Hednesford Town 1

Northwich Vics 0

FA Cup 4th Qualifying

Round Replay

Monday, October 18

AN out-of-sorts Vics side paid the ultimate price for missing so many chances in Saturday's encounter when they bowed out of the FA Cup in a disappointing display at Keys Park.

As early as the 10th minute, Hednesford gave notice that they were going to be a more potent threat when a 30-yard shot from Lee Culkin rattled the Vics crossbar.

Vics countered quickly and when Walters fed Owen his shot beat keeper Phil Morgan and the Pitmen were indebted to Stuart Evans, who kicked the ball off the line.

Vics were now enjoying their best spell and Morgan was forced into a save from a Walters shot following a three-man move.

However it was once again Hednesford who came nearest to scoring when Ross Rhodes picked up a weak clearance from Wes Simpson and saw his shot beat Lance Key, only to once more hit the crossbar.

With Rhodes tormenting the Vics rearguard, Hednesford took command and Vics must have been relieved to go into the break on level terms.

Vics enjoyed the better of the exchanges early in the second half and after both Walters and Owen had shot narrowly wide, Hednesford keeper Morgan was especially lucky when he dropped a cross from Darren Vicary and in the resultant goalmouth scramble, his defence was finally able to clear.

Despite this period of dominance, Vics rarely threatened the goal and as Ian Robinson and Gary Twynham wrested control of the midfield for the home side, their confidence soared, resulting in a 25-yard shot from Neil Davis in the 75th minute which beat Key to give Hednesford an invaluable lead.

Vics immediately introduced Gary Fletcher for the ineffective Liam Robinson, whose lack of goal power must be a concern for the manager.

With Vics still failing to pose any real threat and with time running out, manager Mark Gardiner opted to bring himself on, along with Rory Prendergast, for Jamie Bates and John Robertson.

This brought an immediate response as Val Owen came agonisingly close to scoring an equalizer when first he headed inches over the bar and then, with seconds remaining, found himself one-on-one with the keeper only to be foiled by a brilliant save.

With the referee poised to blow the final whistle, goalkeeper Key ran into the Hednesford box for the resulting corner, but the home defence cleared the ball and the referee finally brought an end to the game.

With too many players not at the top of their game, a serious lack of firepower up front and with what is becoming a worrying away record, Gardiner is going to have his work cut out to solve his side's problems.

VICS: Key, Birch, Bates (Gardiner, 86 mins), Simpson, Robertson (Prendergast, 86 mins), Owen, Ellis, Walters, West, Robinson (Fletcher, 75 mins), Vicary. Subs not used: Crookes, Gann.

Ref: C Edwards (Oldham).

MoM: Val Owen. Att: 930.

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