Tuesday 28th November 2017 (7.45pm), NWCFL Premier Division
West v Northwich Victoria
Brookburn Road, M21 8FE
£5 adults, £3 concessions, free for under-12s accompanied by an adult
After Saturday’s meeting with AFC Liverpool was claimed by the weather, West will try again on Tuesday night as they welcome Northwich Victoria to Brookburn Road for the first time.
Torrential rain across the north-west last week wreaked havoc on the Premier Division fixture list, with Vics’ home game against Charnock Richard also falling victim to the conditions. Despite widespread postponements, West were pushed down one place into 15th after Abbey Hey, whose match did go ahead, won 7-1 at home to Barnton.
West can leapfrog Vics with a win, but that will be easier said than done against the in-form visitors and could depend on who comes out on top in a duel between Tom Bailey and Brian Matthews – Bailey needs no introduction to West supporters, but Matthews tops the chart for Vics and has scored in each of his last seven games.
At a glance
| West | v | Vics |
| 15th | Position | 13th |
| LLLLL | Form (all competitions) | WWWLW |
| 16 | Played | 17 |
| 7 | Won | 7 |
| 1 | Drawn | 2 |
| 8 | Lost | 8 |
| 22 | Points | 23 |
| 34 | Goals for | 31 |
| 42 | Goals against | 42 |
| Tom Bailey (19) | Top scorer (all competitions) | Brian Matthews (19) |
| West v Vics (NWCFL era): No previous meetings |
Vics
Northwich Victoria’s first-ever relegation to level 9 of the English pyramid last season was the latest chapter in a truly extraordinary 25 years in the history of one of non-league football’s most famous names. Attempting to summarise the period between Vics’ departure from spiritual home Drill Field in 2002 to the present day would be a near-impossible task, but suffice to say the newly fan-owned Vics will now be hoping for a period of stability.
That period of stability may well be delivered by new boss Steve Wilkes. Vics initially struggled with life in the NWCFL – after winning their first two league games, one point from the next available 21 resulted in manager Paul Moore stepping down. Wilkes, who won this division with Padiham in 2013, was appointed at the end of September and has guided Vics towards the top half of the table, and last week’s impressive Macron Cup win at high-flying Hanley Town was their seventh win in nine in all competitions.
Last time – No previous meetings
