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Winsford United’s hopes of clinching a place in the final of the Mid-Cheshire Cup were ended at the hands of Northwich Victoria on Tuesday night.

In a semi final tie switched from the Victoria Stadium to the Barton Stadium, it might appear from the scoreline the outcome was a comfortable victory for Northwich, but the reality was different.

A missed penalty and several other missed chances meant the Blues went out of the competition despite dominating possession for long periods of the game, particularly in the first half.  The visitors on the other hand took the few chances that came their way and a debateable penalty award kept them in the match when it looked as if Winsford might run away from them.

The early exchanges failed to create any clear cut openings and Mattie Ward was the first to seriously test Ben Hinchliffe in the Vics goal with a snap shot that saw him fumbling the ball around the post for a corner. One minute later Daley Woods missed a great chance to open the scoring but with an open goal facing him he lost his footing on the heavy surface and the ball was cleared.

With 23 minutes on the clock a corner from the left saw Jack McKay flattened in the box and the Referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Ward stepped up but he seemed to lose his footing as he struck the ball, and it cleared the left hand post. Remarkably this was the first time Ward had missed a penalty in senior football, and the first time his unusual technique had let him down.

Nine minutes later the hosts were rewarded for their non-stop pressure when Richard Bailey played a perfect through ball for Andy Hurst and the striker outpaced his marker before drawing Hinchliffe off his line and smashing the ball into the far corner of the net.

Hurst was in action again just before the break when his effort was blocked on the line.

In the first minute of injury time Northwich equalised when Ryan Broadhead was adjudged to have handled the ball on the edge of the area. It seemed a very harsh decision as the ball had deflected off his foot onto his hand before he had chance to react. However Kyle Armstrong converted from the spot, leaving the Blues rueing a series of missed chances.

The heavy going was proving particularly difficult for the home side, with a couple of players carrying injuries and a shortage of defenders on the bench and it was no surprise when the visitors took the lead, Mike Clarke taking advantage of hesitancy by the Winsford defence to slot the ball home. Three minutes later it was almost an identical strike that opened up a two-goal lead.

Winsford had two great chances to make the scores level following the introduction of Jamie Henders but the recently-signed striker missed a brace of easy chances in quick succession, the second seeing the Vics defence clear the ball off the line when it looked like a certain goal.

With two minutes left on the clock and against the run of play Ryan Wade broke away for a fourth goal, but one minute later the crowd saw the goal of the game. Ryan Stewart broke away down the left before delivering a perfect cross that Bailey volleyed home from the edge of the box, leaving Hinchliffe a helpless bystander.

Bob Astles