Rampant Vickers fail to see off Potters Bar (From News Shopper)

Rampant Vickers fail to see off Potters Bar

4:31pm Tuesday 20th April 2010 in Non-League By Jeff Perkins

The Vickers came out of the blocks like lightning against Town with Uche Ibemere and Nick Hegley tearing into the visitors at will with pace and skill.

Teen sensation Ibemere beat two players before seeing a shot charged down in the first minute and only three minutes later he had scored his seventh goal of the season.

With Jason Barton winning the ball on the half way line with a crunching challenge left winger Hegley raced clear of the Town defence, beating one player by the byline before sending in a cross that found Ibemere unmarked and he headed home from 8 yards out on 4 minutes.

The Vickers were overpowering the visitors with Hegley tormenting his marker with each attack and Gary Ward pinning the visitors deep into their own half.

With a burly centre forward that rarely touched the ball all game the visitors were lacking much creativity going forward and looked doomed to be on the end of a heavy defeat but this changed dramatically in the second half.

Ibemere outpaced the defence on 15 minutes and held off his marker as he bore down on goal electing to go around the keeper instead of shoot and the keeper smothered the ball.

The Vickers won a succession of corners but despite some good deliveries from Hegley and Winchcombe the visitors managed to keep the score at 1-0.

Ibemere and Hegley both had very good chances to make the half time score a deserved 2 or 3 nil but with the score at 1-0 the visitors were hanging on.

The second half saw a marked improvement in the visiting sides play and they began to compete and come into the game more.

The Vickers still controlled the early stages of the second half and Winchcombe sent in two efforts on goal that were blocked by the Town defence.

Around the hour mark the visitors created their first decent chance but found James Tedder in sparkling form denying the Town forward from point blank with a superb save sending the ball from a corner.

Only minutes later the tall stopper was at it again saving well from a one on one but he saved the best for last with another point blank save sending the ball over the bar from a volley from 6 yards out when a goal seemed certain.

The inevitable equaliser did come on 79 minutes when an unnecessary corner was conceded and from the resultant corner Tedder was impeded as he came to claim and centre back Leon Skinner headed home from 5 yards.

Despite Tedder’s protestations the goal stood as physically stopping the keeper seemed to be the only way he would concede a goal in the form he had been in.

The hoops pushed for the win in the last ten minutes forcing a series of corners but the resurgent Town held firm and the last chance for the Vickers came when Penny was unmarked in the box but Jason Barton’s cross missed him and ended in the keeper’s hands.

VCD Line up J Tedder, Watson, Barton, Hogg, Mitchell, Hunt, Winchcombe (O’ Shea 75 mins), Ward, Penny, Ibemere (1 goal), Hegley

Subs not used

T Bradshaw, Foley and J Bradshaw