Widnes 1-3 Hanley Town

Widnes FC manager Steve Hill was left bemused by the referee Ian Jones’ performance in Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat to Hanley Town at the Select Security Stadium.

Hill’s side were reduced to nine men less than 10 minutes into the second half when Widnes’ Alex Davies and Ronnie McCarthy were sent off for their involvement in a midfield fracas involving both teams after Hanley reacted to a challenge from McCarthy when the play had already been whistled dead when Town were leading 2-1.

Tempers were already in danger of boiling over after the referee waved away multiple reckless challenges from both sides in the first half that drew the ire of both sets of players.

Speaking after the game, Hill criticised the referee for losing control of the game.

He said: “I just thought the entire incident was totally unnecessary. I think if you call it gamesmanship and they’ve milked it to the highest level that I’ve ever seen and I thought the referee bought it.

“He just lost control of what would’ve been and what was a good game of football.”

Widnes took an early lead when Tony Wynne headed an Alex Davies cross home on 13 minutes before two goals in quick succession for the visitors turned the game around as Theo Stair and Nick Ward netted midway through the opening 45 minutes.

Following the incident that reduced Widnes to 9-men, the hosts performed admirably but couldn’t prevent the visitors from increasing their lead as Ward netted his second on the hour-mark.

Manager Hill made the solitary change to his side that beat Bacup Borough 5-2 in their first game of 2016. Skipper Tom Mitchell returned from suspension as he came in for Steven Clarke who dropped to the bench.

Widnes started well and nearly took a 2-minute lead. Danny Lomax delivered a cross into the area that was met by the head of Tony Wynne, who drifted away from his man but couldn’t direct his header in target.

10 minutes later, Widnes took a deserved lead. A fluid passing move from the hosts saw Ronnie McCarthy play the ball wide to Alex Davies, who played a delicious cross in towards the back-post where Wynne again drifted away from his man but this time managed to direct his header on target and beyond the outstretched Hemmings to give his side the lead. Wynne’s goal was the 1500th North West Counties Football League goal this season, across both divisions.

Midway through the first half, two minutes of madness from Widnes saw the visitors turn the game on its head. A well-worked passing move from Hanley cut open the Widnes defence as Nick Ward squared the ball into the path of Theo Stair who tapped the ball into an empty net to equalise for Town.

Less than two minutes later, Hanley took the lead. Stair turned provider as he hooked the ball into the 6-yard area where Ward was on-hand to head home to turn it around quickly for the Staffordshire-based outfit.

Two minutes of madness completely changed the Widnes’ perspective of the match, who were now chasing the game after relinquishing control of proceedings.

The hosts continued to create chances despite the deficit. Ronnie McCarthy and Alex Davies both fired wide for Widnes before McCarthy again tried his luck, but this time he cleared the crossbar.

Halftime: Widnes 1-2 Hanley Town

It was five minutes into the second half before tempers completely boiled over. A mass brawl was incited by a late Ronnie McCarthy challenge after the referee failed to keep a lid on things. McCarthy was dismissed for the challenge and his part in the scuffle, before Alex Davies was also sent off for a second yellow card that was picked up for his part in the incident.

The referee had completely lost control of the game and failed to keep a lid on things despite the obvious potential for tempers to completely boil over after a series of reckless challenge from both sides in the first half. Ben Blowers was booked for Hanley, who remained on the pitch despite Widnes’ claim for further punishment.

From that point onwards, the game was completely killed as a spectacle. Hanley had a two-man advantage that they benefited from swiftly. The visitors stretched the Widnes defence with a good passing move that allowed Theo Stair a chance to bag his second, but his shot was well-saved by Ben Morrow, who couldn’t keep out the rebound from Nick Ward, who tucked away his second of the afternoon.

Hanley were in complete control for the majority of the second half, but Widnes performed valiantly and kept Hanley at bay defensively, whilst pushing to get back into the game, albeit half-chances from distance.

Late in the game, Widnes came close halving the deficit on the scoreboard. Jamil Campbell-Joseph’s first piece of action as a substitute was to take a corner that was met by the head of Ben Cartwright, whose header need to be cleared off the line after a save by Hemmings.

Tony Wynne also came close late for Widnes, forcing a save out of Hemmings after a good ball from Hackett.

Fulltime: Widnes 1-3 Hanley Town

Manager Hill was full of praise of his side, who despite the disappointing scoreline performed admirably with a nine-men for nearly 40 minutes.

He said: “I’m made up with the character that our lads showed in the circumstances which is out of their hands.

“In the changing room after the game, I actually praised them for the character and attitude they showed in the second half. I thought their performance was good.”

In addition, Hill felt that his side did more than enough to win the game, but let themselves down with two minutes of madness.

He said: “It was two minutes of madness that undone all the hard work as we managed to take the lead but gave two, naïve goals away.

“At halftime, we encouraged the lads to continue what they were doing and I’m sure that we could’ve won that game if we kept 11 players on the pitch.”

Next week, Widnes are back on the road as they travel to Litherland Sports Park to face Litherland REMYCA, pending the weather. That game kicks off at 3pm.

Widnes: Morrow (GK), Davies, Casson (Strutz-Rivelli 61), Wilson, Mitchell (C), Cartwright, Lomax (Burthem 79), McCarthy, Wynne, Hackett (Campbell-Joseph 79), Edwards.

Subs not used: Clarke, Wright.

Hanley Town: Hemmings (GK), Evans (Thorpe 34), Watson, J. Stair, Grice, Blowers (Turner 61), Edwards, Stanyer, Ward, T. Stair (C), Mellor (McCarthy 78).

Subs not used: Donaldson, Johnson.