Trafford 2
Witton Albion 1
UniBond Division One
Saturday, March 10
A PLAYER who never made a first team appearance for Witton during a lengthy spell there made sure they found out what they had missed on Saturday.
Gareth Thomas turned up in Trafford colours to wipe out Albion's lead, setting his team up for a win which moved them five points clear of his former one in UniBond Division One.
Before Thomas rose unmarked to head in Darren Emmett's 38th minute corner, things were going well for Albion as they took the lead in the seventh minute.
Lee Cox cut in from the left and squared it to David Anane, and when his shot came back off the post Dave Heywood was there to shrug off Anthony Hogan's challenge and bundle the ball over the line.
In a rare stroke of luck for Witton, Heywood was only on the pitch because Danny Graystone broke down on the way to the ground and only made the bench.
Tails up, Witton took the game to Trafford and Lee Southwood escaped with a yellow card when he denied Anane a one-on-one with the goalkeeper by bringing him down from behind. His team mates also escaped when Witton had to make do with a free-kick, which Charlie Boyd fired over.
Even after Thomas equalized, Anane had another chance to add to Albion's tally, but after Hennin's ball put him through, Trafford player-manager Mark Molyneaux saved.
Witton were unlucky not to go 2-1 up early in the second half when Hennin's lob over Molyneaux was disallowed for offside against Anane, who was deemed to be interfering with play.
Faces from the past continued to haunt Witton when Gary Cooley, transferred to Trafford a day earlier, came on as substitute and his elbow promptly made contact with Lee Anderson's face.
Cooley was only spoken to by the referee for the offence, and Molyneaux did well to beat away the resulting free-kick from Boyd.
A spell of pressure finally led to the winner in the 77th minute. Once again, Albion were looking to the referee for a decision when Emmett appeared to be at least four yards offside.
But Witton only have themselves to blame, as there was no defender anywhere near the player, who headed unmarked into the net.
This stung the visitors into action as Graystone hit the post before Witton's day was summed up three minutes into injury time.
Cox's corner was met by Brian Pritchard, whose header struck his team mate Hennin close to the goal line.
Witton: Greygoose, Anderson, Garner, Pritchard, Murphy (Morgan 70), Heywood (Hughes 81), Faulkner (Graystone 81), Boyd, Cox, Hennin, Anane. Attendance: 226. Man of the Match: Paul Hennin.
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