Witton Albion JFC

Witton welcomed Micky’s Crewe Academy team to the temporary home of Hartford 3G stadium on Sunday. The same fences, the same angst on the managers face as the match balls disappeared forever over the fences, the same number of players waiting eagerly at CFA 3G….. Crewe, unbeaten in Division 2 and healthy winners over Witton in the 2017 Sandbach tournament, turned up in high spirits with some refreshing, upbeat sounds on their wireless speaker.


After a brief debate about the lack of music on the Witton side, the first half opened with 20 minutes of virtually no entertainment at all as the fans dozed in the twilight of a Cheshire winter Sunday morning (Autumn? When does that finish, is it October?). Nonetheless, the defence looked strong as Jack strongly held off some challenging runs from the Crewe forwards and Elliot made a few timely interceptions racing out from the box as the Albs reverted to type, lashing the ball forward at every opportunity. When the team decided to pass….. it was joy for the home fans…. Dan “clipped” a ball home nonchalantly from the edge of the box for the first goal, leading to a detailed touchline discussion about how buses, how they come all at the same time and how little they appear. After “in your face” Fin grabbed a goal with his boat race, Tom A slammed a header home from a corner. Better was to come as Elliot passed to Jack and a swift passing attack led to a second goal by Dan.

After a half team talk consisting of the manager moaning about the passing quality, the team rolled out for the second half and began dismantling Crewe as James probed forward in the wing back position and Tommy C again was disciplined in the holding role. The strong base led to a flurry of goals as Danny, Keegan, Nathan and Dan added to the score. Meanwhile, Sam R was scurrying around in the midfield maestro role and Sam H slotting into defensive midfield rather well. For no rational reason the manager went beserk and swapped the forwards for the defenders. Shortly after the tactical genius had made his move, Witton slumped to a Crewe goal. As recriminations reverberated around the pitch and the dugout, the Albs got on with the game as Harry sprinted down the wing, chipped over a defender and leathered the ball home into the top corner – thank you very much. After the madness, it was left to Dan to finish proceedings for a very satisfactory Ayrton - Ayrton Senna (translation for northerners: tenner). It was left to to Tommy C, thrown back on after a game grafting in the engine room to add a last gasp bid for glory up front, unfortunately his bomber shot was narrowly wide of the mark.

A fine display by Witton Albion was marred by a discriminatory event as the beat-boxing manager summarily delegated water bottle duty AGAIN to… ohh … someone who had done it before. Notwithstanding that scandal, the fans were buoyant as they contemplated the possibility of a “Witton Away Day” the following week.

Captain’s man of the match: Sam R
Managers Man of the match: Dan
Magic moment: Tom A headed goal from Danny’s corner
Quote of the day: “music? You only play classical music”