Witham entertained local rivals Witham Utd in the first round of the Premier Division Cup. Witham where missing Jackson, Cannock and Holder but had Long back from his mid-season break and Jack Stoneham deputised in goal.
Witham started quickly learning from there slow start against Valley Green and put there opponents on the back foot. Johnson and Yeo both went close with chances early on. The midfield paring of Long and Harry Stoneham was rock solid with them dominating the play and supporting the defence well. The back four was also standing tall lead by Murphy who was winning everything in the air, this included Murphy going up the other end and scoring from a well placed free kick but his goal was wrongly ruled out for offside. Johnson was a constant threat and nearly broke the deadlock when he beat 3 players but his ball to Lawes just fell short. Wilkenson was full of energy down the right and after a great run his attempted lob come off the bar. On 37 minutes Galacticos took the lead when Yeo disposed the centre back and was brought down as he went in at goal. Yeo got up and buried the penalty to give the home side the lead
HALF TIME WITHAM GALACTICOS 1 WITHAM UNITED 0
Witham United changed formations and went 2 up top and the benefit was an equaliser 2 minutes into the half. A long ball that was heading out of play hit Murphy and the striker finished well. Utd had upped there game and looked more of a threat playing some direct balls into the strikers, Jack Stoneham was on hand to make a good save down to his right. Witham Galacticos still looked dangerous in attack and some great link up play between Johnson, Yeo and Wilkenson nearly resulted in a goal had it not been for a great last ditch tackle by the defender. Minutes later Lawes turned his full back inside out and his ball across the 6 yard box was met by Harry Stoneham but his stretched attempt went over the bar. Unfortunately on 66 minutes Witham Utd won a penalty when Adams attempted tackle brought down his opponent, they converted and took the lead 2-1. Witham bounced back and threw everything into attack. First it was Yeo who beat the last man but his left footed shot was well saved and he also narrowly missed an attempt from a corner. Harry Stoneham then hit the post after a volley from outside the box. Panting was introduced and his energy was evident immediately after on two occasions he beat his man and his crosses across the box were narrowly missed. In the dying minutes Murphy's rocket shot from 12 yards cannoned back off the underside of the bar and Pantings follow up was saved on the line....Galacticos protested that the ball was over the line but after lengthy discussions with the linesman the goal wasnt given. Straight after the ref blew up to end the game.
FINAL SCORE WITHAM GALACTICOS 1 WITHAM UTD 2
It's never a nice feeling to loose but the display today was very good and on any other day we would have won the game comfortably. The whole team performed very well from back to front we had more desire, better positional discipline and alot more effort and communication. There was strong performances especially from Tony Wilkenson, Chris Long and Harry Stoneham, man of the match was Jack Murphy it was a strong and resilient display from him and a real leaders display. If we continue to play like this we will have alot more positive results this year
