Witham lined up against a strong Panfield Bell side in the league cup semi finals knowing a place in the cup final at the magical Halstead Town FC was at stake. Galacticos were still missing Adam Ratcliffe through injury but welcomed back prolific goalscorer Jack Stoneham to the side.
Witham won the toss and captain Yeo decided to play up hill and against the wind to start with (a tactic that was to pay off). The game began and Panfield set out of there stalls early with an obvious direct and long ball tactic with the aim to hit there pacy striker. Murphy and Clark as always dealt with every ariel threat extremely well and at the other end Stoneham was causing problems down the right having an early shot just wide and minutes later again was able to shake his marker and deliver a ball across the box that was unable to get a final touch. On 10 minutes it was Stoneham that broke the deadlock from 20 yards with a placed shot into the corner after brilliant work by Lawes. Panfield didnt back down and for the next 30 minutes threw everything at Witham desperately trying to find a way back into the tie. On 36 minutes after some resilient defending by the Galacticos they drew level, a throw in was flicked on to the striker who ran on and lobbed the ball over Cannock. Witham were still under some pressure but on the stroke of half time a corner was whipped in by Yeo and after a scuffle in the 6 yard box Clark was able to tuck home to get his 1st goal of the season. It was an important goal that gave us the lead in a half that was challenging against the conditions and a side who threw everything at Witham's back 4.
HALF TIME WITHAM GALACTICOS 2 PANFIELD BELL 1
The second half was a different game as the away sides long ball was not going to be as effective going uphill and this assisted Witham getting back to what they do best...playing football! On 55 minutes the all important third goal come, a free kick delivered by McCormack was met by Orr and with his back to goal he turned and drove the ball in at the near post. A massive goal for Witham but sadly for Witham's top goalscorer he came off injured in the process. Cullum replaced him and was raring to go and within minutes he was already showing lots of energy in attack that troubled Panfields defence. On 59 minutes it was the turn of Lawes to get his goal and keep up his good record of scoring in cup games, Stoneham picked up a loose ball just inside the box and acrobatically did an overhead kick that was met by Lawes on the head 5 yards out. 7 minutes later Cullum drove into the oppositions box and superbly put the ball through his opponents legs but was tripped in the process and the penalty was given. Yeo stepped up and blasted the ball to the keepers right to keep up his brilliant record of never missing a penalty in a galacticos shirt. It was now 5-1 with 20 minutes remaining and Witham took complete control but didnt stop there, McCormack who was also having an impressive game scored a superb header just inside the box between 2 defenders after Yeo delivered a pin point cross. Remarkably a minute later Witham got the seventh goal and it was again a different scorer....Stoneham cleverly pulled a corner to Cullum 15 yards who first time struck the ball home taking a deflection on route. It was a goal Cullum deserved after coming on and putting in an impressive performance.
FINAL SCORE WITHAM GALACTICOS 7 PANFIELD BELL 1
Get innnnnnnn, a superb showing of spirit and determination and a well deserved cup final in the bag. We again are showing so many superb attributes to our game at present, when are backs are against the wall we defend superbly as a unit, we have goals throughout the team with 7 different scorers today, a variety of goals from good team play, set pieces, headers and screamers and of course our spirit that has seen us through on many occasions this year...especially when we are not playing at our best we seem to dig in together and get results. There was some good performances today including Steve who as always puts in a good and solid shift and showed a faultless display, Stoneham who kept up his fantastic goalscoring record of nearly 2 a game and grabbing 2 assists today and McCormack who probably had one of his best games of 2014 including a superb header. Also Marti who came on for 35 minutes and was a constant threat to our opposition and worked hard in both attack and defence. Man of the match today was Adam Clark, he didnt put a foot wrong in defence with some superb tackles and dealt with an onslaught in the first half.
Bring on the Turnball and Malcom Foy cups!!
