WHEN Matthew Beadle’s beautifully-timed volley hit the back of the net after an hour, 1874 Northwich had reached twin milestones.
The front man celebrated, arms aloft, a goal that made him the first in the club’s colours to score a hat-trick in a competitive match.
It was also the hosts’ seventh of an embarrassingly one-sided contest, marking too a biggest win in their short history.
They went on to add a couple more, marching to the FA Vase’s next stage.
1874 were rampant from the moment Stuart Wellstead, left unmarked by a defence exposed time and again as hopelessly inept, steered in a header at the near post from Jamie Tandy’s corner on nine minutes.
Their lead was worth a single goal for the next quarter of an hour, until Beadle – after nudging a defender in the back – pinched possession and ran unopposed into Wigan’s penalty area.
His rising finish, struck with power, was emphatic.
The visitors, with midfielder Patrick Hamid between the posts in the absence of regular goalkeeper Jakub Oleksy, folded after that.
Wellstead swept in Beadle’s cross after 33 minutes, adding a finishing flourish to a move started by Lee Duckworth’s lofted diagonal pass from the left.
A fourth goal followed quickly, this time after Matthew Ward – making his 50th appearance for 1874 – danced pass two would-be tacklers before driving low into the corner.
Hamid’s hands reached the ball, but it was travelling with too much force for him to stop it.
It was 5-0 shortly before the break, Beadle scoring again from close range after having time to pick his spot.
To the home team’s credit, they did not relent after the interval.
Ward shot straight at Hamid after Neil Chappell had conjured an opening, then Ryan Mitchell’s header skidded narrowly wide after he met Paul Connor’s centre.
1874, guided by assistant manager Paul Bowyer in boss Ian Street’s absence, then scored three times in four minutes.
Beadle turned provider for Chappell, who strode through a porous backline to claim his first goal for the club since a switch from Glossop.
Beadle, with that cute volley, hit the history-making seventh from Wellstead’s assist on the right.
His next effort, the hosts’ eighth, was a scruffier one; following a goalmouth scramble, he nudged in a loose ball from inside Wigan’s six-yard box.
Bowyer then sent on new recruit Kurtis Gill and front man David Short, who replaced Beadle after he had received the acclaim of 1874’s supporters.
The final goal arrived with 15 minutes left, Ward’s fiercely-struck attempt creeping inside an upright after Duckworth’s cross had reached him in a shooting space.
1874’s reward, aside from £800 in cash, will be to debut in the competition’s first round next month.
Less obliging opponents than Wigan await them.
1874 (3-5-2) Conkie (GK), Mitchell, McGrath, Duckworth, Connor (Crofts 75), Woolley (Gill 60), Chappell, Ward, Tandy, Wellstead, Beadle (Short 67) Subs not used Aston, Brandon Goals Wellstead 9, 33 Beadle 24, 41, 57, 59 Ward 38, 75 Chappell 55 Booked Chappell (foul)
Wigan RP (4-5-1) Hamid (GK), Penning, Winsor, Holleran, Banawich, Murphy, Goldfarb, Marley, Bowen (Rafferty 60), Cliff, Simm Subs not used Begley, Edgar, Green Booked Simm (foul)
Referee Aaron Jackson
Attendance 232
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