Attendance just announced 602
That’s not bad - best for a long time. If Rushden said they were bringing about 100 then that says 500 wittoners - not bad at all. Well done to all the guys who gave out flyers, let’s hope some of the 500 come back again. 600 x average price of about 6-7 quid = approx ?4000 so a decent payday.
Last five minutes Rushden were hanging on two great saves from their keeper and Barras hit the post, finished 1-0 but a very fine performance from the lads, well done to all, onward in the league now and the promotion we deserve…
I thought Witton had a good run of the game but in the end it was the strength and pace of Rushden that made all the difference.
There were times in the second half when their centre halves won everything.
A great last 5 minutes could have at least earnt us a draw but c’est la vie, we will live to fight another day.
I did think we had a stone wall penalty in the 1st half but as with most referees who visit the Britannia Carpets stadium, he chose in favour of the opposition.
have to agree with the Rushden centre halves, we were short of a big and daft centre forward who could give it back…fair play to the lads today against a team 2 levels above them, no disgrace in losing this one, it was only the R & D keeper that stopped the replay.
Last 5 minutes says it all…great crowd, great to actually be shoulder to shoulder in the terraces
long may it continue ;D ;D ;D
well done witton u played well
u r a gd friendly club (shame about the pies ;)) hope u do well in the future
Not the best of games overall - but I think you definitely did deserve a draw, and a replay on Tuesday night.
Tynan made a couple of great saves in the last 5 minutes or so. Bit of an experimental side for us today - like we didn’t really have any proper midfield until Savage came on. And those last 5 minutes…guess a few of the early leavers missed the best bit for you.
Some nice pics on our official club site here - including this one of Tynan making that save in the last few minutes.
Our Official Match Report is here
Best of luck for the future. Very nice setup you have there. Especially like the price of the Pies/Gravy, and Tea [which is ?1.30 per cup at our place!]
Still guttes this morning we didnt get a draw from the game but thats life I guess - equally they could have put us out of sight but for some excellent JK saves (proving Leek was just a blip)
Overall we put a good performance in against a side although struggling are 2 league above us, the gate was pleasing I thought - not as many away fans as when we had 600odd against Telford last year I didn’t think? Please some of you come back next weekend - we have a promotion to go and gain now!
Finally one disapointing point - lack of players acknowledging the fans after the game, I thought we did pretty well - backed up by Jim after the game - on the other side how many times do they think they are likely to get an ovation like that after a game like that at Wincham PArk?
A shame that our good run in the Trophy ended with such a mediocre match - it was a scrappy game and no real quality to shout about. It would have been nice to show R&D how well we can play and have played in the competition so far.
We gave the ball away far to cheaply in the first half, R&D were winning most of the second balls, and to give credit to the centre halves they defended strongly. Might all have been very different if we had taken one of the early chances. The penalty appeal was hard to judge, Miller went down quite easily although there was a good shout that he was pulled back. Certainly seen them given for less.
Thought Griff played well first half, held the ball up well and created most of our forward play. Warlow and Miller both appeared to me to be off the pace and struggled to make any real contribution. We know that both are capable of more.
We were better (marginally) in the second half. For me Witton always play better with width, however Jim had a difficult decision to make. We were losing the midfield battle and therefore the decision to take off the wide men in favour of flooding the midfield was probably the right choice - whilst it reduced the options going forward we won more of the ball. The negative being that everything was very tight, at one point you could have thrown a sheet over the 20 outfield players on the pitch!
Difficult to see the cause of their goal, certainly in the build up there looked like a hand in the air? Kennedy could have perhaps done better having made contact, however overall I thought he had a very solid game and is still a fine keeper at this level.
In the end it turned out to be a case of ‘what might have been’, if we had played as well in the first 85 minutes and the last 5 then there is no question the result would have been different. Their keeper made 2 or 3 excellent stops, from Connor’s free kick and especially Spearitt’s belter! Hitting the post summed up our luck and it felt like had we have played until 8 o’clock it still wouldn’t have gone in on the day! That said, it was good to see the lads fight until the whistle and R&D would certainly have been glad for full time when it came.
Referee was a joke, hardly a bad tackle in the game and 8 or 9 yellow cards. This was a cup match, played in a good spirit and the Ref did his best to spoil it. Half the cards were unnecessary and he could have let the game flow far better than he did. It was like playing 12 men at times.
Overall I don’t think we did enough on the day, we are capable of playing better football and it just didn’t happen. From what we have seen of ‘higher’ opposition this season we should be encouraged to get up and out of this league - we can compete at higher level and the future has to be promotion (cup runs are nice but Conference North has to be achieved). We have a good group of players and a good manager.
Well done to Rushden, hope they progress well and it also helps turn around their league position. The fans I spoke with complimentary of our set-up and seemed to have enjoyed their day out (plus they have similar opinion as we do of our neighbours)!
So, concentrate on the league now!
I agree with Neil that the players could of acknowledged the fans at the final whistle, afterall we did still give them a decent send off despite the result.
I think Jim had to go with width, it just didn’t pay off. With hindsight it might of been different if Lloyd had started, but there’s not alot we can do about that now!
I think a fully fit Moseley and Peers might of given us a chance to win yesterday, i don’t think Warlow or Miller had the impact we would hope for.
We did well though, and it was no disgrace.
In regards to the bar being shut, i don’t know if we will of missed out that much financially but it certainly has annoyed a few regulars. I think they could of opened it up at half time, by then they had already got the extra ?2 out of the people in the stand!!
JK did really well.
Still find it hard to listen to people slating Tom Spearitt though. He’s doing a job for us at right back, and it’s obviously not his favoured position. In 30 or so matches this year he’s probably only had half a dozen at centre half. The rest he has played in midfield or at right back. Yes his distribution isn’t the best, but it’s not bad for a centre half - which he what he is!
Good turn out, and i felt we were in good voice yesterday. If we can get a run of wins going again now then i have high hopes for the rest of the season.
Have to say i realy enjoyed the match yesterday and i feel gutted not only at losin but also at the fact i wont be able to watch the team for another 3 months as i am away at uni again until easter! 
Never mind heres me wishin the best of luck to the team and i will keep updated on goins on via this forum! Come on the Albion!!!
Couldn’t agree more with Robbo -
"Still find it hard to listen to people slating Tom Spearitt though. He’s doing a job for us at right back, and it’s obviously not his favoured position. In 30 or so matches this year he’s probably only had half a dozen at centre half. The rest he has played in midfield or at right back. Yes his distribution isn’t the best, but it’s not bad for a centre half - which he what he is!"
The boy was one of our best players last season at CENTRE HALF, and his comittment can not be doubted. Fantastic effort from everyone yesterday, the team, the management, and the fans! Back to the nitty grity of the league now. Hopefully we can go on another good run and start putting some pressure on those above us. Come on the albs!!!
Just to echo the thoughts of the other Diamonds on here, well done to you all for putting up such a stiff fight. I thought it could have been 3 all, but a lack of quality in front of goal was the problem for both teams. That’s been our main problem all season, lots of chances but not converted.
GW (the manager) experimented with Tomlin, Cook and Rankine (all strikers) in midfield alongside Wilson (left back), so we had/ kept very little shape but battled away. There was no handball in the leadup to the goal it was his midriff from where I was (behind the goal), and the power beat the good attempt from your keeper. It seemed to take an age to drop down and spin into the net.
Good luck for the remainder of the season.
Good points made Robbo, but i think the remarks about Warlow and Miller a bit harsh, if you dont get the service, you cant deliver the goods, also its already been said that the two centre halves for Rushden were dominant
I just feel that wth the ability that Warlow and Miller have then we would be looking to them to provide the quality. They didn’t have bad games at all, i just think we could of done with another 15 or 20% from them.
Proud to be a Wittoner yesterday, good crowd (credit Neil& chums ). Lots of ifs and buts, but at the end of the day R&D will be grateful to have gone away with a victory, when a draw would have been a fair result.
Again great credit to JV and BP for giving us a team that can more than hold its own against teams from higher levels and probably with 8 times our budget!
Enjoyed the Trophy run, now lets get the business of the play offs sorted!
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS!
It was a great day yesterday well done to everyone who is a part of witton the supporters, the players management etc. it was the best atmosphere in a hec of a long time! even walking in and seeing 2 tea bars open was a joy!!
The Rushden supporters were fantastic a big thanks to them aswell.
Looking at the game…well we have beaten better teams havent we it has to be said?. Not taking anything away from Rushton they came and did their job but it is clear that earlier in the season when we’re on top of our game (i.e. against vauxhall motors) when we had Shaun Whalley and peers etc terrerising defenders we would have dominated yestreday.
Spearitt played well yesterday and he does always give 100%…we did lack natural wingers yesterday tho (especially in the last 20 mins when miller got taken off - why???) JK also looked stronger yesterday.
What agony to see the Tony Barrass thunderbolt fly off the post!!
One last thing tho WHAT IS GOING ON WITH OUR FREE KICKS??? the players dont seem to know what is going on half the time never mind the supporters!!! same with corners…just have a shot …Alex Brown’s free kick at the end was awesome!! its not complicated just shoot and force the keeper to make a save!!!
Well done everyone just wasn’t to be but didnt we do well 2 get this far!
To those who think we could/should have played better - you have to give a team 2 levels higher than us at least some credit for the way we were frustrated and to be fair over the whole of the game we gave as good as we got! Overall this was a brilliant effort and I think some of our guys really showed that they could cut it at a higher level
To say some of the Rushton Supporters were relieved at the end is an understatement and none of their guys I spoke to thought we deserved anything less than a replay - buts thats the way it goes. We needed a bit of luck and a referee who was going to make the right decisions at the right time. The penalty shout just before half time was nailed on in my view and the linesman (even if the ref didn’t) had an absolutely perfect view and bottled it.
I thought we tried to play the game as it should be played and at the and were desperately unlucky not to get something - I am still gutted!
Thanks to Benny and Jim and all the guys for their efforts - now for the league!!
The game was very dissapointing for me. Rushden were a very ordinary Conference side and were there for the taking. There seemed little belief that you could win it and were happy to contain them. If you play with wide men you have to give them the service. All day the ball was pumped down the middle and their centre halfs won every thing.
With 25 minutes to go Witton were starting to get into the game, you then take the two players off that have genuine pace put another centre forward on and continue to play long balls. You then go one down and have no other options. I think if you had really gone for it tried to feed the wide men and get behind them you could have beaten Rushden