4:13pm Thursday 8th December 2011
Witton Albion 3 Stafford Rangers 1
WITTON Albion fought back from a goal down to dump higher league opposition Stafford Rangers out of the Doodson Sport Cup on Wednesday.
Brian Pritchard's injury-hit side will now face Buxton in the fourth round in January, after a dominant second half against the Evo-Stik Premier Division outfit saw them overcome a half-time deficit.
It was the visitors who were first to show, with ex-Witton fans favourite and player-of-the-year Peter Heler breaking into the Witton half with 12 minutes gone and sendign an inch perfect cross to Michael Carr, who headed into the far corner.
But that was as good as it got for the higher ranked visitors, as Witton began to set out their stall for what was to be a superb second half performance.
Danny Read was several times called into action to prevent the hosts from drawing level, with his stop of Paul Booth's fiercely-struck drive standing out above the rest.
Pritchard's half time team talk prompted his side to continue where they left off and he would have been delighted with the response as Albion dominated play with wave after wave of attacking football.
Under seige, Stafford held out for 13 minutes of the second half before Witton drew level, as Josh Hancock's low drive was too hot for Read to handle and Hancock made no mistakes with his second effort.
This was the cue for some drama on the Wincham Park pitch, as the referee awarded the host two penalties in less than 10 minutes.
First Alex Titchiner was brought down on the edge of the area, only for Danny Andrews to see his well-struck penalty brilliantly saved by Read, though the keeper could do little stop Hancock's effort moments later after Andrews had been felled in the box.
Rangers had few chances to draw level and aside from Ben Harrison's last ditch effort to prevent Robert Stevenson, Witton were fairly comfortable in the lead.
The result was put beyond doubt with two minutes remaining, Matt Woolley cleverly intercepted a cross field pass before feeding Titchiner, who finished with aplomb to wrap up the scoring.
Witton Albion FC: Matt Cooper, Matt Woolley, Mat Wood, Josh Glover, Paul Booth (capt,66min Ben Harrison), Tom Schofield, Josh Hancock, Dean Ennion, Mark Buchan, Alex Titchiner, Danny Andrews. Subs not used: Anthony Sheehan, Anthony Gardner, Mike Moseley, Brian Pritchard.
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