By Liam Price, photo by Jonathan White
The Dabbers will travel to Witton on Boxing Day (Friday, 3pm kick off) looking to build on Saturday’s strong performance and result against Bootle.
A Mupp-Witt Christmas Carol
Witton would seem to be a hard team to read. They have won only 3 of their last 13 league games. However, those wins have been impressive and eye catching results. None more so than a 3-0 home win over Bury a month ago. They’ve also beaten Clitheroe and come into this game having won away at Chasetown last weekend.
They have also drawn with Avro and Vauxhall who are currently at the sharp end of the table. But more recently there have been less impressive draws against Trafford and Sporting Khalsa. In fact, they have drawn more games (9 from 23) than any other side in the NPL West. Those dropped points have left them in 15th in the table and 2 points behind Nantwich.
One thing they haven’t struggled for is scoring goals. Their 36 is the 5th highest total in the division, with the other 4 sides to have scored more all in the current top 7.
At home, they have 3 wins from their last 8 games, and were well beaten by Kidsgrove (4-1) in their last home outing.
Last Time We Met
A good day for the Dabbers in April, where goals from Alex Panter, Kai Evans and Kofi Moore (plus an own goal) helped the Dabbers to a 4-1 win at the Swansway Stadium. Witton’s goal was scored from the penalty spot by current Nantwich defender James Baillie. Highlights below.
Players to Watch
As well as Baillie, Josh Langley has made the switch from red to green just this season. For Witton, there is at least Cameron Terry and James Lawrie who are former Dabbers. That’s before we even get to Witton manager Ben Harrison, a former defensive teammate of Jon Moran for Nantwich in the mid 2010s.
Joe Duckworth has scored in 5 of Witton’s last 7 games; wearing the captain’s armband he has been leading by example and is a very reliable goalscorer at this level.
Freddy Garbutt has 4 goals in his last 6 games. Similarly to Alex Panter, the young forward has worked his way up through the North West Counties system and has settled well into this new level since signing for Witton from Pilkington in the summer.
Match Information
Tickets at the U-Lock It Stadium (CW9 6DA) are £12 for adults, £7 for concessions, £5 for 18-21, £3 for U18s and free for U5s (gate only).