Peter Tonge’s verdict on Northwich Victoria’s heavy 4-1 home loss to Dudley Town on Saturday…
A MATCH where Vics never recovered from being two down in the first 20 minutes against a Town side that were clearly up for it.
Dudley struck early as they forced a corner in the fifth minute as Zac Prior tipped an attempted lob around the post.
The resulting corner was floated in and a free header comes in which Prior saves superbly on the line before the ball is cleared, however the linesman decides the ball had crossed the line and the referee eventually gives the goal.
Prior was quickly called into action again as he got down quickly to make a fine close-range save, but Vics went further behind in the 18th minute as Town broke quickly and finished well with a little dinked shot which nestled in the net off the post.
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The rest of the half was fairly uninspiring from both teams with little being created up front – Sam Deering forced a decent save from the Town keeper from a good strike but on the whole, the final ball was lacking and the half meandered to the finish
Vics came out with more purpose in the second half but quickly gave away a penalty with a poor attempted tackle inside the area.
However, the impressive Prior got down well to his right to save and keep Vics in the match…just.
Vics were having plenty of the ball now with Dudley content to clear high and long and rely on the quick break.
Despite having possession, Vics weren’t doing much with it and it was no surprise really when in the 80th minute, Dudley scored again with another free header from a corner to make the game safe.
Vics did get a consolation with a fantastic Will Lloyd free kick from 25 yards out, but Town scored again with the final kick of the match to record a comfortable and deserved win.
Vics: Prior, Cairns, Jacaj, Gamble (Gardiner), Argent-Barnes, Hayder (C Knight), Farnworth (L Knight), Lloyd, Gill, Nyamwanzi (Burey), Deering (Frost)
