Hayes 1

Northwich Victoria 2 (Feb 16)

HAYES slipped further into their relegation nightmare with a loss at home to Northwich Victoria on Saturday.

After battling hard throughout the game Hayes made a terrible error which resulted in the visitors capitalising in the area to score.

Paul Holsgrove and Bertrand Bossu both left an easy ball to each other which resulted in John Grant converting for the lively visitors.

And things got even worse when Mark Molesley was dismissed for a second bookable offence in the second half.

Manager Terry Brown was disappointed with the result and thought his team should have performed better, especially after the impressive display against Dagenham and Redbridge last week.

He said: "I thought we played poorly on Saturday to be honest, it was disappointing after a spirited display against Dagenham in our last league fixture.

"We started brightly but made a disastrous mistake when Holsgrove and Bossu made a mess of a simple ball for Victoria's first goal.

"We struggled badly against an in-form side and have to remedy these mistakes if we're to survive in the Nationwide Conference.

"Ian Hodges was back for us, but to be honest he looked a little bit ring-rusty, and I also brought on our new lad Steve Hale, but to no great effect."

A second goal was added to Hayes' burden before a late injury time goal from defender Anthony Charles pulled back the deficit.

Hayes were beaten 5-1 in the Middlesex Senior Cup by Hendon on Tuesday.

Hayes (v Northwich): Bossu, Ashton, Charles, P Holsgrove, Mollsley, Clark, Spencer, Dyer, K Warner, Hodges (Hale), Currie