Following two good consecutives performances against Dalton and Bramham, Wigton looked to continue their winning run as they hosted Old Modernians IV’s from the Yorkshire Old Boys League in the first round of the Leeds and District Cup.
Team selection was thrown up in the air hours before kick off with the late withdrawal of goalkeeper Chris Grimes who had babysitting responsibilities. Reserve keepers Ollie Tucker and Chris Bainbridge were both unavailable so Ed Tink showed his commitment to the team by deputising between the sticks. Special thanks go to Eddie for helping out especially as he is still nursing a badly damaged right wrist sustained at the end of last season….before meeting his current girlfriend…!
Wigton started the brighter of the two teams and it was apparent within the opening 15 minutes that Wigton’s pace, good passing and movement off the ball was going to cause the Old Mod’s back line some trouble.
Wigton broke the deadlock on the 20 minute mark when a Wigton corner was half cleared, Adam picking up the lose ball before playing it out wide for Chris Lone to drill the ball low into the penalty area for Scott Turner who beat the keeper from 8 years out.
The dominance of territory remained as the game was played out in the Old Mods’s half. The visitor’s attackers were kept in check by Shatwell and Jack at the back whose partnership is growing game by game. On the half hour mark Wigton doubled their lead when good movement from a corner allowed Mike Shaw to attack the ball and beat the keeper with a powerful header.
Two goals soon became three as Ebun extended Wigton’s lead with a cool finish before half time when beating the keeper in a one on situation.
The second half started the same way as the first half had ended with Wigton being the more dominant of the teams however it was the visitors who got the first goal of the second period when the left winger drilled a well placed shot into Eddie’s top corner…although it did appear as though Eddie had lost his bearings as he appeared to leave the ball believing it to be heading wide.
Following the visitors shock goal Wigton did seem to be rocked somewhat for the next 5 minutes or so with the whole team falling deadly silent however it didn’t take long for the silence to be replaced with cheering as Ebun added his second of the game with a close range finish and put to bed any possibility of a Old Mod’s comeback.
Ebun didn’t have to wait to long before securing his second hat trick in as many weeks with another ‘fox in the box’ finish. With the game now beyond Old Mods the Gaffa rang the changes replacing Captain Shatwell at the back with Trigger whilst goal scorers Ebun and Scott were replaced with Colombian Jhun and Ryan.
Despite the changes Wigton continues to dominate as they up a gear as the goal entered the final third as they had done the week previous at Bramham.
Further goals from Colombian Jhun, a second from Mike with a classy turn and finish from the edge of the box and a first goal for Jack with a powerful header from another corner ensured a comprehensive victory.
Trueman, Darryl and Chris Lone were also unlucky to not add themselves to the score sheet having all been denied by a number of top saves from the visitors keeper. The same can’t be said of young Arron unfortunately… Despite seeing the Old Mods defence part in front of him on the edge of the area like Moses and the Red Sea, Arron proceeded to hoof it high over the bar (John Smiths Ave it esc) when a shot on goal was surely the better option…
That said, it was another good performance from the Wigton team as they recorded their third successive win. Next week sees the lads travel to Dalton for their return league fixture against a team they narrowly beat 4-3 in the reverse fixture 3 weeks ago.
