Pete Tonge tells all about Northwich Victoria's 2-1 loss at Padiham...

A MATCH of two halves due to the sloping pitch, decided by one crucial mistake by the officials and a failure to take their chances by Vics.

Padiham had the advantage of the slope on a bobbly pitch in a stop-start first half, and as a result had most of the play as Vics failed to adapt to it.

Padiham had the first half chance in the 7th minute as Jack Gooden hit a cross-shot which Cheetham did well to claim before Joel Brownhill could get there.

Vics then went up the other end as Dunn laid in Matt Dudley who blazed over the bar from an angle when Birchall was free in the middle.

Cheetham saved a tame shot from Jack Price as Padiham had most of the play.

However Vics went close in the 24th minute as Birchall won the ball at the far post and rattled the post with a powerful shot.

The match was littered with free kicks from a whistle-happy referee and it was from one of these so-called free kicks that Padiham took the lead as it deflected down to Harli Dewhurst who slotted the ball past Cheetham.

HALF-TIME: Padiham 1 Northwich Vics 0

Vics were on the front foot from the start of the second half, with substitute Ryan Jackson at the heart of it.

He was straight into the action, as he put a great ball across the box but no one was on hand to finish it off.

In the 50th minute, he again escaped down the right, cut in, and although his shot was weak Tom Walker was there to pick the ball up and fire just wide.

Vics were playing well now, and looking the most likely to score, and they thought they had in the 69th minute.

Birchall fired in a shot which Kuda Chingwaro got a slight touch on to deflect past keeper Hamnett in the Padiham net, but the assistant referee put his flag up for offside. A ridiculous decision, as even Padiham admitted after the game, and a decision that changed the flow of the match as Vics lost their heads for a bit.

Harvey Whyte was sin binned for 10 minutes for something he said, and within 2 minutes of the disallowed goal, Padiham earned a penalty (no dispute) as Jack Price was brought down in the box.

Ben Hoskin fired the penalty past Cheetham to give Padiham the comfort of a 2 goal lead.

However, Vics kept pressing, Chingwaro fired a shot just wide after weaving through the defence, and then had another effort which was deflected into the keeper's arms.

In the 81st minute, Dudley found himself free of the defence, but decided to try an ambitious chip over the approaching keeper, but the ball sailed wide of the goal.

Vics did eventually get a goal back in the 86th minute as Birchall's shot was only parried by Hamnett into the path of Martyn Jackson who fired into the net from 8 yards.

This set up a grandstand finish, with Vics piling on the pressure and creating chance after chance and how they didn't score I don't know.

Chingwaro had the best chance as he did the hard work in weaving past the defence when he should have slid the ball past Hamnett instead of trying to lay in Matty Birchall.

It was a case of nearly but not quite for Vics with the wrong decisions being made by players but most notably by the liner who will be embarrassed when the video is uploaded to NVFC TV. Such is football!

Match facts:

Padiham 2 Northwich Victoria 1

At the Arbories, Padiham

Saturday, November 26, 2022

North West Counties Premier Division

Vics: Cheetham, Camozzi, Allen, Barski, Bennett, Whyte (Jackson M 84'), Dunn (Chingwaro 67'), Walker, Sotona (Jackson R 45'), Birchall, Dudley. Sub not used: Martin.

GOALS: Padiham: Dewhurst 32', Hoskin 72' pen. Vics: Jackson M 86'

NEXT MATCHES:

LEAGUE: Wednesday, November 30, home v Squires Gate, 7.45pm. Saturday, December 3, away v Prestwich Heys, 3pm.