Witton Albion JFC

Article by Brian Roberts - the u17(1989) official sports correspondent.
under 17 (1989) 3 v Woodford 1.
Scorers Josh Ben and Owen.
BREAKING NEWS - PIZZAZZ & SPICE FOOTY ARRIVES AT U17 (1989).
We wanted to see something special today as we faced one of our oldest rivals in The Mid Cheshire District FA Challenge Cup. The paradox is our players went back to basics but this resulted in some “scintillating” one touch football that was a pleasure to watch. Our old friend Cam was in goal for Woodford so we knew we would need to be at our best to get the ball past him.
A standout performance for us today was Owen B - we all know how skilful he is, but today his football seemed much more mature. His decision making when to go past a player and when to pass was faultless – Woodford players had little choice other than to foul him. You could see the referee had identified what was happening with Owen but we were all a bit shocked when he gave a penalty for an ‘off the ball’ push on him. Our Captain walked up with confidence - there was only one person taking this. Mr Reliable didn’t let us down as took the good old fashioned method of striking the ball as hard you can and left Cam stood still in nets. 1 – 0
It was a lively first half but as one spectator pointed out a game played in the right spirt by both team. This could still go either way, with Max having to have a safe pair of hands from a free kick on the right hand side but Witton retained the advantage at the break – just.
In the second half the Witton players looked like they had stepped up a gear or two and it felt like relentless pressure on Woodford. We felt Matty’s presence from the kick off and within five minutes we saw Woodford players bouncing off him as he ran down the right side of the pitch firing a fierce shot that Cam could only parry to the feet of Ben who blasts it into the net. 2 – 0
Another five minutes in and the home crowd were so pleased to see Owen B cap off an impressive all round performance with a great individual goal as he drifted past four (or was it five?) players before slotting the ball under Cam’s body 3 – 0
A consolation goal for Woodford with a mix up in defence but job was done. The latter part of the game became a little feisty with Olly M seeing a yellow card - fair play to him - it didn’t stop him causing them real problems on the right wing - on one occasion delivering a great pass to Jack with an open net, to be denied by a quick Woodford defender. Within two minutes Olly forced a great save from Cam.
The players gave a real entertaining performance for us supporters on the sidelines. Congrats to Howard and the coaches - this team is developing into something very exciting ……….. bring on the next game.