Witton Albion JFC

The plucky Albs slumped to a record 5th consecutive defeat after a close-fought battle against neighbours Hartford, nonetheless the management team – after their 5th lunchtime pint – were fairly positive as Witton yet again gave a dominant first half display with some excellent moves and effort.

After a false-starting and timid “go Witton”, the governor Noah corralled the butterflies and managed to emit a “go Witton” that was almost heard on the touchline. Witton started strongly, with Theo looking sprightly up top and Dan strumming the violin strings in a new attacking role, both of them going agonisingly close several times. After conceding a somewhat sloppy goal, Witton were still in charge overall, Tom A and Fin O providing some useful attacking support from the full-back positions. A set of smart passes originating from Alex led to a flowing attacking move and it was Noah who out-sprinted the physical Hartford defence to calmly slot home to equalise. A good half but Witton needed to get a better shape and be quicker to both first and second balls.

The second half saw Witton fade somewhat, a familiar theme in recent weeks, but the effort was still good as Luke and Damien kept watch in defence. Chances were at a premium however and it was Hartford that punished Witton before another Noah lung-buster made it 2-2. Elliot J set up a great move from the back that involved Harry and then Keegan who crossed only to find the strikers somewhat absent from the box. Ollie produced another tremendous effort, cruelly shut out on occasions but nonetheless displaying a “never give up” attitude alongside Thomas who also gave all but was unable to penetrate the Hartford defence. Sergeant Wilko was omnipresent in midfield, but even his herculean efforts could not present Hartford plundering the winner late in the second half.

The management were fairly relaxed after the game, but certainly the second half slumps are becoming a habit and they need to be eradicated fairly swiftly. "We can't play football at school otherwise the year 11's nick the ball" claimed one source within the team when challenged about playing out of hours after the game.

Captain’s man of the match:
Managers man of the match: Noah
Magic moment: Elliot J, Tom A, Keegan move….pass from the back works!
Quote of the day: “his elbows are like windmills”