Burscough 5 Vics 3

The Vics were well-beaten by Burscough when the teams met for a North West Counties League Premier Division fixture on Tuesday night
BURSCOUGH had maximum points secured inside an hour of Tuesday’s meeting with Northwich Victoria, who they host again in an FA Cup tie this weekend.
An emphatic victory in the first encounter may give them a psychological edge although Vics boss Steve Wilkes will expect an entirely different version of his side to show up.
“I think one or two turned up and didn’t fancy it after seeing the state of the pitch,” he said.
“You need to roll up your sleeves and battle if you want to compete at the top end of the table, and that’s something we didn’t do for the first 70 minutes.”
The visitors did rally in the closing stages, scoring three times, but by then they had been reduced to 10 men following defender Mark Ayres’ dismissal as a punishment for being booked twice.
They might have taken the lead when John Connolly met Joel Brownhill’s free-kick with a header that went narrowly wide.
However the Linnets - beaten in each of their previous three North West Counties League matches to date - took control from the moment Terry Cummings swerved a shot into the top-corner from the edge of the penalty area on 24 minutes.
They doubled their lead shortly afterwards when Matthew Ward intercepted Antony Shinks’ header, which was intended for goalkeeper Danny Taberner, before finishing coolly.

The Northwich custodian denied them a third goal when he saved low from Gary Grier’s shot.
A difficult task for the visitors became harder when Ayres, cautioned before the break for a cynical foul on Chad Whyte, was shown a yellow card again for repeating the trick.
Ryan Grier’s strike from distance, after the resulting free-kick had been cleared, squirmed through Taberner’s legs for 3-0.
Burscough captain Danny Brady then timed perfectly a tackle to thwart Connolly after Billy Whittle had flicked on before Cummings doubled his personal tally to net the home team’s fourth goal.
Vics improved following the introduction of Rory Gorman and Theo Brierley, signed on loan from Buxton, for the final half-hour.
Whittle’s glancing header reduced their arrears before he netted a second at the back-post to make it 4-2.
Burscough kept them at arm’s length when substitute Jordan Lorde steered in a fifth goal from Cummings’ cross before Shinks stooped to nod in Gorman’s free-kick to complete the scoring late on.
Burscough |Robinson (GK), Brady, Clark, Parkes, Ryan Grier, Gary Grier, Cummings, Dunroe, Whyte (Doherty 64), Henerty (Canache 69), Ward (Lorde 61) Subs not used White, Povey (GK) Goals Cummings 24, 61 Ward 34, Ryan Grier 50, Lorde 88
Vics | Taberner (GK), Camozzi, Ayres, Bickett (Monson 54), Kenny, Barski, Whittle, Shinks, McDonald, Brownhill (Brierley 59), Connolly (Gorman 59) Subs not used Matthews, Cooke Goals Whittle 72, 87 Shinks 90 Booked Ayres (foul) Sent off Ayres (second caution)