Congleton Town 2 Northwich Vics 4

COMPETITION -North West Counties Premier Division
DATE -Sunday 8th March 22nd 2020
VENUE - Cheshire Silk 106.9 Stadium, Congleton

LINE-UP Vics’ -
Hale, Henry, Kenny, Barski, Sumner, Camozzi, Clarke M, Potts, Lynch (Grindrod 85'), Kilifin (McGrath 81'), Henderson (Powell 77')
Un-used subs’ - Clarke P, Mannion

Bookings : Clarke M, Sumner, Camozzi, Henderson

GOALS : Congleton T : Johns 7'. 79'
: Northwich V : Barski 12', 22' Lynch 52', 63'

after a quiet first 5 minutes with both teams feeling each other out, Congleton took the lead when Vics misplaced a pass in midfield and the ball was quickly fed forward into the path of Aaron Johns, who controlled the ball well, and cooly slotted the ball into the back of the Vics' net past Mike Hale. Vics however responded well, and in the 9th minute, a free kick was played into the Town penalty area, and half cleared out to Rob Henry whose lobbed shot was just pushed over the bar by Parton. This was the first of three consecutive corners for Vics, and on the 3rd one , Brandon Barski escaped his marker and flicked a header into the net as he ran to the near post area. Keeper had no chance. 4 minutes later, Mike Hale cleared upfield, the ball was flicked on by Saul Henderson into the path of Bradley Lynch down the left side who ran into the penalty area, but his shot was well blocked by the Congleton defence. Vics earnt another corner in the 21st minute when Potts' shot was deflected , and the ball was swung in towards the far post where Barski beat everyone to the ball and powered his header home from 1 yard out. The match then entered a quiet spell with both teams trying to create openings but with little success. Lynch had a shot blocked for Vics, whilst Beaumont had an effort for Town which sailed over the bar from 20 yards. In the final minute of the half, Town came close when the ball was whipped in from an angle, but somehow a Congleton player couldn't get a decisive touch on the ball and it went out for a throw.

HALF-TIME : Congleton Town 1 Northwich Vics 2

The second half was 5 minutes old, when a hopeful shot from 30 yards by Town's Ryder looked to have been comfortably saved by Mike Hale, but somehow the ball squeezed under his body, and Hale had to react quickly to turn and grab the ball right on the goal line ! Close call. Vics extended their lead in the 52nd minute as Tommy Kilifin was alert to pick up the ball half way inside the Town half and immediately pass forward to Bradley Lynch down the left side of the box, who cut in past a couple of defenders and fired a shot into the bottom left corner of the net. Two minutes later, a nice interchange of passes leads to Joe Camozzi chipping a ball to the far post where Saul Henderson met it but couldn't quite direct his header goalwards. Good move though . Town immediately responded , as they went up the other end, and Beaumont had a shot from the corner of the box which whistled just over the bar. Vics virtually made the game safe in the 63rd minute as Saul Henderson chased a long ball down the left, and managed to cross the ball across an empty box , where Joe Camozzi managed to beat the dithering Parton to the ball and cutely laid the ball back for Brad Lynch to have the easy job of rolling the ball into an empty net. the next minute, Camozzi nearly got onto the score sheet himself when he was cleverly set up by Kilifin but he miscued his shot wide of the right post. Congleton were now pushing forward, and with the heavens opening , Hale was forced to tip wide a 25 yard effort from Beaumont. Congleton did get a goal back in the 79th minute as a pass forward found Aaron Johns one on one with the keeper, and he made no mistake. Bearing in minds, other leads being thrown away by Vics, this could have set the nerves jangling, but Vics played out the remaining minutes without any undue concern to record a well deserved victory .

FULL-TIME - Congleton Town 2 Northwich Vics 4

Another determined controlled display by the Vics, with many candidates for man of the match with obviously Brandon Barski and Bradley Lynch leading the way with two goals each but I would give it to Louis Potts for a committed performance where he controlled the middle of the park, allowing others more time and space on the ball.

Vics’ boss Steve Wilkes’ post-match verdict -

I think it was a really good performance from the lads. As everyone knows we hadn’t played for nearly a month, so great credit goes to the boys for looking sharp. We’ve trained well the last month, but it nothing like playing a game.
Kicking off at 11:30 on a Sunday morning isn’t ideal, but we just got on with the job in hand. To win any game away from home, scoring 4 goals is a great achievement but I’ll be honest, we thought we should have had more. But I’ll settle for 4 goals and 3 points any weekend. Once again thanks to the fans, who never stopped singing from minute one until the 90th, great effort from all those as well.