WELL, after an exciting and much anticipated build up to our FA Cup tie against Charnock Richard, it’s all ended in heartbreak as we lost a penalty shoot out 4-5 after the match ended 2-2 after 90 minutes.

The disappointment got me to thinking of other penalty shoot outs the Vics have been involved in over the recent years.

Of course the most memorable one (in a bad way) was the semi -final of the FA Vase two seasons ago away at Chertsey Town. Nothing could separate the teams after two legs.

An one all draw up at Wincham Park, followed by the tensest of matches down at Chertsey with both teams having chances to snatch the game in normal time. 30 minutes of extra time ensued, with both sides tiring and Vics soaking up the pressure but breaking quickly when they could and always looking threatening but no goals.

Then the drama of penalties, with the pressure on Vics going second . They lost 5-3 with us missing the second penalty, such disappointment but a truly wonderful and memorable FA Vase run to look back on.

The following season, 2019/20 , there was shoot-out success, and in a final as well, as Vics overcame Winsford United to claim the Mid Cheshire Cup. The match ended one all with Keiron Kenny equalising for Vics late on, and it was Kenny himself who stepped up to score the winning 4th penalty in the resultant shoot out to claim the trophy. OK, it wasn’t the FA Vase, but a trophy is a trophy and did manage to banish the memories of the previous season’s disappointment even if only for a few hours.

A strange penalty shoot out came in the Cheshire Senior Cup two-legged semi-final against Macclesfield Town sometime in the 90s when after a 2 all draw at Vics, the second leg ended 1 - 1 all after extra time. Under the rules, Macclesfield should have then won on the away goals, but the referee ordered a penalty shoot out , which unfortunately for Vics, but fortunately from the referee’s point of view, Macclesfield prevailed from the spot.

Shoot-outs are usually tense nervous affairs, however in the 2104 Cheshire Senior Cup match against Crewe, they somewhat eased the pressure on Vics by missing their first 3 penalties giving Vics a fairly easy passage through. A tenser affair was again in the Cheshire Senior Cup , this time a semi-final back in the early 2000’s when Congleton Town were the visitors to Northwich. The match went to penalties, and both teams had spot kicks to win, but both missed.

Eventually Vics took the spoils.

Some you win, some you lose, but whatever happens, penalty shoot outs are always dramatic, and I hate them !

Let’s hope we don’t need one in our next match this Saturday away against Golcar in the FA Vase.