Vics 4 - Winsford Utd 1

COMPETITION - North West Counties Premier Division.

DATE - Saturday 18th August 2018.

VENUE -Wincham Park, Northwich

Vics’ line-up - Taberner , Camozzi, Ayres , Kenny, Barski , Whittle , Craig,(Bickett 45’) Cooke (C) Brownhill , Doran (McDonald 65’), Connolly ( Gorman 77’)
Un-used Subs : - Neild

Unavailable for Vics’ - Matty Clarke (leg), Brian Matthews (ankle), Billy Webb (thigh), John Bennett (cruciate ligament) - out for 6 more months minimum. 

GOALS - Vics’ - Brownhill 28’, 47’, Kenny 79’, Gorman 86’

Winsford Utd - Bircumshaw 54’
BOOKINGS -
Vics ' - Brownhill, Doran

Winsford - Jenyons
Att: 204

The game started brightly with both teams pushing forward but it was Winsford who looked the more dangerous, as a cross-shot from ex Vics player Sam Marshall goes just wide , whilst after 5 minutes, Danny Taberner was forced into a fantastic save to keep the Vics level. 4 minutes later, Winsford had the ball in the net after a back-pass was intercepted, but it was rightly disallowed for a foul on Taberner. After 16 minutes, a free kick from Robert Doran fell to Kieron Kenny whose shot curled just wide of the post. Vics took the lead in the 28th minute when a great ball into the box from Dom Craig fell to Billy Whittle whose shot was blocked but Joel Brownhill was on hand to slot the ball into the back of the net. This spurred Winsford on, as they dominated the rest of the half, but the Vics defence held firm with no major alarms.

HALF-TIME - Vics 1 Winsford Utd 0

The second half began with Liam Bickett replacing Dom Craig who had picked up a knock, and he was immediately in the action as he teams up with John Connolly down the left, and the ball infalls to Joel Brownhill who passes the ball into the net from 12 yards to double Vics’ lead. Winsford kept pressing though and deservedly pulled a goal back after 54 minutes as poor defending by Vics allowed a cross into the box, where Perry Bircumshaw slid in at the far post to score. Winsford kept attacking and had plenty of the ball but Vics defence was resolute and managed to limit Winsford to half chances only. the game was finally made more comfortable in the 79th minute after a great interchange in the box from Stuart McDonald and Billy Whittle led to Kieron Kenny side footing the ball into the corner of the net. Winsford were deflated now, and it was no surprise when Stuart McDonald’s slide rule pass found Liam Bickett whose played it across to the free Rory Gorman who shot the ball goal from an acute angle after rounding the keeper. Vics then had 2 great chances to increase their lead in the final minutes of the match, as firstly Billy Whittle’s close range shot is well saved, and then Joel Brownhill should have completed his hat-trick but instead only managed to somehow hit the bar.

Full time : Vics 4 Winsford Utd

Vics’ MOM - Joe Camozzi as chosen by our match day sponsors MCR Media

Vics’ boss Steve Wilkes’ verdict on the derby victory -

“Every win’s a good win however it comes.
If you want to be challenging for things at the end of the season, these are the games you need to win.
We know we didn’t play well yesterday and 4-1 does flatter us a little, but the players were running on empty after the effort they put in on Wednesday night.
120 minutes against higher opposition this early in the season is always going to take it out on the players.
In hindsight I probably should have freshened it up a little. Having said that, last season we would have no doubt lost the game. I have to give my substitutes some credit as they definitely changed the game. Liam Bickett never gave the ball away after coming on at half-time and Stuart McDonald and Jonny Gorman gave us that freshness that we needed.

Games are coming thick and fast at this stage of the season, we now have 3 games in 6 days so it’s important the squad of players we have are ready.”

Match report by Pete Tonge.
Interview by Jamie Dewsbury.

Up next for Vics’ is an AWAY League match Vs Burscough FC on Tuesday 21st August - 7,45pm kick off