Vauxhall Motors v. Witton Albion

All roads lead to the VanEupen Arena as Witton make the first of two trips to Vauxhall Motors in the space of a few days.

Tuesday night sees the two teams meet in the Cheshire Senior Cup but before then, three important league points are on offer.

Witton will be encouraged by their performance against high-flying Avro on Tuesday night although they left it late in securing a well-deserved point.

Vauxhall Motors go into the game in sixth place in the table and have been in good form so far, suffering only two defeats in eleven league games.

Witton still seek that consistency as they look to climb the league.

Manager Ben Harrison has been busy adding to his squad in recent days, bringing in three new players in winger Jeanny Akpo from Warrington Rylands on loan, midfielder Alfie Bairstow from Salford City also on loan and central defender Jack Tierney on dual registration from Marine.

With injuries to Billy Jones and Joe Edwards, it was necessary to give the squad the boost it needed in the coming weeks.

The two meetings between the two teams last season saw Witton take a point from the trip to the VanEupen Arena, James Baillie’s equaliser giving the Albion a share of the points after Nick Rushton had given the Motormen an early lead.

The reverse fixture at the U Lock It Stadium saw Vauxhall Motors win by the only goal courtesy of Josh Quarless.

Witton will have to be wary of “veteran” Kevin Ellison who despite his years is an integral part of Vauxhall Motors game.

He may not be as spritely as he once was but his experience can be invaluable to them and he will need to be watched.

Witton have players of their own who can have an impact on the game particularly forwards Tom Hoyle and Joe Duckworth, who has found his goalscoring touch recently.

A tough game as always is to be expected and Witton will be hoping to pick up the right result.

Kick off at the VanEupen Arena is 3pm.

VAUXHALL MOTORS FC,
THE VAN EUPEN ARENA,
RIVACRE ROAD,
ELLESMERE PORT,
CHESHIRE,
CH66 1NJ.

Directions:From the M6 / M56
Exit M6 at junction 20 and M56 at junction 15 sign-posted M53 Ellesmere Port, Birkenhead. Exit the M53 at junction 5. Take the 1st exit off the roundabout (sign-posted A41 Chester). At the first set of lights turn left into Hooton Green. At the ‘T’ junction turn left into Old School Lane. At the next ‘T’ junction turn right onto Rivacre Road. The ground is on the right hand side.

Parking: The Car park has spaces for 300 vehicles near to the Social Club.

Turnstiles will be open from 1.30pm - Admission is by way of Card & Cash payments at the turnstiles.

Admission Prices: Adults: £10, Concessions & 16-18 Year Olds: £7, Under 16’s: £2.

Matchday Programme: £3 on sale at the turnstiles.

Social Club: The Social Club will be open from 1.30pm and is a two-storey building next to the pitch which has a large function room on the first floor. The ground floor has a fully licensed bar and also has TV showing sports. Card payments are accepted at the bar.

Supporters should access the Social Club from inside the stadium and NOT the main entrance.

Please note: Alcohol is permitted outside the Social Club building but MUST be in a plastic beaker. Cans are NOT permitted outside the Social Club building.

Refreshments: The Tea Bar is incorporated inside the Social Club on the Ground Floor.

Toilet Facilities: The Social Club has toilet facilities on the Ground floor including wheelchair accessible facilities.

A nice trip up to Vauxhall today, a ground I quite like although we usually come away with nothing and today will be a tough test I’m sure.

Team wise that’s very tough with a trio of signings and are they what we wanted? Time will tell!

Team could be anything but I’d go

Terry

Farrell, Ebhote, Tierney, Fleming

Akpo, Bairstow, Brazel, Harrop

Hoyle, Duckworth

It could be quite a lot different to that and I assume non of the 4 injured are fit and Kerr plays for Winsford.

Good luck lads. UTA

Full match commentary will be available on https://radio-witton.mixlr.com with Iain Wright, Alex Trainor and Nick Evans from 2.45pm.

Match updates will appear on X @WittonAlbion and will also be available on here as and when they become available.

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

Team news: Witton make four changes to the starting line-up that drew with Avro on Tuesday night. New signings Alfie Bairstow and Jeanny Akpo make their debuts whilst Adam Bott & Harry Brazel also start. Max Harrop, James Lawrie & Remi Raymond drop down to the bench whilst Danny Kerr, Harry Woods & new recruit Jack Tierney are not involved.

Witton team:

Cameron Terry, Joel Bembo-Leta, Aaron Fleming, Josh Langley, Geffry Ebhote, Alfie Bairstow, Jeanny Akpo, Adam Bott, Joe Duckworth, Harry Brazel, Tom Hoyle.

Subs: James Lawrie, Max Harrop, Freddy Garbutt, Tom Farrall, Remi Raymond.

The Motormen have former Albion winger Jawad Jebrin and striker Kyle Sambor in their starting line-up.

GOAL

Latest Score from The VanEupen Arena:

Vauxhall Motors 1 Witton Albion 0.

Nick Rushton gives the Motormen the lead on 8 minutes.

Yellow card:

Vauxhall Motors Vita Mbolokele on 15 minutes.

GOALLLLL

Latest Score from The VanEupen Arena:

Vauxhall Motors 1 Witton Albion 1.

Harry Brazel equalises for the Albion from the resulting free-kick on 16 minutes - giving Reece Trueman in the Motors goal no chance.

Latest Score from The VanEupen Arena:

Vauxhall Motors 1 Witton Albion 1.

20 minutes played.

30 minutes played - Still 1-1.

Half Time Score from The VanEupen Arena:

Vauxhall Motors 1 Witton Albion 1.

Latest Score from The VanEupen Arena:

Vauxhall Motors 1 Witton Albion 1.

55 minutes played.

Witton Substitutions:

Adam Bott replaced by Max Harrop on 68 minutes.

Joe Duckworth replaced by Freddy Garbutt on 68 minutes.

80 minutes played - Still 1-1.

Latest Score from The VanEupen Arena:

Vauxhall Motors 1 Witton Albion 1.

85 minutes played.

Witton Substitution:

Alfie Bairstow replaced by James Lawrie on 87 minutes.

Full Time Score from The VanEupen Arena:

Vauxhall Motors 1 Witton Albion 1.

Today’s Attendance: 277.

Witton return to the VanEupen Arena on Tuesday night when the two teams meet again in the Cheshire FA Senior Cup First Round with a 7.45pm kick off.

A much better performance and a draw a fair result.

Vauxhall were a strong outfit and carried a threat but we gifted them the goal again! A mix up between Ebhote and Terry left the striker with an easy job to score, but we battled back and scored via a fabulous Brazel free kick bent round the wall into the top corner 25 yards out!

The new players added energy and a threat to the team, Akpo has real pace on him and Bairstow young but a good footballer. For me our weakness was Bott’s lack of mobility, I think there is a player there but needs to be much fitter and maybe play Duckworth out wide of the 3 and Hoyle in the middle would be a better option.

Another new player due in Tuesday and a few due back from injury soon things are looking better. UTA