Witton Team
GK - Jones; DF - Marshall, Robinson; MF - Sc Carter, Chadwick; FW - Stuart
Subs - Green, Blundell, Alder, Prew
Man Of The Match
Andrew Chadwick - Two well-taken goals, and a dynamic performance from the experienced forward.
Next Best
Scott Carter - Finally beginning to show the form that earned him last season’s Player Of The Year award.
Match Rating ***
Witton Rating ****
A sublime last-minute volley from the cultured right boot of Andrew Chadwick, earned Witton a hard-fought win yesterday against stubborn opposition.
Witton had enjoyed the better of the openeing exchanges, and it was no suprise when CHADWICK popped up to open the scoring very early on. From that point it appeared only a matter of time before Witton would double their advantage. Unfortunately both Chadwick and Stuart failed to convert opportunities that may of been put away on another afternoon. Luckily the restored defensive partnership of Marshall and Robinson were ensuring that Sita were unable to fashion any real opportunites of their own, and with Scott Carter patrolling the midfield like a rabid dog, there was no space for the Sita attackers to operate in.
However, just moments before half time and disaster struck. With Witton seemingly under very little pressure, a Sita player managed to evade his marker at the far post and get a tame shot in, that somehow managed to sneak through Jones’ legs at the near-post and end up in the back of the net.
So a goal each in the first half, and the potential for WItton to self destruct as they did 7 days earlier. No such luck though for Sita, as Witton emerged for the second period with renewed determintion, and a real sense of purpose. With every Witton player willing to put a foot in and battle to earn the 2 points, it was becoming increasingly obvious that Sita were beginning to settle for the draw.
As the ref indicated just 30 seconds left on the clock, the ball bounced up and hit a Sita player on the arm. Immediately the referee gave a free kick to Witton mid-way into the Sita half. As the aggrieved defenders argued that the contact was with chest and not arm, they began to lose all composure. In total three Sita players were guilty of kicking the ball away, with the final culprit ensuring that they ran as much of the clock down as possible by kicking the ball clean off the pitch. This cleary increased the desire in the Witton players to claim the win, as all but Jones joined the attack.
Scott Alder rolled the ball to Robinson, who just managed to get a toe to the ball and poke it in the direction of Chadwick. The ball struck a Sita defender, and was deflected into the air. As another Sita defender attempted to clear the loose ball, CHADWICK beat him to it and rasped a volley into the back of the Sita goal for the win. The joy on the faces of the Witton players was remarkable, and when the referee blew for full-time just seconds later there were fantastic scenes - as each and every Witton player embraced their team-mates in celebration.
So by displaying team-work and a fantastic battling performance, Witton were able to show exactly what they have the potential to acheive this season. Hopefully this result has set down a marker for future weeks - and with next week’s game being against table-topping against KFC, Witton will need to raise the performance bar further still.
Best Moment
Chadwick’s last-minute winner (meaning Witton now leap-frog Sita into joint-3rd place in the league)
Worst Moment
Un-sporting behaviour from the 3 Sita players guilty of kicking the ball away
Final Score
Witton 2 v 1 Real Sita
(Chadwick 2)
Att 8