 |
|
| Northwich Victoria 0 Daggers 2 |
| Conference - 19/10/02 |
| Back to Fixtures/Results 02/03 |
| Back to Index |
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Daggers rediscovered winning ways after four games without one. There were several changes, some forced and some not. Rooney replaced Janney who had flu, and Paul Terry was brought back in place of Danny Hill who had a chest infection. Shipp moved forward to join Junior who was prefered to Steve West, and Gary Fletcher completed the three-man forward line in the 3-4-3 formation.
The start of the game saw Northwich have some early pressure and almost took the lead when Norris met a cross from the right and headed over the bar under attention from Roberts who was left exposed. However, the Daggers were soon on top as they played some good football and created some good chances. Junior was causing the defence no end of trouble with his pace and off-the-ball running, as the three-man forward line was difficult for the defence to handle. It was Junior who almost took the lead when he sprinted clear and just as he was about to pull the trigger from well inside the box, he was pulled down by Sedgemore. The referee didn't blow and it broke to Fletcher, who scored. However, just before the ball crossed the line, the referee then blew for the penalty. Junior was up to score low past the keeper's right hand.
The Daggers tried to push home their advantage, and were unlucky when Fletcher back-heeled to Shipp 18 yards out, and he powered the ball goalwards but unfortunately it was straight at the keeper and he pushed it over. The Fletcher did superbly well to dribble his way past two defenders and hit a low shot which the keeper did well to hold from outside the box. Shipp then had a chance on his left after being set up by Junior but his first touch was poor and the angle was too difficult as he put it over the bar. A well worked free kick also saw Fletcher head back to Terry who skyed his left foot shot.
Junior should have received a better cross from Shipp when he was free at the back post but the ball had no curl and it went harmlessly past the far post with Junior unable to reach it. Shipp's neat turn also saw him put another shot over the bar. Northwich had a chance though when Lee Matthews did a Sol Campbell impression and hit a weak clearance to Devlin, but Matthews went where Sol didn't and bravely blocked the shot with his body.
The second half looked like it could be the same old story as Northwich pinned the Daggers back somewhat. Owen headed wide at the back post with a glorious chance, and Lee Matthews was excellent with two goal saving tackles inside the box. Despite the pressure, Northwich found shots hard to come by as Smith, Potts and Matthews stood firm throughout. The one time that the defence was broken was when Norris was teed up by Street, but Roberts showed his alertness as he rushed off his line and threw himself at the striker's feet to claim the ball.
The Daggers then started to get back into their stride, and Fletcher did well to dribble past several on his 60 yard run, but it ended with a weak shot from a difficult angle that the keeper easily caught. The visitor's cause was helped somewhat by Greg Rioch who inexplicably got himself sent off. Fletcher was not allowing Rioch to turn on the half way line by the dugouts. As he shielded the ball and Fletcher tried to win it, Rioch held him off well. However, he then decided to turn round and smack Fletcher round the face in full view off the referee and was sent from the field.
The Daggers now played the game out very well and within sixty seconds, Junior had added his second to double the lead. Some great quick midfield play saw the ball clipped in to Shipp, who got a touch on to Junior, and he made no mistake from just inside the box with a sweet right foot volley into the bottom corner. The Daggers could have easily gone on to add more with over 15 minutes left, but they eased off a little. This did not stop Shipp having some good chances, as Junior's pass ran away from him too much to get a shot in, but then from another Junior set-up, he drew the keeper and put a low shot under him, only for Royle to clear off the line. Junior also tried for his hat-trick as he cut inside and shot at the keeper from the edge of the box.
A good win for the Daggers which they thoroughly deserved as they managed to keep up their good play for more than just one half of the game. The whole team played well as the defence held firm as did Roberts, the midfield won the ball consistently and the forwards had numerous chances which they mostly created amongst themselves.
