Kidsgrove Athletic v. Witton Albion

Following an excellent start to the season on Saturday, Caretaker manager Ben Harrison takes his Witton team to Kidsgrove Athletic on Tuesday night for a Northern Premier League West Division fixture.

Some excellent football combined with a battling second half performance saw Albion over the line amid some hairy moments towards the end.

Kidsgrove kicked off their season with a disappointing defeat at Widnes and will be hoping for an improvement in their first home league game of the season.

Grove endured a season of two halves in their last campaign, starting really well and then falling away dramatically in the latter half.

Winning their first seven league games saw them lead the table in September but a terrible run of results saw them finish third from the bottom of the table.

Witton completed the league double over Kidsgrove winning both games by the same score 3-1, as they pursued the play offs only to fall short on goal difference.

Two faces familiar to Albion fans are likely to feature in the Kidsgrove team in former Witton midfielder Kyle Diskin and Jimmy Garlick, who joined us briefly and had one unused substitute appearance but never kicked a ball for the club.

One signing that has raised a few eyebrows is the return to Kidsgrove of striker Matt Rhead, twenty years after he made his debut for the club. Now aged 40, he has had an illustrious career which has seen him play at places such as Alfreton Town, Mansfield Town and most notably, Lincoln City.

Kidsgrove are now under the guidance of experienced striker Anthony Malbon who assumed the mantle after previous manager Scott Dundas departed earlier than was expected.

Witton will be looking to collect their first points on their travels but Kidsgrove will not be an easy test and any result will have to be earned.

Kick off at the Autonet Insurance Stadium is 7.45pm.

KIDSGROVE ATHLETIC FC,
AUTONET INSURANCE STADIUM,
HOLLINWOOD ROAD,
KIDSGROVE,
STAFFORDSHIRE,
ST7 1DQ.

Directions: Merge onto M6 and follow for 9.0 miles. At junction 16, take the A500 exit to Newcastle-under-Lyme/Stoke-on-Trent(North)/Crewe/Nantwich and continue for 0.3 miles. At Bartomley Interchange, take the 1st exit onto A500 and follow for 3.3 miles. Take the A34 slip road to Newcastle-under-Lyme/Congleton and continue for 0.1 miles. At Talke Interchange, take the 2nd exit onto Newcastle Road/A34 and follow for 1.4 miles. Turn right onto Congleton Road/A34 and continue for 0.1 miles. Turn right onto St Saviour’s Street and follow for 0.1 miles. Continue onto Mitchell Drive and continue for 0.1 miles. Turn right onto Mitchell Avenue and continue for 0.1 miles. Turn left onto Lower Ash Road and continue forward for 417 ft. Turn right onto Hollinwood Road and continue forward for 476 ft. Turn left to stay on Hollinwood Road and continue for 167 ft to football stadium. (Total Distance - 22.2 miles).

Parking: Parking at the stadium is limited. There is parking available in the surrounding streets but please park respectfully of the local residents.

Admission is by way of Card or cash payments at the turnstiles. Card payments are accepted anywhere inside the stadium.

Admission Prices: Adults: £10, Concessions: £5, 12-17 Year Olds: £2, Under 12’s: Admitted FREE.

Matchday Programme: £2.

Social Club: The Social Club is inside the stadium. Please note: Alcohol purchased within the social club is permitted inside the stadium but MUST be in a plastic beaker.

Refreshments: The Tea Bar is next to the main stand.

Toilet Facilities: There are toilet facilities outside the social club near to the changing rooms including wheelchair accessible toilet facilities.

Witton Albion Matchday will be doing a test run from Kidsgrove Athletic tonight and providing match commentary from the game.

They will be going live from about 7.30pm on https://www.witton-albion-matchday.mixlr.com

The usual updates on the forum will also be continuing as normal.

Will deffo listen to that as we can’t make the game. Good luck Ben and the lads. UTA

Witton team news & latest score updates will appear here as and when they become available.

Team news: Witton make one change to the starting line-up that beat City of Liverpool on Saturday. Saul Henderson comes in for Harry McGee who drops down to the bench. Oliver Hitchcox comes into the squad but Charlie Duke, Wealth DaSilva and Vani DaSilva are not involved. Harry Brazel is on holiday.

WITTON team:

Danny Roberts, Mike Koral, Ewan McGeady, Lee Jackson, Joel Bembo Leta, Joel Bailey, James Lawrie, Reece Daly, Joe Duckworth, Saul Henderson, Elliot Rokka.

Subs: Callum Grogan, Harry McGee, Eli Fisher, Oliver Hitchcox, Kyle King.

The radio “commentary” appears to be just a load of crowd noise - can’t hear any commentating as such?

Looks like we’ll have to rely on Wheels’s updates as usual!

Latest Score from The Autonet Insurance Stadium:

Kidsgrove Athletic 0 Witton Albion 0.

15 minutes played.

GOAL

Latest Score from The Autonet Insurance Stadium:

Kidsgrove Athletic 1 Witton Albion 0.

Kieran Lazenby gives Grove the lead on 21 minutes.

35 minutes played - Kidsgrove still lead courtesy of Kieran Lazenby’s goal.

GOAL

Latest Score from The Autonet Insurance Stadium:

Kidsgrove Athletic 2 Witton Albion 0.

Richie Sutton adds Kidsgrove’s second on 43 minutes.

Half Time Score from The Autonet Insurance Stadium:

Kidsgrove Athletic 2 Witton Albion 0.

Witton Substitution:

Ewan McGeady replaced by Oliver Hitchcox on 49 minutes.

Witton Substitution:

Saul Henderson replaced by Harry McGee on 54 minutes.

Yellow card:

Witton’s Joe Duckworth on 55 minutes.

Witton Substitution:

Reece Daly replaced by Kyle King on 69 minutes.

GOAL

Latest Score from The Autonet Insurance Stadium:

Kidsgrove Athletic 3 Witton Albion 0.

Richie Sutton gets his second of the game on 72 minutes.

Witton Substitution:

Elliot Rokka replaced by Eli Fisher on 73 minutes.

Yellow card:

Witton’s Mike Koral on 80 minutes.

Yellow card:

Kidsgrove Athletic’s Aaron Bott on 82 minutes.

GOAL

Latest Score from The Autonet Insurance Stadium:

Kidsgrove Athletic 4 Witton Albion 0.

Substitute Kingsley Adu-Gyamfi scores Grove’s fourth on 86 minutes.

Full Time Score from The Autonet Insurance Stadium:

Kidsgrove Athletic 4 Witton Albion 0.

Tonight’s Attendance: 318.

That’s problem with 5-2-3 you need everyone working for it to be consistent!

Onto Saturday let’s hope we can get back to winning ways. UTA

Back down to earth tonight. We competed first half but were over run second half, 3 goals from crosses we have to cut these out.

I am sure Ben took a lot from this game, onward and upward.