Witton Albion JFC

Spring was in the air, as for once, there were no desperate calls, emails, forking and rolling of pitches and last minutes venue changes for the Witton vs Sandbach Eagles match on Sunday. A sunlit, verdant and surprisingly not-very-muddy pitch greeted the early-arriving Eagles guided by their cheery leader Ian who immediately began drilling his troops on the perfect turf of the NCC Bowl. However, at 1000 the Witton management were still standing around with just three players and Claire to keep them company, but joy, the bleary-eyed Wolves eventually all sauntered onto the pitch in time for kick-off, leading to muttered threats from the manager about tardiness and preparation, “I told ‘em, 5 press ups”.

With a lack of focus, the Wolves took some time to get going and predictably conceded the first goal under an opening barrage from table-topping, unbeaten Sandbach, despite the best attentions of Ewan who produced some really patient and telling challenges and Tom A who had the opposing winger in his back pocket. The Wolves looked really lethargic and it took a flurry of substitutions and some small shape changes to completely transform the team. Witton then proceeded to dominate the rest of the half, started by Dan the Man with a splendid upfield ball that set up a sweeping move involving a resurgent and energetic Ollie who was able to set up a Keegan shot which agonisingly went wide. Nonetheless, Sandbach still offered a threat and Elliot J left the Sandach striker dumbfounded by a seemingly miraculous “foot” save when 1-on-1 towards the end of the half.

The Albs were urged, nay begged, to have a fast start in the second half by the management team and duly responded by conceding a second goal. Another flurry of substitutions and a seemingly never-ending stream of tactical changes ensued from the touchline, but Witton were really on top at this stage – barring a few crucial stops from stopper Alex P. The pressure finally told as Lewis swept home an excellent Keegan pass and then the dam broke when Thomas smacked home a rocket into the top corner. In the midst of this, the off duty Witton keeper somehow managed to be fouled when off the pitch and tumbled theatrically, seemingly without cause, to the deck and was awarded 5.5 for effort and 2.3 for “realism”. Theo and Sergeant Wilko were truly governing the midfield at this stage and winning header after header and most challenges. Noah and Luke were sweetly sweeping all before them in a brave 2-man defence (under-reported but not unnoticed), which enabled the attacking unit to plunder and pillage. Lewis grabbed his second and then Thomas grabbed his to finish a stunning but well deserved comeback to leave the fans jumping and roaring on the touchline.

A first win over the Eagles in two years left Witton ruing what could have been in this season of early inconsistency and late quality, however a strong push for the last “Champions League” place might yet lead to the holy grail for the ever-improving Albion. “Why is fourth so important?” enquired the ever inquisitive Ollie at the end of the match, receiving a rather unsatisfactory nod and a wink from the increasingly un-miserable (that is now a word, spell-check has not flagged it) manager.

Captain’s man of the match: Thomas
Managers man of the match: Alex P
Magic moment: Ollie and Theo – a perfect corner number 4 from the training pitch…..great stuff!
Quote of the day: “did the clocks go back or have we told the parents the wrong time?”