Witham pegged back late on by VCD Athletic

Ryman League premier division

Another late goal saw Witham Town drop valuable Ryman League premier division points.

Just as they had against Billericay Town, Kingstonian and Lewes earlier in the season, Witham saw a winning position taken from them by a late goal as VCD Athletic pegged them back to a 1-1 draw.

The pair had gone toe-to-toe in pursuit of the division one north title the previous year.

It was VCD Athletic who won that particular tussle with Witham going up via the play-offs, but it has been Town who have made the more impressive start to life in the top flight.

However, a poor run of results during December had seen them slip down towards the relegation zone and both teams knew a defeat would see the other in the bottom four at the end of the day.

Witham had made three new signings the day before the game – Lewis Dark, Chris Bryan and Luke Olley – with former Grays Athletic midfielder Dark starting and Bryan on the bench.

And the home side made a positive start, winning a free-kick in the second minute that Tom Wraight hit the bar from, but it was largely scrappy from both sides early on.

The strong wind swirling overhead and the heavy pitch underfoot made conditions difficult for the players.

It was VCD who had the best chances to open the scoring in the early part of the game, though.

In the 12th minute, good work down the Witham left saw Leigh Bremmer get clear and he pulled the ball back to Michael Power, but his shot was snatched and flew well wide.

Bremmer then broke through the Witham defence himself and should have found the target but pushed his effort wide without troubling Martyn Guest in the home goal.

Witham came back, though, and a thunderbolt shot from Dark was flying into the goal in the 20th minute but VCD keeper Nick Blue got his fingertips to the ball to divert it on to the bar and away.

Play remained scrappy in the testing conditions, but it was Witham who did more of the pressing and got their noses in front.

VCD Athletic’s defence were unable to clear their lines and when the ball broke to Ryan Charles on the left, he showed remarkable composure to keep his feet and ride a couple of challenges before firing low into the net.

Witham did have Guest to thank for keeping them ahead at half-time when another free-kick just outside the home area was sent goalwards by Kennedy and the Town keeper flew to his left to tip the ball away.

Half-time did nothing to improve conditions either on the pitch or with the wind.

Witham began the second half with the fierce breeze in their faces, but they started well again and went close to doubling their lead but a good move ended with Charles firing just over the bar.

The lead remained but VCD inevitably came back at the hosts, using the wind on their backs to press for a way back into the game.

However, the home defence, led by the experience of Paul King and Nikki Beale, stood firm and Witham were able to ride out the visitors’ forward push.

That was until the 85th minute when it was Witham’s turn to fail to clear their lines and the ball broke for substitute Aaron Jeffery to fire high into the roof of the net.

Witham did try their best to grab something from the game late on and L’Heureux Menga went close but his effort crept inches wide of the post to leave Town frustrated once more.