Goals from AJ Warburton and Geffry Ebhote was enough to seal a 3rd consecutive league victory for Avro in a 2-1 win against Nantwich Town. This win was even more valuable after Avro played over 50 minutes of the match with 10 men after Max Harrop was dismissed after receiving a second yellow card.
Avro headed into this fixture with confidence after winning their previous 2 league fixtures against Vauxhall Motors and Witton Albion. They were also boosted by the return of Grant Shenton in goal after his return from injury, he would also captain the side this afternoon in the absence of Jake Cottrell.
The visitors also headed to The Vestacare with confidence as they sat 3rd in the league knowing a victory would take them up to 2nd after Vauxhall Motors lost 3-2 away against Atherton Collieries last night. The opening 10 minutes of the game was reflective of their league position as Nantwich enjoyed most of the possession early on but a strike from distance by Tyler Hill was the only effort they could force on the Avro defence.
Avro grew into the game after this and had a spell of possession themselves as they looked to test the Nantwich defence. Both Chiekh Thiam and Max Harrop saw their shots blocked and cleared with both sides struggling to register a shot on target. This was, until the 16thminute when Liam Ellis saw his shot parried straight into the path of AJ Warburton who was there to put Avro ahead.
The next 10 minutes of this fixture was stop and start as the referee brandished his cards 4 times in this spell. Kane Hickman, Dom Smalley and Max Harrop was the Avro representatives who entered the book for Avro while Kelvin Mellor also received a card for the visitors after a late challenge on Kane Hickman. The referee was once again the centre of attention as he adjudged Max Harrop to have dived inside the box and issued a second yellow card. This saw 10-man Avro faced with the tough challenge of keeping Nantwich at bay for the remainder of the match.
It looked like Avro would go into the break ahead until Kai Evans scored his 11th league goal of the season direct from a free kick in the 4th minute of stoppage time. This free kick also saw Geffry Ebhote receive a yellow card for his foul.
David Birch and Mike Norton made one change at the break as Jack Morrow replaced Benito Lowe to balance out the midfield with the loss of Max Harrop. A solo run from Chiekh Thiam saw his cross cleared for an Avro corner and this was met by Geffry Ebhote. He rose the highest and converted his header into the far corner to put Avro back ahead within the first couple of minutes into the second half.
Avro were proving to be strong from set pieces and it was another corner which nearly provided Avro with their 3rd goal of the afternoon. David Fitzpatrick put a great ball into the box which fell for Deane Smalley at the back post, but his header was narrowly wide.
Nantwich committed more bodies forward and had most of the possession, but this presented opportunities to Avro on the counter and AJ Warburton broke free looking to add his second of the afternoon, but his shot crashed off the outside of the post and out for a goal kick.
This is how the rest of the match played out as Avro remained comfortable in containing any attack Nantwich presented. Nantwich struggled to hit the target as they seen most of their shots sail well over the bar.
This saw Avro secure their 3rd league victory in a row after a recent upturn in performances and results.
Avro return to league action on Tuesday night as they travel to Clitheroe looking to build on the positive couple of weeks.
