Bank Holiday blues as Town go down at Northwich

A GOAL in each half earned Northwich Victoria the points in the local derby against Warrington Town on Bank Holiday Monday.
Godwin Abadaki and Michael Clarke got on the scoresheet as Vics, currently playing far from home at Flixton FC near Manchester, continued their unbeaten start to the season with a 2-0 win.
Warrington generally enjoyed the better possession in the opening stages, and came close when Scott Metcalfe’s audacious chip from outside the box landed on top of the goal, before Tom Hardwick headed over from a corner.
The hosts main threat came from set pieces, and it was from a free-kick that they took the lead on 19 minutes. Brian Summerskill floated ball in was headed across goal, and goalkeeper Karl Wills failed to deal with it, enabling the alert Abadaki to get to the ball first and poke in to the roof of the net.
That knocked Town’s rhythm, and Northwich could have had the game dead and buried as they spurned two glorious chances in the next 10 minutes. First, Michael Clarke beat the offside trap to race on to a Summerskill ball over the top, and with loads of time to pick his spot, he fluffed his lines and fired a tame effort straight at a grateful Wills.
Clarke’s strike partner Gary Burnett then pounced on a mistake by James McCarten, cutting inside and then firing low and just wide past Wills’ right hand post.
Things were so fruitless for Town at the other end that boss Shaun Reid made a change before the interval, with Anthony Hickey replacing Chris Simm up front. The lively Hickey immediately created a chance for Ben Wharton, scorer of two goals in the same fixture last season, but he drilled his shot wide.
Northwich also made a change before the break, with Aboubacar Sanogo coming on for Summerskill, and Sanogo proved a handful for Town in the second half down the right hand side.
It was their left winger that had the first chance of the second half, Dixon firing a left foot snap shot that whistled past the post with the goalkeeper stranded.
Vics had the ball in the net shortly before the hour mark, when Clarke headed home from a right wing cross, only to be denied by a linesman’s offside flag that was heavily disputed by a couple of the home players.
After Sanogo smashed one just over the bar, Vics did get their second goal on 69 minutes. Sanogo created space in the right channel and his low cross was smartly turned home by Clarke, perhaps with the aid of a slight deflection for 2-0.
That left Warrington with a lot to do, and they rarely looked like creating a clear cut opportunity.
Metcalfe headed over at the back post from a Louis Corrigan cross, and Corrigan fired a free-kick just over the bar, but that was the closest the visitors could come to a goal, as they suffered a second defeat in three games.
Northwich: Deasy, Smalley, Ali, Meadowcroft, Henry, Cook, Abadaki (Mooney), Summerskill (Sanogo (Davies)), Burnett, Clarke, Dixon. Unused subs: Harries, Amis.
Warrington: Wills, Field, Doughty (Jones), Parle (Gahgan), McCarten, Hardwick, Roberts, Corrigan, Wharton, Simm (Hickey), Metcalfe. Unused subs: Robertson, Davies.