Witham look like being a different proposition to Maldon & Tiptree, their near neighbours and our opponents in the previous round. Maldon were without a league win and firmly in the relegation mix of Isthmian Division One (North) at the time of our meeting whilst Witham are in the play-off places.

Their league form was emphasised by last Saturdays 4-0 win at Great Wakering Rovers. Coincidentally that was where their goal keeper Rhys Madden made his debut for Ware on 27th September 2011, the first of 149 appearances for us. We look forward to seeing Rhys again.

Witham have reached this stage of the competition by beating Brentwood Town 1-0 in the first qualifying round.

Like us they were knocked out of this season’s FA cup following a one-goal defeat at Berkhamsted after having a man sent off. Unlike us they did score against the west Herts side, their opponents needing to score twice late on to take the tie.

It is the only time Witham have conceded more than one goal this season, a strong and resilient defence seems to be the basis of their success. Not that we can ignore top scorer Adam Vyse who has seven goals so far and Ramiah Mills with six.

The player sent off was Gaz Dauti, another former Ware man with 20 appearances and six goals following his debut on 25th September 2010 at home to Waltham Forest. It isn’t clear if he will be available for this game.

We have met once before in the Trophy, losing an away replay in October 2013 (details below). More recently, the last four meetings between our clubs have all been won by Ware. Of those, the 3-2 league win in September 2017 included a goal from Gareth Madden, Rhys’s brother.

A 1-0 friendly win in 2014 came courtesy of a Marcus Milner goal. If selected for this game Marcus will reach 150 appearances for the club.

Be there if you can but Symon Allemandy of 90minuteslive is hoping to get there if possible. https://www.spreaker.com/show/90minuteslive.

Our ten latest results against Witham Town:-

Our best and worst against Witham Town:-