Nationwide Conference - March 22

Forest Green Rovers 1

Meechan 57

Northwich Vics 0

AGAINST a team that has only suffered one Conference defeat since they lost to Vics at Wincham Park at the end of November.

And on a ground where Vics have never won it was always going to take something special from Jimmy Quinn's men to bring home maximum points.

Sadly another poor display ensured that their dismal record at The Lawn continued.

Stung by their shock FA Trophy Quarter final exit the previous week to Havant & Waterlooville, Rovers went at Vics from the start and, aside from a brief spell in the first half, were good value for their 1-0 victory.

The goal came courtesy of Rovers' rangy Nigerian striker Kayode Odejayi who, after 57 minutes put in a fantastic cross from the left, which Alex Meechan steered into the bottom corner of Vics' goal.

Sadly Vics seemed unable to respond to the goal and were almost immediately on the back foot once more as the impressive Odejayi continued to cause huge problems for an increasingly uncomfortable defence.

Despite being soundly beaten Vics did threaten early on and really should have taken at least one of the many opportunities presented to them in the first half.

David McNiven had two or three excellent chances to give the visitors the lead while England international Gregg Blundell was also guilty of a number of misses.

On each occasion the Vics forwards, who have been enjoying a rich vein of scoring form recently, were either hurried into snap shots or were smothered by a highly committed Forest Green back line.

As more chances were missed by Vics, Rovers seemed to find heart and eventually took control of the game mid way through the first half with Meechan, Ben Cleverley and Odejayi often putting together some outstanding moves.

With 25 minutes remaining Quinn brought on Jonny Allan in an attempt to spice up Vics attack but it was the home side who continued to create openings with Shaun Came and Denny Ingram having to put in some last ditch tackles to prevent Rovers from increasing their advantage.

Even the introduction of Quinn himself after 82 minutes couldn't bring Vics the goal they needed and Meechan's second half strike consigned them to their 15th league defeat of the season.

Vics: Kelly, Ingram, Came, Rioch (Allan 67), Sedgemore, Devlin, Teather (Norris 87), Garvey, McNiven (Quinn 82), Blundell. Subs not used: Taylor, Turner, Attendance: 676.