COMPETITION : Midland League Premier
DATE - Saturday 27th September 2025
VENUE - The Sports Ground, Lye

LINE-UP Vics’ -
Goddard ( Deering 38’), Hurst, Lawson ( Abreu 45’), Harrison, Davis, Sutton (Crane 75’), Gill ( Lloyd 45’), Clarke, Cooke (Atkinson 79’), Djabi, Hamm 77’

Goals: Lye Town : Sidaway 14’, Steward 35’, Moran 45+6’
Northwich Vics : Cooke 61’, Djabi 65’ (Pen)

First defeat for Vics in 11 matches !

Vics’ plans for the match were thrown into disarray before it had even begun with the news that keeper Andre Mendes and winger Jefferson Abreu were delayed due to breaking down , and not liable to be at the ground until half-time. Joint Manager Luke Goddard was named as replacement keeper and the system changed to a 5 - 3 -2 line up.
Vics got off to a quick start and they were close to going a goal up in just the 3rd minute as Matt Harrison met a corner with a powerful header which was blocked well whilst Matty Clarke’s follow up shot was cleared from the line. A minute later, Kieran Hamm raced through, volleyed at goal which the Lye keeper saved well. This was about as good as it got in the first half for the Vics as a rare mistake from Harrison let Lye’s Sidaway one on one with Goddard and he made no mistake in the 13th minute. Harrison headed just over from another Vics’ corner before Lye increased their lead as Steward finished well despite Goddard getting a hand to the ball. Goddard was then forced into coming off with concussion after an accidental collision with a Lye player, and was replaced in goal by striker Kieran Hamm ! Then when it looked as though Vics would only be two down at the break, Lye scored a third through Moran with a swept finish which no keeper would have saved.

HALF-TIME : Lye Town 3 Northwich Vics 0

Vics came out for the second half reverting back to the more normal 4 at the back formation with winger Abreu freshly arrived. Vics looked more comfortable now and were pressing Lye back and they thought they had pulled a goal back in the 58th minute as Djabi got on the end of a Abnreu cross and flicked the ball into the net, but he was ruled offside….must have been close! However 3 minutes they did get a goal as Sean Cooke superbly curled a free kick into the net from 22 yards out.
Three minutes later, it was 2 for Vics as Cooke was felled in the area and the referee awarded a penalty ( a soft decision to be fair) and Djabi confidently smashed the ball home. Could Vics complete the come-back? Davis went close as the ball fell to him in the area and then he had a header cleared off the line in the 84th minute whilst Harrison put the rebound wide. Harrison then powered a header straight at the keeper as the game entered added-on time as Vics tried hard for the equaliser.

FULL-TIME : Lye Town 3 Northwich Vics 2

A match which Vics lost in the first half with defensive errors not helping the replacement goalkeeper(s). Second half, it was all Vics as they reverted to their normal set up and Lye did well to hang on for the three points.