Witton Albion JFC

Witton arrived at the Jubilee Fields stadium on Sunday faintly surprised at a somewhat weak globe in the hitherto unseen blue sky….”it cannot be”…..”it’s like the moon but shinier” (that came from an adult)…..”it’s sunny”. Spring had arrived and it was time to forget the horrors of a footballing winter that included a “2 wins from 6” run and a manager on a 3-game-postponement-fail run. The travelling Witton army turned up in good cheer and immediately availed themselves of the home team buffet, which moved Gary O (surely a potential challenger to Jimmy and Koulis as breakfast king) so much that he offered free coffees for all, an offer that will no doubt be taken up very soon.

The teams were closely matched….as in no goals were conceded in the first 20 minutes….almost effortlessly, Damien, Tom A and Fin O were governing the defence splendidly, with Alex bellowing orders from the back. Witton could not quite break through however, after an unfortunate own goal…nonetheless an own goal with Dan and Alex trying their best to keep the ball from the net: a Witton first. Theo was toiling up front and it was his intervention that led to Noah looping an effort into the Vics’ net just before half time.

After some half-time entertainment from the coaching team, the Albs moseyed (that’s a word honest) onto the pitch…and began to play. Thomas headed the ball (joy), Ollie governed the midfield Roy-Keane-style and Sam raided down the flanks (both of them) as Witton started to dominate proceedings. Keegan, strolling around in defence was comfortably governing the Vics attackers and a nice pass to the midfield led to the reliable Sergeant Wilko squirming a ball to Luke who managed to force (and it was forced) a shot into the net from the penalty spot area, The Vics were not done yet, a last minute melee resulted in two fantastic saves by Elliot and then a match-winning headed clearance off the line by Harry.

After the match, the team were berated for their attacking performance, but applauded by the manager for their effort; “that’s the first time I’ve seen them defend like devils” the grumpy one stammered after the game.

Captains (2 of them) man of the match: Luke
Managers man of the match: Elliot J
Magic moment: Elliot J double save and Harry line clearance
Quote of the day: “It’s like the moon but shinier”