Vics went to the top of the League with what looks like a convincing 3 -1 victory over Cheadle Town, but it was far from comfortable even though Town had 2 players sent off.
As had happened against Yarm and Whitchurch Alport before, Vics found it more difficult to play against 10 men ( and even 9 tonight) , a strange habit to have.

A fairly quiet first ten minutes to the match for both teams before Fraser Cookson was inches away from connecting to a corner and heading home whilst a minute later Cheadle broke quickly leading to Terry Benson-Brewer racing though on goal one on one but his shot went wide. The next moment it was Vics’ turn to break quickly as Duckworth played in Elliot Rokka down the right and he forced a smart save from Josh Schofield in the Town net. The ever dangerous Rokka had another huge chance in the 21st minute, as he beat the last man to get into the box but again was denied by Schofield who saved with his legs. Two minutes later it was again Rokka , this time curling a free-kick in which Schofield pushed around the post. However Rokka wasn’t to be denied in the 27th minute as Joe Duckworth got into the area, stabbed the ball through to Rokka who slid the ball under the keeper to give Vics the lead.
Cheadle were then reduced to ten men in the 42nd minute when Dan Okeke was shown the red card for a studs up tackle which caused a “handbags” melee for which Taylor Kennerley was shown a yellow for retaliation. This seemed to inspire Cheadle however, and on the stroke of half time, Benson-Brewer broke quickly down the right and slotted the ball under Mendes to put the teams level at half time.

HALF TIME : Northwich Vics 1 Cheadle Town 1

Vics generally had a lot of possession in the second half but struggled to break Cheadle’s ten men down. Tanswell shot wide early on in the half whilst Luc Ferry headed a Duckworth cross over in the 54th minute. Rokka fired a 20 yarder which the keeper saved well low down to his right before Vics got their second goal in the 62nd minute. Duckworth was again the architect as he cleverly pulled the ball across the box for Will Lloyd to strike the ball under Schofield into the net. Four minutes later, Cheadle were reduced to nine men as Harley Monaghan was shown a second yellow card. It should have been easy for Vics now, but to give Cheadle credit, they worked their socks off denying Vics space and closing them down quickly whilst still looking to get forward. Vics were finding it difficult to create chances now though Rokka did force Schofield into a great double save in the 78th minute whilst Duckworth headed wide from a beautiful Rokka cross. It wasn’t until the 5th minute of added on time that Vics finally made the game safe when Duckworth again did well to cross low across the box for Rokka to come in at the far post to slam the ball past the keeper.

FULL TIME : Northwich Vics 3 Cheadle Town 1

A closer match than it should have been with Vics playing better against 11 men than they did against 10 and then 9 ! However 3 points is 3 points but all credit to Cheadle for battling hard and making Vics work for their win.

NEXT MATCH :

SATURDAY 14th NOVEMBER : Midland League : Brocton v Northwich Vics 3.00pm