Wigton faced a trek up the A1 to Dalton in the glorious Autumn sun, The picturesque village of Dalton was the venue as Wigton looked to get their 3rd league win of the season this was to be a mouth watering prospect....well....maybe the cows on the touchline looking at the state of the grass on the pitch!
A number of key defensive personnel were missing as Ed Tink (Holiday), Jack Shute (Work), David Copnall (Work) so it was left with Chris Ritson to fill the void in the defence.
The game started brightly for Wigton, but early on a direct ball from the Dalton left midfield was pinged in the box, the Dalton striker climbed and pushed Arron Sekhri out of the way to fire the ball in the bottom corner to the amazement of the Wigton team as it was a blatant push!
Wigton kicked off, try to get back in but, Dalton, who sent another long ball climbed all over Ritson in the Wigton defense to fire in a second. This was to the bemusement of the Wigton team, The Gaffa and the home support who openly admitted that it was dead set foul! The gaffa’s legendary hair dryer was in full force to Rob Bateman who appeared to be the only person in Dalton not have seen the push!
Wigton kept pressure on and were rewarded with a dubious penalty as the Dalton defender was adjudged to have handled in the area, Mike Shaw stepped up, but, his poor penalty was easily saved by the Dalton keeper.
Wigton were dealt a severe blow when current form man, Darryl Bedeau was forced off with a calf injury. Debutant Adam Freeman came on to fill in the gap who was one of the few performers in the team.
The 1st half pressed on and Wigton pushed on but couldn’t hit a cows arse with a banjo. With that in mind Dalton pushed on for their 3rd attack and with that they scored their 3rd, a looping header over Grimes, after Ritson failed to deal with a high ball. 3-0 and the team nor the gaffa were happy.
With half time approaching Wigton were looking to nick a goal before the break, however things got from bad to worse as Dalton’s number 8 managed to go through the Wigton midfield without a challenge in sight before smashing a goal from 20 yards in the top corner with Grimes getting a hand but not able to stop a goal. 4-0, this was getting shocking.
Half time approached and the steam from the gaffa’s ears were visible, Wigton who dominated pocession throughout the first half managed to get a goal, a goal box scramble was taking place before Scott Turner managed to poke in his first league goal of the season and get a much needed goal to ease a bit of pressure.
As the second half kicked off Wigton again started brightly, Trueman down the right and Scott Turner down the left were causing problems but the bumpy goal area wasn’t helping strikers Ebun Lennon and Chris Lone. Wigton needed a goal and one quickly, on came Colombian stirker Jhon Hamilton Gutierrez for the quiet Mike Shaw, but as the match progressed the pitch was not suitable to a player of Jhon’s quality nor any that he was used to in Colombia.
As chances went wide and cleared off the line, Ebun Lennon scored eith the help of the Dalton defender and make it 4-2. Could a comeback be on the cards.....not on todays performance!
Dalton grabbed a fifth as a cross down the left was not dealt with by the defence or Grimes and Dalton saw themselves 5-2 up on only their 6th attempt on goal!
Wigton were running out of time and Gary Coates was brought on to as fresh legs replacing Chris Ritson, almost straight after Scott Turner had a cut inside the box before getting felled for a second Wigton penalty! Colombian John Hamilton Gutierrez stepped up, but by all accounts he had been watching the Rugby League game the night before as he saw his penalty go higher and higher and higher and HIGHER over the bar!
As today was not Wigton’s day, Dalton componded Wigton’s misery by making it 6-2 with what was their best move of the day.
Wigton managed to grab a consolation as Stephen Trueman managed to rifle a glorious shot in the net, but as as it goes a bad day at the office for Wigton. A dissappointing performance in all but if we had everyone playing like Chris Lone and Adam Day it could’ve been a different story. Gary Coates and Adam Freeman can also hold their heads up high with their admirable performances.
Team:- Grimes 6, Day 8, Sekhri 7, Shatwell 7, Ritson 6, Trueman 7, S. Turner 7, Shaw 6, Bedeau 6, Lone 8*, Lennon 6
Subs:- Freeman 7 (on for Bedeau), Hamilton Gutierrez 6 (on for Shaw), Coates 7 (on for Ritson)
Goals:- S. Turner, Lennon, Trueman
Man of the Match:- Chris Lone
