Widnes humbled as they’re thrashed by Flixton Villa

It was an embarrassing defeat for the away side, as their record league defeat means that they have now lost their last 3 games in all competitions, scoring just three times whilst conceding an astonishing 21 times.
Widnes travelled to Valley Road who without a plethora of players who were in with a shout of starting the game, including goalkeepers David Nevitt and Ben Morrow which meant that Steve Hill’s side had Jay Cooper in goal in the first half, with debutant midfielder Anthony Sheppard donning the gloves in the second half. It also meant that Widnes had just 11 players in the matchday squad, with coach Jake Ryder acting as an emergency substitute.
Despite the lack of squad depth, Widnes started the better of the two sides, as good possession allowed the away side to stretch the play and cause the home side some issues with the pace of Mark McLaughlin and Daniel Burns, combined with the strength and height of Graham Molloy, who was partnering Liam Skarrats up-front, who was handed a rare start from manager Hill.
It was this spell of dominance that led to Widnes going in-front. An excellent ball in from the left from skipper Tom Mitchell met the head of Graham Molloy whose looping header from the edge of the area lobbed keeper Andy Jones to give the striker his fourth goal of the season.
This seemed to ignite a fire within Northwich Flixton Villa as the home side never looked back from this point onwards. Callum McGlynn equalised for the hosts within 90 seconds of Widnes going ahead, as he slotted the ball beyond Jay Cooper with a tidy finish.
It was then a combination of basic errors from Widnes and poor fundamentals from Steve Hill’s side that led to their collapse. A mistake from Daniel Burns allowed Jonathan Poizer to put the home side ahead, before poor anticipation from Gary Williams following a hotly-disputed drop ball allowed Saul Henderson to slot the ball past the on-rushing keeper to make the scoreline 3-1 shortly before half-time.
A great team goal from Flixton Villa sent them into the break 4-1 up as the good build-up culminated Nataliche Lassana driving the ball across the face of goal towards the back-post where McGlynn bagged his second of the game with a tap-in.
Widnes started the second half poorly, and looked to be drained of all confidence. They were getting the absolute basics wrong as Flixton Villa dominated possession, a trend that was all too-apparent in the second period. Midfielder Michael Taylor made it five, as the home side waltzed through the Widnes backline before allowing Taylor to tuck the ball home.
To add insult to injury, the hosts brought on top goal scorer Yousif Yousif, who made no mistake with his first opportunity on goal as he made it 6-1 shortly after the hour-mark. At this point, the shape of the team was non-existent, as Widnes couldn’t string a couple of passes together without losing the ball.
Saul Henderson added his second shortly afterwards, as the ball fell to the forward in the area presenting a golden opportunity that he duly took with relative ease.
Despite the hosts’ dominance, Jay Cooper rattled the bar for the away side with a long-range effort after linking up well with Paul Carney. It was Widnes’ only shot in the entire second half.
Villa’s unrelenting pressure was toned down as the game began to wind down. However, three goals in the final ten minutes were icing on the cake for the home side, as goals from Saul Henderson, and a brace from Jonathan Poizer completed their hat-tricks, giving Northwich a double digit tally to finish off the annihilation over a dejected Widnes.
Widnes host Eccleshall next time out as they return to the Select Security Stadium. The two sides last met in November, with the away side on that day coming out 6-0 winners. Eccleshall are a new outfit this time around, as they travel with a new manager, looking to compound more misery on Widnes, who will be looking to bounce back from this almighty drubbing at their very first attempt.
Match Report by Callum Chadwick