1874 NORTHWICH conceded three goals in quick succession either side of the interval as Charnock ended a near two-month wait to win a league game.

After gathering momentum with three successive wins, it felt jarring to lose for the visitors.

They were playing catch-up from the moment Joe Noblet fired with power into the far corner after fellow attacker Carl Grimshaw’s shot had been diverted by a defender into his path.

1874 restored parity from the penalty spot when Scott McGowan beat goalkeeper Adam Halton after Ryan Mitchell was fouled.

However a side managed by Paul Bowyer and Wayne Goodison, which included four changes to one that started a 3-0 win at AFC Darwen on Monday, fell behind again in the seconds before the break.

Jordyn Fitton fed Mark Woods, and his cross was turned in by Grimshaw from close-range.

Referee Richard Aspinall awarded a spot-kick to the home team after Sam Hind tangled with Ashley Young on 56 minutes, and Grimshaw made it 3-1.

Fitton turned in a fourth, his first goal for the club, to put his side further ahead two minutes later.

1874 sent on Kyle Riley and Ben Woods, and dominated for the remainder.

An effort from the former flashed wide of an upright, while McGowan went close to doubling his tally.

A second goal arrived for Northwich on 75 minutes when Paul Connor’s shot was helped into the net by Hind.

The full-back flashed two further efforts narrowly off-target before the finish, but Charnock held on to prevail in a Premier Division fixture for the first time since February 17.

“We made errors for their goals,” admitted Goodison.

“But we weren’t upset with our performance because we created lots of chances to score ourselves – it could have been 5-4.

“We kept going after going 4-1 down, and that’s important.

“It’s hard when you’re playing so many games in quick succession to be consistent, particularly when we have to change the team so much, but we’ve put together a sequence of good displays since we went out of the FA Vase.”

Charnock | Halton (GK), Bibby, Fitton (Hough 83), Young, Schofield, Close (Dodd 90), Mark Woods (Lightfoot 90), Fairhurst, Grimshaw, Noblet, Ralph Sub not used Roccia (GK) Goals Noblet 12, Grimshaw 45, 56 (penalty), Fitton 58 Booked Schofield, Grimshaw, Dodd

1874 | Hall (GK), Connor, Russell (Lever 65), Pritchard, Mitchell, Fallon (Riley 61), Hind, Matthew Woolley, McGowan, Waite-Jackson, Kennerley (Ben Woods 61) Subs not used Thomas, Jack Woolley Goals McGowan 39 (penalty), Hind 75 Booked Kennerley, Hall, Hind, Lever, Russell, McGowan

Referee Richard Aspinall

Attendance 163