The game started off in an open fashion as you’d expect but it was the Vics who saw more of the ball and had some good moves forward, very much on top in the opening 10 minutes. It was then the turn of the hosts to have a 10 minute period on top, the Vics were failing to get hold of the ball and despite playing long balls forward it kept coming back towards them.

The rest of the half was very end to end with neither side having many periods on top but during one of these periods the hosts took the lead, a long cross in from the right channel looked to be heading over everyone and rolling out of play but out of nowhere a white shirt was diving head first at the back post and bundled it in to the Vics net.

The rest of the half continued in a very end to end fashion with the Vics seeing a couple of shots blocked and sent out of play for corners.

Towards the end of the half the hosts managed to create a couple of chances that were dealt well by Browner in the Vics goal but just before halftime following a Brimscombe corner that came to nothing and fell to one of their players on the right edge of the box was judged to have been brought down by a Vics man and the ref pointed to the spot too much protest from the Vics.

The penalty was converted by Jack Smith to give the hosts a 2-0 lead with the last kick off the half.

The Vics protests continued after the whistle went and Hext was shown a yellow card as he was walking towards the changing rooms and faced 10 minutes in the sin bin from the restart of the game.

The second half started off as the first finished, very scrappy with neither side keeping hold of the ball for longer than a few minutes at a time.

It was the hosts who had the first chance of the second half when a long ball was played around the Vics backline and was tucked away by the Brimscombe forward but he was offside by a country mile and the assistant raised his flag.

The hosts then put themselves 3 goals in front following a foul just in front of the halfway D, the free kick was played forward and found Jack Smith for the hosts who hit it on the turn in to the bottom right corner, a tidy finish and not much Browner could have done about it.

The Vics then were returned to a full 11 and started to see more of the ball and create more chances as the half wore on.

The Vics reduced the deficit through Jack Hobson McVeigh, a cross from Kyle Witt looked to have been claimed by Clatworthy in the Brimscombe goal by the ball broke loose to Jack who didn’t need a second invitation and slotted the ball into the virtually empty net.

The Vics then nearly had a second a shortly after, Jack played a great ball through to Tranter, who showed a great turn of pace to beat the Brimscombe defender who had about a yard on Tranter’s starting position. He managed to poke the ball around Clatworthy who was also closing down Trants but the ball painfully flashed across the front of goal and went just wide for a goal kick.

If that had gone in you’d have fancied the Vics to get more from the game, they certainly didn’t give up despite some very tired legs and some great play forward to create a couple of further chances.

Towards the end of the half the hosts played a number of balls forward in search for goal number 4 and created a couple of chances which were either headed away by Griff, blasted over or caught by Browner in the Vics goal.

The game overall was a very stop/start scrappy affair, lots of positives for the Vics who were no pushovers and gave a good account of themselves against a side a division higher.

We go again on Friday for a local derby against Bassett at the monk, once again sadly behind closed doors but with updates on social media throughout the evening.