Witton Albion JFC

We commenced of cup campaign with an away tie against a familiar opposition in Davenham Juniors, at Sir Johns Deans College. After being knocked out in the first round last season we are hoping for an extended run this time around which has been aided by a bye in round 1.

This second round fixture turned out to be an epic encounter which the Warriors won 4:1 but it was far from a walk over with the Warriors scoring three goals in the closing five minutes to seal the tie and advance into the Quarter-Final.

Witton got off to a strong start with early ball possession and threatening to run riot. It only took until the fourth minute to open the scoring. Liam’s good wing play down the left and perfect through ball put Harry away clear on goal. With the keeper advancing to intercept Harry calmly slotted the ball beyond him and into the back of the goal.

A couple of close off-side decisions hampered the Warriors efforts to increase the lead. Robbie was unfortunate not to score after 24 minutes when following a good move he shot just wide of the upright.

With our failure to seize the initiative, invariably the opposition will create chances of their own at some point. In the 27th Minute a move down the right of the Davenham midfield led to a cross which landed on the top of the Witton cross bar and bounced away to safety.

Despite the cross bar scare the Witton defenders with a mix of Harley, Cathal, Ben and Finn all had excellent games and kept the oppositions efforts on goal to a minimum.

Half time 1:0

In the half time team talk the need for a couple of early second half goals was stressed to give some margin and calm the manager's nerves. Unfortunately Davenham came out in the second half in a stubborn mood and prevented any immediate addition to the score line.

On 33 minutes Ewean’s long range shot brought a good save from the Davenham keeper.

Mason was tested in the 37th minute but reacted with a good save with his feet from a close range shot to maintain our one goal advantage.

In the 38th minute Robbie danced through the oppositions defence but shot just wide and followed up in the 40th minute with an angled shot into the side netting.

Ewean’s run and shot was saved after 43 minutes and it was looking like it wasn’t going to be our day in front of goal. This was compounded when after 44 minutes Davenham got an equaliser. A long speculative shot was blocked by Mason but another Davenham player was quickest to respond to the rebound and score from close range. 1:1.

With the stress levels rising and extra time looking likely Robbie sprinted on to a through ball in the 55th minute and shot at goal. The keeper's diving save only pushed the ball towards Liam at the far post and he smashed the ball into the net. 2:1.

With Davenham looking stunned Robbie scored again a minute later. He hit a rocket from distance which cannoned off the cross bar and over the line. 3:1.

In the 58th minute Robbie’s ‘Messi’ style run left the disgruntled Davenham defence in his wake and he scored again. 4:1.

Man of the match went to Robbie who is a player with the quality to tip a close game in our favour and he certainly came up trumps today.

The next round of the Presidents Cups will be a game against Grappenhall Sports U12 Gladiators who are top of the third division and boast an unbeaten record in their league games. Whilst this will be a hard fixture, we should embrace the challenge against a team playing in a higher league where we aspire to be.

The next game sees us back in league action on 9th Dec with a home game against Barnton FC Juniors U12.