Northwich Victoria 2 New Mills 1

‘PREDATOR’ Godwin Abadaki delighted Northwich Victoria boss Jim Gannon by scoring the winner on Saturday with his first touch.

The substitute netted with 10 minutes remaining after Gary Burnett had pulled Vics level against New Mills, who took the lead through Lee O’Brien.

It was a win that sends Vics level on points with second-placed Darlington 1883, after both they and table toppers Salford City suffered surprise defeats.

And Gannon admits Abadaki made an emotional impact after Vics struggled to find the breakthrough in the second half.

“Fortunately when I did make the change to give us an extra predator in the box it paid off instantly,” he said.

“It was great for Godwin to return and have an immediate impact. You could see from the celebrations how important the goal was for the team.

“There was a multitude of emotions in that celebration but most important was the delight and determination to get the winning goal.”

O’Brien headed home on 12 minutes to open the scoring, but Vics were level five minutes later when Richie Bennett set up Burnett to finish from close range.

But it took until the 80th minute, and the arrival of Abadaki, for Vics to find a winner as the substitute stabbed in from close range from Burnett’s pass.

Gannon added: “It was a game we had ear-marked for three points and a weekend when fixtures would help us move towards consolidating our position.

“The scorelines went much better than we expected especially with the top two losing and almost all of the top 10 clubs dropping points.

“We now face a tough run of games away from home. The next two weeks could define the success we achieve this season so we move forward with confidence and look forward to that challenge.”

Vics Deasy (GK), Smalley, Ali, Henry, Clarke, Krou, Cook, Roddy (Abadaki 79), Burnett (Grayson 89), Bennett, Amis (Ansah-Palmer 86) Subs not used Fishwick, Meadowcroft Attendance 102