Warrington Town debut new signing in county cup defeat

WARRINGTON Town gave a debut to new signing Elliot Morris during their Liverpool Senior Cup tie against Southport last night.

Despite showing some promising touches, however, the forward could not prevent Town’s goal drought stretching to a fourth game in all competitions.

A goal in either half allowed the visitors to leave Cantilever Park with a 2-0 victory, with Dior Angus and David Morgan on the scoresheet.

Manager Paul Carden made several changes to his side with the likes of Connor Woods, Matty McDonald and Peter Clarke given a rest.

The game came just four days before the sides meet again at Haig Avenue in the FA Trophy and despite the result, Carden said he was encouraged with parts of what he saw.

“I thought there were some reasonable performances by certain individuals,” he said,

“When you make a lot of changes like we did, it can feel a little bit disjointed and at times it was, but there were players there with enough familiarity with each other to understand what it was.

“I thought the game was pretty even right the way through – I know they hit the post just before they scored but before that, we had a couple of decent chances.”

Bohan Dixon looks to evade Southport skipper David Morgan (Image: Sean Walsh) Angus gave the Sandgrounders the lead just after the half-hour mark, converting a pull-back barely a minute after striking the post with the visitors’ first real chance.

As Town sought a way back after half time, they had a strong-looking penalty appeal turned down when Josh Amis appeared to be pulled over inside the area, albeit he still managed to get a close-range shot away that Southport stopper Chris Renshaw was able to save.

To rub salt into the wounds, Morgan doubled the lead shortly afterwards with a well-directed finish that beat Dan Atherton in the Yellows goal via the crossbar.

“Those things happen and they go against you when you’re having a bad spell, but we’ve got to be more forceful with our play,” Carden said.

“It’s happened a few times where we’re taking quick free kicks and going straight from a middle third position to a defensive third position – unless we’re gaining a clear advantage by taking it quickly, don’t take it as we end up putting ourselves under pressure.

“I think some of our play can be naïve at times and it causes us problems. At times, all they did was stick it down the sides of us and ask questions, similar to what Alfreton did on Saturday.

“I don’t feel we’re asking enough questions – sometimes we’re over-playing too much across the back line, then going long and then we can’t get around the ball.

“There’s a lot of things we need to work on, which we are doing. It’s becoming a recurring theme that we’re doing the same things and it’s causing us problems.”

Morris’ signing from City of Liverpool, for whom he had struck 12 times in 21 appearances this season, was confirmed before kick-off and he went straight into Yellows’ starting line-up.

The 26-year-old has been a prolific goalscorer in the Northern Premier League West Division for several years with both the Purps and Skelmersdale United, and Carden believes he will be an important addition to their attacking ranks.

However, he insists the need for more reinforcements in that area remains pressing given their goal drought has now stretched to a fourth game.

“I thought Elliot was very good – he was effective and a threat, but we didn’t get the ball to him enough,” Carden said.

“That can come when there’s not that familiarity but now the lads have seen how effective he can be.

“If we can get him the ball at the right time, he can be a real threat for us.

“I felt we lacked a player to stretch the game. It’s something you need and what we saw tonight, that’s something he can offer.

“He can get down the sides but he’s clever with his movement, so he gives you that understanding and option.

“He reminds me a little bit of Jack Mackreth when he was here, but I think Elliot can score goals and make goals for us. We’re looking forward to him being fully available for us.

“It’s good to have more options in those attacking areas because we have been light, and we still need more.

“We’re still looking because it’s about scoring goals and that’s something we’re clearly not doing. We’ve worked on certain things to try and help but it hasn’t quite come off yet.

“I do think we need at least one more in that attacking area.”

Elliot Morris in action during his Warrington Town debut (Image: Sean Walsh)