A late fight back not enough

A late fightback by Witham Town was not sufficient to avoid defeat against a rampant Aveley side who went to the top of the table as a result of their victory.
Witham’s confidence following their recent improvement in form had been dented significantly by a heave defeat in the home match against Canvey Island. Aveley’s form had been the best in the division by some distance. They had won nine of their previous twelve games and no side in the division would have welcomed a visit to Parkside.
New inclusions David Fallah and Joe Wicks started for Witham and the visitors made an encouraging start as they settled into the match and looked anything but overawed.
Ac early as the seventh minute, Billy Willis had to be withdrawn in favour of Elliot Capel.
Alexander Akrofi ‘s curling shot for Aveley was saved by Rhys Madden in the Witham goal. Madden made a great save from George Allen shortly afterwards but Witham were holding their own. Jack West netted for the visitors but the goal was disallowed as his challenge on David Hughes in the Aveley goal had been too robust for the referee’s liking.
The home side had territorial ascendancy but Witham looked comfortable in defence. The back four dealt competently with the Aveley attacks, with Jake Thompson as always showing his quality.
Playing against Aveley becomes much harder if they score first. This happened when took the lead in the 29th minute thanks to a goal at close range from George Sykes. Witham responded well and looked comfortable as they strove to get back into the game, but their hopes received a serious blow when Akrofi netted from close range on the stroke of half-time. It was a half in which Witham had not been outplayed. For the most part they had looked as comfortable as the hosts. The visitors had shown little threat in attack but there had been no apparent difference in the overall quality of the sides. The clinical finishing of the hosts had been the telling factor as both goals had come from virtually nothing.
Before the sides had properly settled in the second half, Aveley had scored again in the 47th minute with a goal from Harry Gibbs. Witham were conceding far too easily and it began to look as though a big score could be on the cards. Despite this the visitors still showed some encouraging form with Sam Cornish outstanding at times. They were defending too deep and finding it difficult to carve out an attacking opportunity as the home side continually moved forward. By the time Akrofi scored again in the 65th minute, the contest looked well and truly over but Witham began to find more space and mount more threatening attacks. Scott Kemp had an excellent right foot shot turned away for a corner by Hughes in Witham’s best chance of the contest so far. Marcus Bowers was causing problems and he scored in the 85th minute following a corner. He almost scored again before Kemp netted five minutes later. Witham finished the game well but they found their feet far too late to affect the course of the game.
Manager Marc Benterman can take consolation from the knowledge that very few sides in the division will go to Aveley expecting even one point at the present time. Forthcoming matches against the low-lying Romford, Baslidon United and Brentwood Town will provide a more meaningful test for Witham. These matches will also provide an opportunity to pick up valuable league points and put some distance between Witham and the foot of the table.
jim purtill