12/11/2023
By Chris Gibbs
Home blues hit Castle again
Newcastle Town 1 - T. Van der Laan 55'
Witton Albion 2 - Brazell 57', Hughes 75'
Despite being the dominant side for large parts of the game and having the lion’s share of the better chances, ‘Castle fell to a disappointing home defeat as Witton came from behind to steal a 2-1 win.
Without a doubt, this was a game that was there for the winning and having got our noses in front, a better handling of the game from that point on would surely have been rewarded with three points.
Armistice Day was marked respectfully before kick-off and itthen took both teams a little while to get into their strides once the game was underway. The best chance of the half came from a superb cross from Danny Edwards, which Dan Cockerline headed narrowly wide.
Stepping out of defence a minute before the break, Kyle Stubbs then did his best Andrea Pirlo impression with a perfectly weighted pass on to Danny Edwards, but Danny’s cushioned finish couldn’t quite apply the touch that was needed.
In between times, Witton’s big goal threat, former Port Vale striker Tom Pope, had to come off with a knee injury which if anything, made the visitors more threatening.
Into the second half and after Danny had slid a shot wide when breaking through midfield, he then stepped up to deliver a perfect free kick which Tommy met with a superb header back across goal to give us a deserved lead.
And then it all went wrong.
We’d had the lead for barely two minutes when we fell asleep at a corner and the pony-tailed figure of Harry Brazel – one of the few Witton players who could be identified on a day when the visitor’s numbers were fainter than the hopes of instigating a diet at Christmas – had a free header.
We still looked the side more likely to score but a quick break down our left-hand side, which started with a fine pass from Brazel ended with Connor Hughes guiding his finish beyond Joe Slinn. Further chances came and went but Witton held firm and move above us in the league table.
Team: Slinn, Derbyshire, Ritchie, T. Van der Laan, Jordan, Stubbs, Gyamfi, (Mazurkiewicz), Graham, (J. Van der Laan), Cockerline, Edwards, Speed, (Berks)
Man of the Match - Danny Edwards
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