By Ashley Houghton
Nantwich Town showed no signs of a FA Cup hangover with a scintillating first half display which led them to victory over local rivals Northwich Victoria.
The Dabbers secured their sixth consecutive win at the Weaver Stadium thanks to three first-half goals by Fraser McLachlan, Mat Bailey and Ben Mills (pictured).
The Vics made a fight of it, and pulled it back to 3-2 with efforts by Tom Smythe and Wayne Riley. But Nantwich held out for the win.
It took just five minutes for Nantwich to take the lead.
Aleksandrs Solovjovs crossed deep for McLachlan to head home his first goal for the club since signing from Colwyn Bay.
The hosts made it 2-0 after only 12 minutes when Bailey came back to haunt his former club by poking home Niall Maguire’s cut back.
The Dabbers were in dreamland on 37 minutes as Solovjovs once again provided a deep cross only this time leading marksman Mills was on hand to head home his tenth of the season.
Vics, to their credit, never gave up and kept the game alive in first half stoppage time. Michael Roddy’s free kick was perfect for Smythe to power home at the back post.
Northwich started the second half in the same way they had finished the first and continued to push for a goal, Smythe combined well with Roddy before flashing a shot over from 25 yards.
The visitors got their reward on 69 minutes as Riley beat two men before crashing a 22 yard strike into Jonathon Brain’s bottom right hand corner.
The Vics couldn’t find an equaliser though as Nantwich held firm to secure another vital three points in their promotion push.
Nantwich now sit 7th in the Evo-Stik Premier Division with a game in hand on 5th placed Marine.
Dabbers Man of the Match: Mat Bailey (A solid performance once again from the towering centre half, he won every header and got his reward with a goal against his former employers.)
Nantwich: Brain, Lowe, Solovjovs (Mitchell, 84), Maguire (Jack, 89), Bailey, Moss, Cooke (MacPherson, 70), Flynn (c), Mills, Lennon, McLachlan. Subs: Foster, Everall.
Northwich: Hinchliffe, Disney, Short, Smythe, Kearney (c), Field, Riley, Roddy, Budrys (Clarke, 76), Wade (Ennis, 84), Johnson (Woolfe, 84). Subs: Moyo, Sumner.
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