Northwich Victoria v Barnoldswick Town: Saturday 11th November 2017: NWCFL Premier

DATE - Saturday 11th November 2017. COMPETITION - North West Counties Premier Division. VENUE - Townfield Stadium, Barnton, Northwich.

LINE-UP'S -

Vics' - Donlon, Grant, Lawrence, Weston (C), Johnson, Willis, Fitton, Gorman (Bennett 89'), Durnin (Bickett 72'), Matthews (Gyimah 87'), Hart (caution). Un-used subs' - Shaw, McDonnell.

Barlick - King, Blades, Lloyd (Townsend 81'), Airey (caution), Crorken (C), Cavanagh, Dale (Melia 77'), Hill, Threlfall (caution), Thompson, Ben Gorman (Hollindrake 81'). Un-used subs' - Yates, Simpson.

Unavailable for Vics' - Anthony Shinks (knee), Reece Lyndon (Thigh).

GOALS -

Vics' - Oscar Durnin 20', Brian Matthews 69', Jason Hart 80'. Barlick - Harry Thompson 77'.

Vics' M.O.M - Jason Hart. Another ebullient and energetic performance by the diminutive hit-man. Caused the Barlick rear-guard problems with his clever movement & pace all afternoon; then scored late on with a clinical finish to wrap up the three points.

Report-

Vics' opened up the game with the majority of possession but it was the visitors who created the games first chance; Mark Threlfall sending a shot from 18 yards just over the crossbar. Vics' then got a grip of proceedings with centre-back Adam Lawrence sending a right-foot volley just over the bar from the edge of the box after a corner was cleared to him. Vics' skipper Allan Weston then made a terrific last-ditch block on 17' to deny Zack Dale who was about to pull the trigger from short range with glove-man Mike Donlon exposed. Somewhat against the run of play; Vics' took the lead via a wonderfully-crafted team goal on 20' - Jason Hart played an exquisite one-two with strike partner Bri Matthews around 30 yards out which saw Hart shuffle the ball on to Oscar Durnin at the left-hand edge of the box. Durnin cut inside, leaving two Barlick' defenders in his wake, before sending a low right-foot daisy-cutting drive into the bottom right-hand corner with keeper' Connor King sprawling. Barlick were un-deterred though; Mike Donlon made a quality save low down with a strong right-hand to deny Ben Gorman's snap-shot from five yards at a tight angle on 33'. Miraculously, Vics' again denied Barlick on 43' when Ian Willis denied Mark Threlfall's hooked shot from 6 yards that finally saw Donlon beaten; the defensive midfielder headed the ball the cross-bar and to safety. The teams went into the half-time break with Vics' in the lead and the visitors counting themselves unlucky to be behind.

HALF-TIME - Vics' 1-0 Barlick.

Upon the resumption, Sam Fitton should have doubled Vics' lead when he shot straight at Connor King after being sent clear by Oscar Durnin's slide-rule pass. On 55' Jason Hart's 25 yard top-corner finder was clawed out of the air by Connor King for a Vics' corner; a top quality save by the visiting glove-man. Barlick still continued to be dangerous though and Andrew Hill saw his header drop just wide from a corner on 60'. Just as Barlick were looking increasingly more dangerous, Brian Matthews doubled Vics' lead on 69' when he wriggled free from two Barlick' players eighteen yards out and sent a low right-foot shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net, although King should have done better, the ball creeping in via his out-stretched left-hand. Barlick finally found the net on 77' when Harry Thompson stabbed in sub' Joel Melia's cross from 6 yards out. They then missed a sitter on 79'; Matt Cavanagh cleared the cross-bar with a shot from short range after a cross from the left by sub' Jake Townsend picked him out with only Donlon to beat. Vics' hit-man Jason Hart then made Cavanagh pay for his profligacy in front of goal; following a lightning-quick counter-attack he raced clear before letting King advance and then rolling a right-foot shot past the stricken keeper' from 10 yards into the bottom corner. The ultimate difference between the two sides on the day were the clinical finishing by the Vics' in-form front-men.

FULL-TIME-Vics' 3-1 Barlick

Vics' boss Steve Wilkes' verdict on a 5th straight league victory -

A scratchy performance, Steve. I guess it's good to win despite being below-par, the ultimate difference being the clinical finishing by our front-men.

Yeah most definitely, Jamie. I think everybody that saw the game today would admit that we were very fortunate to win the game today. We could have been two goals down before Oscar Durnin put us in front. I think especially in the first half Barnoldswick were much the better side, and I was speaking to Danny Craig (the Barlick manager) after the game and we both agreed that if either Brian Matthews or Jay Hart were playing for Barnoldswick today we'd have lost the game. Sometimes you have to win football matches ugly and when you're not at your best and we certainly have done that today.

Up next for Vics' is a North West Counties Premier Division fixture Vs Runcorn Linnetss (A) on Saturday 18th November - K.O 15:00. Stadium address - Millbank Linnets stadium, Stockham Lane, Runcorn. Postcode for sat-nav systems is - WA7 6GJ.

Match report & interview by Jamie Dewsbury.