Tuesday 4th March 2008
Droylsden 1 v 3 Vics

Vics introduced new signing Darryn Stamp into their attack and recalled Michael Bowler to the right back berth allowing Michael Byrne to take his more accustomed role on the right side of midfield.

This was a match that Vics had to win if they are to mount a bid to escape relegation but they got off to an inauspicious start. After Steele turned neatly only to see his shot blocked Byrom followed up to force Phillips into the game's first meaningful save. From the break Chris Denham dashed down the right flank and into the box but although he seemed to have ran the ball wide of the target he was sent crashing to the ground by an unnecessary and rash Michael Welch tackle. Steve DALY stepped up to make no mistake from the spot.

Stamp rose to head wide before the lively Jamie Mullan surged forward 20 yards before cutting inside to force a save from Phillips. Byrom tried his luck from a similar distance with the same end result as Vics looked to get back on level terms. But as they pushed relentlessly forward they continued to allow Denham too much space down the right flank and only a good save from Tynan denied the winger following another determined run at goal.

Denham delivered a telling cross that forced Welch into heading a clearance narrowly over his own bar. At the same time the pace of Mullan was posing a similar threat at the opposite end and when he wormed his way to the by-line Lee Steele looked certain to score from his cut back but he was felled as he was set to execute his finish but despite prolonged appeals the referee remained unimpressed. Phillips, under pressure from Cortez Belle, failed to deal with a Wilson free kick and when Steele scuffed a shot-cum-pass into the path of the unprepared Welch he was only able to direct a shot against the outside of the post.

Stamp got down the left and delivered a measured cross to the far post where Byrne "ghosted" in unmarked but then failed to make any connection with his head leaving a very frustrated Vics to go in at half time a goal behind.

The second half began as the first had ended, with Vics totally dominant. Stamp set Steele on goal but he was denied by an excellent Phillips save. With the pressure mounting the home defence eventually capitulated and after a series of shots had been blocked out a rebound fell invitingly to STEELE and he fired inside the post from 12 yards. A second goal was not long in coming and with the "Bloods" defence again back pedalling BYROM drilled a 25-yard shot into the bottom corner.

The one way traffic continued and Karl Munroe would have scored a spectacular "own goal" with a bullet point blank header had Phillips not pulled off a sensational acrobatic save. The "Bloods" night of misery continued with the sending off of Daly for a second bookable offence. And Vics were not to be denied the third goal that their dominance merited and when Mullan swung a cross to the far post STEELE, with the help of a deflection, scored his second of the game. The Vics striker then almost turned provider when he got behind the defence to cut back to the unmarked Byrne but his shot was kept out by Phillips.
In the end Vics ran out extremely comfortable winners leaving their followers with a measure of optimism for the remainder of the campaign.

Referee: A.R. Hendley
Attendance: 424
Man of the Match: Lee Steele