BRANDON Barski and Bradley Lynch both scored twice as Northwich Victoria returned to action in a 4-2 win at Congleton Town, writes Pete Tonge.

Vics fell behind in the seventh minute but after getting themselves back on level terms they never trailed again in the North West Counties Premier Division clash.

Louis Potts stood out with a committed performance in which he controlled the middle of the park, allowing others more time and space on the ball.

After a quiet first five 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 coolly slotted the ball past Mike Hale.

Vics responded well.

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 third one Barski escaped his marker and flicked a header into the net as he ran to the near post area.

When Vics keeper Mike Hale cleared upfield soon after the ball was flicked on by Saul Henderson into the path of Lynch who ran into the penalty area but his shot was well blocked by the Congleton defence.

Another Vics corner was earned 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 one yard out.

The match then entered a quiet spell with both teams trying to create openings but with little success.

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.

The second half was five minutes old when a hopeful shot from 30 yards by Town's Ryder looked to have been comfortably saved by Hale, but somehow the ball squeezed under his body and he had to react quickly to turn and grab the ball right on the goal line.

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 Lynch who cut in from the left past a couple of defenders and fired a shot into the bottom left corner.

Two minutes later, a nice interchange of passes led to Joe Camozzi chipping a ball to the far post where Henderson couldn't quite direct his header goalwards.

Town 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 Henderson chased a long ball down the left and managed to cross to where Camozzi managed to beat the dithering Parton to the ball and cutely laid the ball back for Lynch to have the easy job of rolling the ball into an empty net.

Congleton did get a goal back in the 79th minute as a pass forward found Johns one-on-one with the keeper and he made no mistake.

Bearing in mind other leads being thrown away by Vics, this could have set the nerves jangling but they played out the remaining minutes without any undue concern.

Vics: Hale, Henry, Kenny, Barski, Sumner, Camozzi, Clarke M, Potts, Lynch (Grindrod 85), Kilifin (McGrath 81), Henderson (Powell 77). Unused subs: Clarke P, Mannion.