WAYNE Goodison praised the resilience of 1874 Northwich’s players after they won an FA Cup encounter with Clitheroe on Saturday.

Despite controlling the contest for long spells, they found themselves tied at 1-1 when Terry Cummings’ goal cancelled out captain Matthew Woolley’s first-half opener at Shawbridge.

However the visitors rallied to secure a place in the preliminary round later this month when Jake Parker steered in substitute Harry Cain’s cross.

“We responded to a setback,” said the co-manager.

“That’s something we’ve spoken about a lot and it’s important not to sulk when one happens.

“The lads just carried on doing what had served them well earlier in the game and that made the difference.

“We couldn’t believe it when they made it 1-1, but we didn’t think they’d open us up again.

“There was a sense we’d have more opportunities to score and we did.”

A victory against higher-ranked opponents is a boost to confidence at the end of an already-impressive seven days that had yielded maximum points from two North West Counties League fixtures.

It also banishes the memory of a disappointing exit at the same stage last season following a penalty shoot-out in a replay at home to Burscough.

Goodison added: “It was crucial, after what happened 12 months ago, that we compete and try to progress through a couple of rounds.

“We’ve happy, and we deserve to win.

“The only slight criticism is we didn’t do so more comfortably.

“It was a great goal to win it; there was good movement, and a clever reverse ball from Harry [Cain] to Jake [Parker].”

He closed with a word on the conditions in Lancashire; a swirling wind that sent relentless rain sideways for large parts of the afternoon.

It didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of a significant travelling support from Northwich though.

“It was difficult, really difficult, out there,” added Goodison.

“The rain came and went, and the wind was a constant throughout – we had a bit of everything!

“We looked at the pitch though and felt it would suit us; it was a fantastic playing surface and the groundsman deserves credit because the amount of water that fell didn’t affect it.

“I thought we adjusted to the weather much better than they did.”