1874 Northwich vs Hanley Town

Recap

THREE MORE POINTS KEEP 1874 IN TOP SPOT

1874 NORTHWICH 2 – 1 HANLEY TOWN

By Joe Dutton

1874 Northwich were able to maintain their place at the top of the league after they beat Hanley Town 2-1 at Townfield Lane on Tuesday night.

Goals from Sam Hare and Taylor Kennerley were enough for 1874 to see off a resilient effort from Hanley, who were able to grab a goal deep into injury time.

1874 started the game well and had a numerous amount of chances, as striker Scott McGowan found himself one-on-one with the keeper, who managed to race out of his goal to save.

Minutes later, McGowan had another opportunity, this time firing a shot over the bar from the edge of the area after a corner fell his way.

Hanley began to grow into the game with 30 minutes played, but couldn’t fashion any clear openings.

The hosts managed to press forward once more in the half, as midfielder Jake Parker latched on to McGowan’s cross in the box to tap in, but the offside flag went up to deny Northwich the opener.

1874 looked to grab a goal just before the break, but some fine defending by Hanley centre back Thorpe stopped Kennerley’s cross from causing any danger.

1874 began the second half on the front foot, and if not for some more brilliant defending by Thorpe, Northwich would have taken the lead. His interception following Hare’s cross prevented McGowan from tapping the ball in.

Despite Hanley’s best efforts to keep 1874 at bay, the goal came for The Greens. Hare managed to gather James Ormrod’s 25-yard shot under control, before slotting the ball under the keeper from around six yards to make it 1-0.

1874 were determined to double their lead and it would only be a matter of time. After some brilliant work by winger Lee Knight, who dribbled the ball past four opposing players as he cut inside on the right wing, to then play the ball into the path of Kennerley, who superbly finished back across goal, burying it into the bottom right corner for 2-0.

Things started to get desperate for Hanley now, as they launched balls forward in the hope of getting back into the game with the clock running down.

1874 seemed content at two goals to the good, with the game in the bag.

However, there would be one last chance for Hanley to score. After a mis-kick by 1874 defender Lee Jackson in his own half, the Hanley front line pounced on the ball, and substitute Timothy Sanders put the ball past keeper Tony Aghayere deep into injury time.

There would be no time left for Hanley to grab an equaliser, as 1874 saw out the final moments of the match to get a well earned win under their belt.