Dan Dawson back to health after absence and encouraged despite Market Drayton defeat
Market Drayton Town boss Dan Dawson's ill health was not helped as his team fell to a frustrating 2-0 defeat at fellow mid-table outfit Cammell Laird.
With Dawson under the weather and following from home, his side conceded a goal in either half to the Wirral hosts' Adam Smith in one of only two North West Counties First Division South clashes to survive the weather.
It was a blow to the travelling Gingerbread Men who were in good form heading into the clash and only seen off by the same 2-0 scoreline in their previous game, on Boxing Day away to high-flying Eccleshall.
The fixture list has been broken up by the inclement conditions but an upbeat Dawson has since recovered and been enthused by reports of his side's display. He said: "It was one of the first games I've ever missed being ill, which was a bit of a pain.
"But having watched the video back and chatted to the boys we were really unfortunate. We dominated 35 minutes until conceding a really sloppy goal. We hit the post, hit the bar, had one cleared off the line, had one disallowed and a penalty appeal turned down.
"We had 58 per cent possession across the game before a really fortuitous goal from a set-piece off the bar fell to their player.
"We chipped away at it second half before they dragged a shot and it fell to their player to score. It was frustrating."
Dawson, whose slide slipped a place to 13th, had been keen to replace departed frontman Sam Preece and have added former Stone Old Alleynians striker Ollie Griffiths to their ranks ahead of Saturday's home Greenfields clash against leaders Runcorn.
"He's a good player, physical and direct and will be a good addition for us," added the boss.
"I think we're still looking for another one, just to provide another option to go with Ollie to have a good unit to go again."
