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Vikings hit for eight at Victoria Park
Widnes Football Club4 Mar 2014 - 15:35
The Vikings travelled to league leaders Nelson on a bright and sunny Saturday late winter’s afternoon. But it weren’t a sparkling performance for the away side as they shipped in 8 goals to a Nelson team who had already beat them 6-0 at the Select Security Stadium last month.
It all started brightly for the away side when Brett Adamson drove home a Paul Cliff low cross to give the Vikings the lead on 6 minutes. But it was all too good to be true and Nelson began pressing forward to get back into the game it was a proving to be a shock result. They got their just rewards when Ed O’Neill, one of the three brothers in the starting 11 found his brother Matt O’Neill on the edge of the box. O’Neill showed brilliant control and measured pass to find top scorer Peter Wright who had a simple tap in to bring the game all level.
Nelson broke again as they began to set the record straight and trail of destruction, this time George Melling heading in of the post to put the home side ahead. The Vikings passing game that they started the game with had deserted them and they couldn’t keep hold of the ball in the midfield. A cross from out wide forced Vikings keeper Luke Vaughan to palm away but Matt O’Neill followed it up to extend Nelson’s lead.
A couple of minutes later and more misery for followed when a low cross from found Joe O’Neill who fired in a vicious shot past Vaughan, game out of sight not for Widnes. With all three brothers on the score sheet this game was in danger of becoming another embarrassing defeat for the away side.
Nelson were awarded a penalty in what had been an extraordinary 45 minutes in this game, Peter Wright slotted the ball home to add to his goal tally. With manager Steve Hill missing the game, assistant manager Tony Ruddock had it all to do.
In a game that has seen plenty of fouls on a good surface despite the recent rain, it was certainly raining goals as a mistake in the Vikings defence lead to a Peter Wright hat trick. As second half drown out the Vikings began to get their passing game back but just lacked the cutting edge ball in the final third of the pitch. A long ball found Paul Cliff who cut inside to fire a shot at the Nelson goal but Ben Woodhead got his weight behind it.
With the Vikings pressing to grab another consolation, Nelson began to hit them on the counter attack and soon Matt O’Neill raced away to make it seven with from just outside the box making it’s away past Vaughan and into the net. The misery was complete when Ed O’Neill fired a long range effort into Vaughan’s bottom right hand corner to score Nelson eighth and 100th goal of the season to complete yet another rout over the Vikings. A second defeat in a week but the away side will be looking forward to their home game against Hanley Town next week.
Nelson broke again as they began to set the record straight and trail of destruction, this time George Melling heading in of the post to put the home side ahead. The Vikings passing game that they started the game with had deserted them and they couldn’t keep hold of the ball in the midfield. A cross from out wide forced Vikings keeper Luke Vaughan to palm away but Matt O’Neill followed it up to extend Nelson’s lead.
A couple of minutes later and more misery for followed when a low cross from found Joe O’Neill who fired in a vicious shot past Vaughan, game out of sight not for Widnes. With all three brothers on the score sheet this game was in danger of becoming another embarrassing defeat for the away side.
Nelson were awarded a penalty in what had been an extraordinary 45 minutes in this game, Peter Wright slotted the ball home to add to his goal tally. With manager Steve Hill missing the game, assistant manager Tony Ruddock had it all to do.
In a game that has seen plenty of fouls on a good surface despite the recent rain, it was certainly raining goals as a mistake in the Vikings defence lead to a Peter Wright hat trick. As second half drown out the Vikings began to get their passing game back but just lacked the cutting edge ball in the final third of the pitch. A long ball found Paul Cliff who cut inside to fire a shot at the Nelson goal but Ben Woodhead got his weight behind it.
With the Vikings pressing to grab another consolation, Nelson began to hit them on the counter attack and soon Matt O’Neill raced away to make it seven with from just outside the box making it’s away past Vaughan and into the net. The misery was complete when Ed O’Neill fired a long range effort into Vaughan’s bottom right hand corner to score Nelson eighth and 100th goal of the season to complete yet another rout over the Vikings. A second defeat in a week but the away side will be looking forward to their home game against Hanley Town next week.
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