BLUE Square Premier basement side Northwich Victoria will be hoping to avoid a fifth straight home defeat during tomorrow’s FA Trophy first round tie against York City.

The Vics have gone down to Crawley (1-0), Burton (1-0), Eastbourne (2-1) and FA Cup visitors Telford (3-0) during their last four matches at the Martson’s Arena.

Northwich’s record of just two league wins and nine points in front of their own fans all season is also the worst in the division with fellow strugglers Grays (2-0) and Barrow (2-1) the only teams to have left Cheshire with no reward for their journey.

The double suspension of defender Steve Robinson and Scott Wagstaff will not aid the struggling part-timers’ hopes of an improvement tomorrow.

Both were sent off for violent conduct during Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at Eastbourne which also saw manager Steve King and his assistant Justin Skinner dismissed from the dugout.

Robinson and on-loan Wagstaff were handed three-game bans with the latter having now gone back to Charlton, who, however, have allowed fellow midfielder Rashid Yussuf to extend his stay with the Vics for an additional month.

Michael Welch is expected to fill in for Robinson while Wagstaff’s place will be contested between Dean Lodge and Joel Byrom.

The Vics are hoping Richard Sutton might have recovered from an ankle injury to play a part but Paul Barrett (foot) is still expected to be sidelined.

Former Minstermen striker Darryn Stamp has recently returned from suspension and will line up against his old club as Northwich’s leading marksman on six goals, despite starting only 13 games.

Beverley-born Stamp, who failed to net in 11 games for City midway through the 2006/7 season after signing from Stevenage, is expected to be partnered by former Shrewsbury forward Lee Steele in attack.

Only second-bottom Lewes (ten) have scored fewer times than Northwich (11) at home this term.

The south-coast side are also the one team to have conceded more times in the league, shipping 43 compared to Northwich’s 39.

King’s men have only managed two clean sheets all season against Grays and during a 0-0 draw with Forest Green.

Other than Grays and Barrow, Lewes are also the only other team Northwich have managed to beat this season – securing their one away win of the campaign during a 3-2 triumph.


Match facts

This is City’s first visit to Northwich in cup football.

The Vics have twice won at York in cup competitions. In 2005/6 they beat City 2-1 in the first round of the FA Trophy and last term they won a Setanta Shield encounter on penalties.

It happened on December 13

1952: Alf Patrick and Billy Fenton were the scorers in a 2-1 home win over Crewe Alexandra which kept City third in Division Three North. The crowd was 6,717.

1958: City went down 1-0 at Gateshead and were fourth in Division Four. It was their last ever visit to Redheugh Park.

1961: John Stainsby scored the only goal as Bournemouth were beaten 1-0 in the fourth round of the Football League Cup at Bootham Crescent watched by 8,709.

1969: City went down 2-0 at Bradford Park Avenue in their last visit to this ground and were mid-table in the Fourth.

1971: Rotherham United won a second round FA Cup replay at Bootham Crescent 3-2 after extra time. The attendance was 10,010 and the marksmen were Kevin McMahon and David Chambers.

1975: A 0-0 draw at home to Bristol Rovers in front of 3,112 and City were bottom of Division Two (Championship).

1983: Top of Division Four, City lost 2-0 at home to lowly Rochdale in the first round of the FA Cup watched by 5,203.

1986: A 5-1 defeat at Notts County and City were in the lower reaches of Division Three (League One).

1997: Tony Barras was the scorer in a 1-0 home win over Wrexham and City were fifth in Division Two (League One). The attendance was 2,871.

Compiled by Dave Batters