Wittering versus Cardea

This was more than a game of football for so many people involved in the club and for the community, alike. David “Dave” Kenwright passed away last week and Wittering paid tribute in a few ways. Dave usually wore the number 12 shirt, which from now on will not be worn again and has been retired from the club. A signed football for both Dave’s Mum and Wife was presented to them before kick-off and was proceeded with a minutes round of applause to celebrate Dave’s contribution to the club and the friendships within the squad. The club were moved by the attendance of numerous members of the community, Dave’s friends and Dave’s family.

Firstly, I would like to say how respectful the Cardea players were and they were very accepting of the respects we paid before the game. The match saw Cardea travel Wittering in excellent league form, having not lost since September 2019. Wittering on the other hand had a good run ended last week when Moulton Reserves beat them convincingly.

After an emotional start Cardea switched on immediately and left the Wittering players in shock when they went 0-1 up in the first two minutes, a delicately chipped ball finding their unmarked striker who neatly guided it in on the volley.

After the early shock the game was evenly balanced, with Wittering beginning to get a foothold in the game. 15 minutes in and Wittering were growing with confidence and resulted in a equaliser, it came from some lovely football all the way from Wittering’s defence and resulted in a lovely squared pass from Andrew Moss leaving the goal wide open for Ashley Middleton to score Wittering’s opener.

The game became nicely balanced and with Wittering creating a lot of chances on the break the next goal didn’t look far off, after 25 minutes Wittering scored their second with a beautiful diagonal ball from Sam Cayley that Andrew Moss trapped, touched it out of his feet and dispatched into the bottom corner beyond the onrushing keeper, 2-1.

At half time the game was nicely poised, Wittering having a few half chances and still finding themselves ahead in the game. The next goal was always going to be pivotable. Within 21 seconds of the restart Wittering had scored, a full on high press from every player resulted in Cardea losing possession in their own half. Mossy pounced om the ball and rolled it Lee Croft who sent the keeper the wrong way from the edge of the box, 3-1.

Cardea struggled to create, but had a of possession. In the end the possession they had proved to be their own downfall for several chances. Eventually around the 65th minute Wittering scored their fourth. Crofty returning the favour with an assist for Andrew Moss, 4-1.

The game began to fizzle out, both sides making changes and the tempo dropping slightly. Cardea had a rare venture into the Wittering box Paul Greenhalgh came rushing out winning the ball, only for the a dubious decision from the referee resulting in a penalty kick being given. Even the Cardea players were gobsmacked. The resulting penalty was despatched 4-2, given Cardea 6 minutes to try and find a winner they pressed high and sent long passes up the field. Wittering sat deep and soaked up the long balls and hitting them over and over on the counter attack, numerous chances going begging. That was until Mossy ran down the wing and played the ball delightfully into Chesney Isaac’s stride, where he nonchalantly dink it over the on rushing keeper, 5-2.

Manager, Sam Cayley’s Comments “In a tough week for the club the boys did things right in memory of Dave. We started the game slowly and let them in with some sloppy defending from a set piece resulting in them going 1-0 up. After that the boys really turned it on. Some of the football we played was the best we had played this season resulting in us going 2-1 up into half time against the wind. At half time all I said is to continue what we had we been doing in the first half. It took only 21seconds into the second half for the boys to do this with the press working resulting in another goal. This settled us down and we continued to play some brilliant stuff in which could have resulted in us scoring more. However, on what was a tough day for the club the boys really came together and has shown what a top group of lads we have here at the moment and what we are trying to achieve on the field too. Overall a very positive result and keeps our unbeaten run going at home this season, which was the target at the start. I would also like to thank Cardea for them being respectful before the game.”