Men's third team

 

East League Div 6SE
Captain Paul Loy

 

27-Sep-08 Braintree 2 v Witham 3 14:30
The first game of the season and newly promoted Witham found themselves entering this local derby with only ten men.
But Witham’s concerns were soon put at ease as the away side began to dominate from the start. It was not long before Pete Mepham, top marksman from last season, began to find the net. Three goals in fairly quick succession by the midfielder gave Witham a comfortable margin before Braintree managed to pull one back following a quick break out of defence which caught Witham on the back foot.
Mepham wasn’t finished, however, and he managed to add a fourth in the second half before a controversial incident resulted in him receiving a green, yellow and red card for verbal abuse of the umpire. Down to nine men Witham found the remainder of the game harder going and Braintree exploited this by scoring from another break out of defence.
Witham were lucky to find Braintree under par on this occasion but things are likely to get much tougher as the season progresses.
04-Oct-08 Witham 3 v Southend 3 11:00
Witham 3s 5 -1 Southend 3s
After the previous weeks 4-2 win away at Braintree which saw Witham start with 10 players and end the game with 9, Witham were curious to see what they could do with 11 players being on the pitch for 70 minutes. The game started with Witham immediately being thankful for the extra players, as Southend raced out of the blocks and pilled the pressure on the home defence straight away. This wasn’t to last long though as Witham started to show the sort character which led them to be promoted last season. It would be Roger Brown the engine room of Withams plays who would be the instigator of the turn around, the little midfielder bossed the game from start to finish, harassing the opposition into making mistakes, before on this occasion sending a precision pass out to Tredgett on the right allowing him in turn to send a defence splitting pass to set up Hodivala for his first goal of the afternoon. The lead looked like it would be short lived though as Southend again raced away from the start, tearing through Withams defence as their striker rounded Harvey in the Witham goal only to see an open goal and prime opportunity go to waste as a last gasp tackle from Golding saved Withams blushes. This was the wake up call that Witham needed as Cornish, Fields and Brown combined to show their superior passing skills to setup Tredgett for his first goal and the second of the day.
The second half was to be an example of what Witham can look forward to in future years, as the youth players of Cornish, Golding, Khan and Hugh Loy showed that they could mix it up with the experienced Southend team. The speed of Loy and Cornish down the left, with the pace of Khan down the right would be the hammer blow that Southend were not expecting, as the boys combined to open up spaces for Hodivala, Fields and Tredgett to practice their shooting. It was Hodivala who would make the most of this though, tripping up and slotting home a Karl Khan cross before latching onto a Tumber free hit to make it 4-0. Witham thought that they had made it 5-0 as Barber fired in a shot from a penalty corner only to see the goal disallowed, but Hodivala was now in the hunt for his fourth and Cornish and Loy would be the providers as the pair split the defence with simple one twos before feeding Hodivala for his 5th. With the game ticking away Southend would take advantage of Withams complacency but the goal was to be nothing more than a consolation as the score ended 5-1. Witham 3s now top the league after two games and having scored 9 goals.
11-Oct-08 Old Southendian 3 v Witham 3 14:00
Witham continued their unbeaten run to take maximum points and remain at the head of the table following this encounter with a very physical O Southendian side.
Witham had some history with their opponents as O Southendian were the only side to achieve the double over them when they met last year. It was clear from the outset that Witham had no intention of allowing the home team to continue their good run of form against them.
Cornish was first to strike for Witham when he neatly tucked away from close range following an impressive breakaway which involved a slick exchange of passes between Hugh Loy and Karl Khan. But it was the home side which pounced next. After exerting pressure on the Witham defence they were rewarded before half time with a penalty flick when Tumber inadvertently deflected the ball past the post with his foot.
In the second half Witham began to show their superiority and, although they were susceptible to the quick break from the ever dangerous O Southendian front line, the result never looked in doubt. The home side had no answer to the combined strength of the Witham midfield which was masterminded by “Player of the Match” Dinky Brown and that superiority was quickly turned into goals.
First to benefit was Hugh Loy who finished an impressive move close to the post. He was soon followed by new boy Tony Tredgett who scored his second in so many games and capping off a commanding team performance was Karl Khan when he showed great composure to flick the ball at lightening speed over the prostrate keeper.
The game was marred by the fact that O Southendian were too often over exuberant in their attempts to get a grip on the game and umpire Ward’s patience was tested on a number of occasions.
18-Oct-08 Witham 3 v Thurrock 2 12:30
25-Oct-08 Romford 2 v Witham 3 13:00
01-Nov-08 Marconi 1 v Witham 3  
08-Nov-08 Witham 3 v Wapping 5 12:30
15-Nov-08 Maldon & Little Baddow 2 v Witham 3 15:00
22-Nov-08 Witham 3 v Brentwood 4 12:30
29-Nov-08 Colchester 4 v Witham 3 14:30
06-Dec-08 Witham 3 v Waltham Forest 3 15:30
13-Dec-08        
20-Dec-08        
27-Dec-08        
03-Jan-09        
10-Jan-09        
17-Jan-09 Witham 3 v Braintree 2 12:30
24-Jan-09 Southend 3 v Witham 3 11:30
31-Jan-09 Witham 3 v Old Southendian 3 15:30
07-Feb-09 Thurrock 2 v Witham 3 15:30
14-Feb-09 Witham 3 v Romford 2 14:00
21-Feb-09 Witham 3 v Marconi 1  
28-Feb-09 Wapping 5 v Witham 3  
07-Mar-09 Witham 3 v Maldon & Little Baddow 2 12:30
14-Mar-09 Brentwood 4 v Witham 3 12:30
21-Mar-09 Witham 3 v Colchester 4 12:30
28-Mar-09 Waltham Forest 3 v Witham 3 13:00
04-Apr-09        
11-Apr-09        
18-Apr-09