their hopes remain on securing a playoff mathematically with Workington, Leek Town and the Mariners all vying for a place in the top two.
Up next for Rylands is a test against already relegated Market Drayton Town but McNabb warns of a harsh reality check.
He added: “You’ve just to try get as high as you can. The playoff spot is what we wanted to achieve at the start of the season.
“We’re not far away now from guaranteeing that so that’s the first goal. It’s about putting as much pressure as we can on the chasing pack now, they’ve got games in hand but we know how difficult this league is, we’ll have to rely on people slipping up but at the moment we’re just looking at securing that playoff place.
“Confidence is high, what we need to be conscious of is through periods of the season when we’ve been on three or games [streaks] we’ve come down with a bang.
“Sometimes it’s through us taking our foot off the boil a little bit and not approaching the game in the right way. I think the message to the players is that this is absolutely a must-win game, no other game matters and we have to go into this and focus on trying to pick another three points against a good Market Drayton side.”
