Vauxhall Motors overcame Nantwich Town 3-1 on Saturday at the VanEupen Arena.
Joel Connolly was back in the starting line-up after several weeks out injured, and Troy Bourne was back after suspension. Paul Carden put the team out in a tweaked formation with Byron Harrison in behind Joe Piggott and Connor Rankin up top.
Piggott fired over the first shot of the game, then the frantic open nature of the game started and didn’t really stop for the whole first half. Byron Harrison had a cross cut out, then up the other end Vauxhall took the lead.
A bit of a nothing shot bounced up in front of Danny Roberts and he couldn’t hold it, a scramble ensued and it looked like Conor Harwood squeezed it in, although some closer to it were saying it may have been an own goal.
The Motormen should have made it 2 minutes later. George Nugent was found criminally unmarked in the box, Roberts redeemed himself with a good save with his legs to keep it 1-0.
On 17 minutes it was Vauxhall’s turn to make an error leading to a goal. Piggott robbed a sleeping defender and ran in behind, curling calmly into the far corner for his first Nantwich goal.
No team was anything like taking control of the game, meaning chances were coming from every angle. Piggott dragged wide from a narrow angle via a deflection before Vauxhall hit the post, Nugent somehow missing after being found when the Dabbers defence switched off thinking an offside was going to be given.
Vauxhall keeper Alex Hughes then had to scamper across his line to claw away a Connor Rankin header and the action continued apace.
6 minutes before half time, though, the momentum and the lead swung back to the Motormen. Corners have been the undoing of Nantwich far too often, and so it was here as Harwood had a simple task to head in almost on the goalline. It wasn’t clear how that happened but from a Nantwich perspective it certainly wasn’t pretty.
Rankin got another half-chance with his head but wide it went and the home side went in ahead.
Once again, the Dabbers then shot themselves in the foot early in a half. And again, it was a corner that did the damage. The corner itself was sliced, but so was the clearance from Byron Harrison, it wasn’t cleared and Lewis Willingham had a simple task to finish in the box. 4 of the 5 goals the Dabbers have most recently conceded have been in the first 10 minutes of a half.
The Dabbers tried to rally, Akiel Raffie curled a free kick over and Harrison flicked a Connolly cross over the bar.
Vauxhall dropped back and were happy to sit on that 2-goal lead and let the Dabbers try to break them down, to good effect.
Harrison did get the ball in the net on 73 minutes but was denied by an offside call by the assistant ref.
Jake Kirby came on and had a couple of attempts, neither of which were on target. The game fizzled out and a bad week post-York was completed for Nantwich, who now have a week to recover before the busy Christmas/New Year run gets going.
Teams
Vauxhall Motors: Alexander Hughes, Bobbie Beaumont (Marcus James, 66), Jason Akiotu (Thomas Mitchell, 70), Lewis Willingham, Adam Hughes, Haydn Cooper, George Nugent, Sean Moscrop (Leo Riley, 77), Conor Harwood, Jordan Deer, Bisensio Kamilo
Sub not used: Craig Curran
Goals: Harwood (9, 39), Willingham (49)
Nantwich Town: Danny Roberts, Joel Connolly, Perry Bircumshaw, Ahmed Ali, Troy Bourne, Scott Butler, Akiel Raffie (Jake Kirby, 75), Paddy Kay, Joe Piggott, Byron Harrison (Callum Saunders, 80), Connor Rankin (Kai Evans, 54)
Subs not used: Tyler Hill, Nathan Okome
Goal: Piggott (17)
Attendance: 186