Witham Friary lost out in the Mid Wilts League Cup final In a thrilling cup tie at Chippenham Town Football with a very strong Devizes team securing a narrow 3-2 victory. The match kicked off at 9:45 am, with an enthusiastic crowd of 112 supporters witnessing a contest filled with drama and intensity.
Witham Friary adopted a 3-5-2 formation for their first every final in this competition, which saw Finlay Patrick in goal, supported by a three-man defence comprising Dempsey Matthews on the right, Dylan Turner in the centre, and Matthew Lyons on the left. The midfield was packed with five players, featuring Jahmiah Harding and Archie Hansford on the flanks, while Max Norris, Leo Griffin, and Cristiano Do Amaral Vanzil operated centrally. Up front, Zak Daniels and Nikolaj Ostergaard were tasked with leading the line as forwards. This setup aimed to provide a solid defensive base while allowing the midfield to control possession and support the attack.
The substitutes for Witham Friary included Ethan Oatley, Seth Taylor and Elliott Attwood all of whom Would be called upon during the match to make a positive impact.
The match began with an explosive start from the Somerset side who controlled play with some slick passing. An outwinging corner from Dempsey Matthews was cleverly flicked on by Dylan Turner to leave Max Norris to open the scoring for Witham Friary in the 6th minute to send the Witham fans wild. The early goal set the tone for an exciting encounter, but the lead was short-lived. Just four minutes later, Devizes Town Youth struck back, equalising in the 10th minute with a close-range effort.
Witham continued to press forward, and Cristiano Do Amaral Vanzil came close to restoring their lead in the 19th minute, but his attempt was saved by the Devizes goalkeeper. Nikolaj Ostergaard also had a chance to score in the 27th minute, only to see his shot saved as well. However, the pressure from the Witham attack was met with resilience from their opponents, who found the net again in the 29th minute, taking a 2-1 lead. Whilst the goal had strong suspicions of offside following an intelligent through ball you could not argue with the cooly taken finish to give the Wiltshire side the advantage.
However, with the last kick of the first half Witham responded with a vital goal. Archie Hansford seizing on a rare moment of hesitation in the the Devizes box to put his side level and meant everything was to play off in the second half.
Unfortunately Devizes took the lead just six minutes into the second half after Witham failed to clear their lines. Devizes then hit the bar with a good shot from outside the area. Witham had some half chances in the second hand but were not able to test the keeper.
Devizes will ultimately end up doing the league and cup double this season so it was a credit to the Witham team that they ran them so close and could quite easily have taken the final to penalties on another day. That being said it’s difficult to argue Devizes deserved their win.
