Warrington Town 1 Trafford 0

TRAFFORD suffered a nightmare afternoon at Warrington, losing goalkeeper Tom Read with a broken finger in the pre-match warm up, seeing key defender Steve Mason sent off midway through the first half and then having two stonewall penalty claims turned down in the second period.

Young goalkeeper Hayden Buckley-Smith proved to be a more than capable deputy for the unfortunate Read as Trafford set the early pace in this FA Cup first qualifying tie and after just eight minutes Michael Oates found himself clean through in the inside left channel but shot into the side-netting.

A powerful low drive by Shelton Payne was then blocked by the legs of Town goalkeeper Karl Wills before the defining moment of the game arrived in the 22nd minute.

Home striker Ben Wharton broke clear down the middle and fired against the right hand upright. Steve Mason clearly handled the rebound and as referee Greenhalgh deemed the player to have denied Town a goalscoring opportunity he not only awarded the undisputed penalty but also red carded Mason. Ex Trafford left winger Scott Metcalfe stepped forward to crash the spot kick into the roof of the net past the helpless Buckley-Smith.

Despite being reduced to ten men, Trafford were rarely under pressure for the remainder of the first half with Town restricted to just two long range efforts by Conor Roberts.

Roberts fired wide again from 25 yards in the 55th minute but two minutes later Trafford’s quicksilver winger Shelton Payne broke clear down the middle and appeared to be pulled down by David Mannix. The referee ignored Trafford’s claims for a penalty and Mannix was mightily relieved to escape a red card.

James McCarten headed over at the back post, Steve Foster curled a shot against the upright from 18 yards and then Foster found himself clean through following a long punt downfield by Lees but lobbed the ball just over the crossbar.

The visitors were struggling to put together a move of any note but in the 82nd minute Shelton Payne broke clear again, raced into the penalty area and was once more unceremoniously bundled to the ground. The referee refused to award the spot kick,