The Witton Albion Column - By Paul Harper

FOOTBALL with fans is a thing!

Hoorah to that!

It has been a fantastic last few days as football at Wincham Park was witnessed by spectators for the first time since March 10.

It has been a long-drawn process, and plenty of planning to get it all organised so that supporters could safely attend matches once again, but it all gone well so far.

We much pay credit to our nominated COVID Officer Jo Heffey who has spent many an hour sorting out paperwork, ensuring everyone knows their responsibilities and that everything was carried out under the guidelines provided for a safe return.

Credit is also due to the supporters, who have adhered to social distancing and not grumbled about any of the current practices in place to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved.

It has been great to see, and we enjoyed healthy attendances at the games against both Prescot Cables and Bala Town.

We hope that everyone who has attended has felt comfortable and safe in doing so and enjoyed the matchday experience, albeit slightly different to the one we called normal before COVID-19.

The matches have been good and the team is building nicely towards the start of the new season.

The aforementioned fixture with Prescot Cables saw Albion put in a strong display and come out comfortable winners.

We played some fantastic football that afternoon, creating plenty of chances, and three excellent goals were scored.

Bala Town were a different proposition, and despite another good performance, Albion fell short losing by a goal to nil.

The Welsh side have been involved in competitive action with their Europa League campaign, getting past Valletta in the previous qualifying round to set up a tie against Standard Liege.

In the first half in particular, you could tell they were that bit more match sharp.

They moved the ball well and leaving the Albion side chasing shadows a little.

They’re a good team.

But in the second half, we put them under much more pressure, going close on a number of occasions, hitting the woodwork and could have picked up a better result.

However, it was a very good test against a good side and it will certainly set us up nicely for the challenges to come in the Northern Premier League Premier Division this season.

We wish Bala well in the European escapades and it will be interesting to see how they fare in that competition.

The season is fast approaching, and we’ll soon be looking forward to Whitby’s visit to Wincham Park on the opening day of the league season.

Football is properly back!