Padiham 1 Northwich Vics 1

COMPETITION -North West Counties Premier Division.
DATE - Saturday 21st December 2019.
VENUE - Well Street, Padiham

LINE-UP Vics’ -
Hale , Henry ( Clarke M 29'), Clarke P, Barski, Peters, Powell ( Henderson 78'), Camozzi, Pollard (Pilkington 82'), Winder , Kilifin, Burns
Un-used subs’ - Taberner

Bookings : Pollard 74'

GOALS - Padiham : Noble 55'
Northwich Vics : Pollard 67'

In a dull first half, Vics started brightly enough , but found it hard work to put passes together on a soft pitch. the best chance for Vics of a quiet first half fell to Aaron Burns in the 11th minute when he was set through on goal but his shot was saved well by Holmes in the Padiham net. There was a lot of huffing and puffing but very little action from either team, The only other action came in the final minute of the half when a Ryan Winder cross was headed on by Barski but Tom Kilifin failed to get enough power on the ball to test Holmes seriously.

HALF-TIME : Padiham 0 Northwich Vics 0

Padiham started the second half better, and in the 49th minute, Vics' debutant keeper, Mike Hale produced a fine save to divert a shot wide of the goal where it was then cleared to safety. 3 minutes later, Vics were indebted to Brandon Barski as he got back well to clear a diagonal ball when Padiham had men behind him in the box waiting after a quick break. However it was no surprise when in the 55th minute, Padiham took the lead. Again one pass split the Vics' defence wide open and Luke Noble was there to slot the ball past Hale who had no chance. Vics responded well and in the 64th minute, Pollard scuffed a shot into the keepers arms when he was well placed . He made amends 3 minutes when a he met a dinked ball into the box from Burns and expertly looped a header over Holmes into the net. the game had livened up now, and in the 74 minute, Mike Hale saved brilliantly to deny Padiham a certain goal when they broke through one on one with him. In the 81st minute, substitute Saul Henderson produced a dangerous low cross which was cleared for a corner to Vics, which caused panic in the Padiham defence but no Vics player could get a decisive touch as the ball ricocheted around in the box. the final chance fell to Vics in the 87th minute, as a Winder cross fell to Kilifin but his shot lacked conviction.

FULL-TIME - Padiham 1 Northwich Vics 1

A poor match with little quality from either team, not helped by the pitch. let's hope for better on Boxing Day.