Saturday saw us take a trip into deepest Essex to face Step 4 side Witham Town in the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup.
The lads started this tie very brightly and quickly settled into their usual passing and flowing passages of play. The early signs were very promising and, especially at the back, Town seemed flustered and struggled to contain us. That said, we had a slice of luck on 8mins when a looping far post header from a corner hit the post and came back to Josh.
We continued to play lovely passing football and, whilst Town looked dangerous with their pacey wide players, we weren’t really being tested at the back. A fine move and cross on 23mins found Sheps who had a free header at the far post – this was a big chance but the header went just over.
Max was creating havoc with the home defence and on 27mins he unleased a fierce shot that looked to be heading into the net, but shaved the post and went just wide. He was to come even closer on 31mins as he was out through by a clever ball from Dylan but the Town keeper made a superb double save to keep the ball out.
The half time whistle blew when we were in ascendancy but 0-0 was the score, and it already felt like we would rue those missed big chances.
Town came out for the second half a different team, both tactically and in the attitude and it was like watching a totally different game of football. Our route through midfield was effectively cut off by the tactical changes and Town were playing with real desire and putting the lads under pressure at every opportunity. They were also creating a number of chances and it seemed like only a matter of time before they would open the scoring. Our resistance was broken on 53mins after a fine move and cheeky back heel – it has been coming.
We so nearly drew level immediately when a header from Sheps was cleared off the line after something of a scramble. However, it was now Town making all the play and they got their second goal on 59mins with a fine shot from distance that gave Josh no chance.
The lads kept on fighting and competing till the end but couldn’t stop Town adding a further two goals to make it 4-0 to our hosts at the final whistle.
The fact that we were so disappointed at the result shows just how well the team are playing and how high expectations are as a result. There’s little doubt that things could have been very different had we scored and pressed our advantage in the first half – but we need to put the ball in the net. Credit to Town for being great hosts and for a powerful second half performance that saw them run out deserved winners in the end - we wish them well in the next round.
Despite the obvious disappointment with the result , there are so many positives to be taken from this game – not least the quality of our play and the chances we created in the first half against higher placed opponents. Moreover, the effort, commitment and spirit of team was outstanding and bodes well for the rest of the campaign. Onwards!
Team: J.Ameganui, J. Kimber, Eli.Hearn, M.Hercules, J.Harvey, Ed.Daffern, F,Rolfe, D,Fitzpatrick, H.Beaumont, M.Clarke, H.Shepard.
Subs: G.Deer, F.Hercules(64min), L.Peerless (82min), J.Chamberlain (75min), B.Argent (72min), L.Stobbs, B.Osbourne (64min)