By Liam Price, photos by Jonathan White
Nantwich Town finished off their home games for the season in style by dispatching Witton Albion 4-1 at the Swansway Stadium.
Alex Panter and Perry Bircumshaw started in place of Joe Robbins and Paddy Kennedy in the Dabbers’ two changes from Saturday’s draw at Widnes.
Ben Garratt picked up where he left off in Widnes with a sharp early save to keep out a powerful effort by Max Harrop.
The visitors had started well and came closer still when a good strike by Harry Brazel went narrowly wide with Garratt at full stretch.
Witton’s approach was very much rooted in stopping Nantwich from playing their style and forcing them to launch it long which does not suit this team at all, and it was working well in the first 20-25 minutes.
James Baillie sent what looked like a cross into the Nantwich box but it veered towards goal and Garratt was there to push it away for a corner.
Gradually the Dabbers began to work their way into the game; Ben Hockenhull wasn’t able to guide a header on target in a good position at a corner.
Former Dabber Mike Koral was playing in an unorthodox number 9 role for Witton when most of his career, including at Nantwich, has been spent as a right back, however he did carry some threat as demonstrated when a powerful shot of his was blocked.
Chances were starting to flow for Nantwich, Byron Harrison forced Louie Fallon into his first serious action with a good save after Harrison’s quick turn and shot.
A minute later though, the Witton keeper was beaten. It was Harrison again involved, looking to square the ball across in the box his effort took a large deflection off Witton captain Lee Jackson and past a wrong footed Fallon. A Witton defender desperately tried to clear off the line but the assistant decisively flagged for a goal and video footage backs up that call.
Nantwich had really sparked into life and started to overrun the Witton backline. Kai Evans poked a shot just wide after a familiarly devastating run.
Evans was in again after Matty Tweedley did well to win the ball back and play in the Welshman, this time he dragged it wide of the near post but the danger was there for all to see.
Witton tried to respond and scuffed wide with a presentable chance. Evans then tried his luck again with a bouncing shot that was well held by Fallon.
Baillie ambitiously tried to score past Garratt with a long range free kick which the Nantwich keeper caught comfortably.
It was a free kick at the other end on the stroke of half time that brought another decisive moment. Evans whipped it viciously into the six yard box, past Fallon who seemed to get his angles wrong and Panter was there to help it over the line from no more than a couple of yards. His third Nantwich goal since signing in January and first since the win at City of Liverpool in February.
Sometimes the half time break can kill momentum that had been built up in the first period, but that didn’t happen here. In the 46th minute, Hockenhull had a header pushed over the bar by Fallon.
Then in the 47th minute, a short corner was played to Evans who wasn’t sufficiently closed down, allowing him the chance which he took with aplomb, curling into the far corner to make it 3-0. Evans is now one off matching his goals total from last season with one game to go and having played 8 games fewer.
Callum Saunders then had a chance that was almost identical to Hockenhull’s moments earlier, a looping header that Fallon had to push over the bar.
Tweedley was on brilliant form in midfield, tigerish in the tackle and great distribution earning him the Player of the Match. For a first full season in senior football it’s been a great showing and there is hopefully a lot more to come from a player that has only just turned 21.
He won it back yet again and set up a chance for Harrison who slipped at the crucial moment and bobbled his shot wide.
But 2 minutes later it was 4-0. A move down the right saw the ball played into the path of Kofi Moore who blasted in his 5th goal of the season just 3 minutes after coming off the bench. Witton had been blown away by a superb Nantwich spell of about 40 minutes across the two halfs.
Joel Bembo Leta glanced a header wide as Witton tried to salvage something from the game.
Things had started to quiet down in the game but the state of the match provided a chance for Jon Moran to hand U21s player Tom Horton his league debut for the Dabbers after also appearing in the Cheshire Senior Cup earlier in the season. Both him and Reece Vaughan were on the pitch together for the last 10 minutes in a great validation of the work of the only recently established youth team.
Perry Bircumshaw stretched in vain to try and turn in a low cross to top off a typical tireless performance at left back.
There was a frustrating set back in stoppage time as a free kick by Witton hit Horton in the box, with the referee pointing to the spot for handball. Nantwich were insistent that his arms were close to his body and thought it was at best extremely harsh.
James Baillie sent Garratt the wrong way to get a Witton consolation and stop 3 clean sheets on the bounce for the Dabbers. But the game was long done and Nantwich are finishing the season well. That agonising spell of 2 wins in 15 games between January and April looks even more perplexing on days like these.
Teams
Nantwich Town: Ben Garratt, James Melhado, Perry Bircumshaw, Kelvin Mellor (C), Ben Hockenhull, Matty Tweedley, Callum Saunders (Kofi Moore, 62), Byron Harrison, Alex Panter (Reece Vaughan, 77), Kai Evans (Tom Horton, 83), Tom Pratt
Subs not used: Joel Connolly, Eric Merner
Goals: Jackson (OG, 29), Panter (45), Evans (47), Moore (65)
Witton Albion: Louie Fallon, James Baillie, Lee Jackson (C) (Matt Harrison, 66), Alfie Henderson, Joel Bembo Leta, Joel Bailey (James Hooper, 45), Daniel Thompson-Edwards (Damola Sotona, 58), Oliver Hitchcox, Mike Koral, Harry Brazel (James Lawrie, 58), Max Harrop
Sub not used: Josh Langley
Goal: Baillie (penalty, 90+3)
Attendance: 868