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 An astonishing afternoon saw Witney finally grab victory in the ninth minute of injury time against a resilient Wallingford side that refused to lie down.
With Witney having been out of action for almost three weeks you would have forgiven them a little rustiness but within two minutes they hit the front. Some good work by Daniel Meade saw him pick out Harry Burnley whose low cross was controlled by John McMahon who span and drilled a low shot into the bottom corner of the net for the perfect start. It was the skipper who went close to doubling the advantage after debutant Dean Smith released him with a fine ball over the top was flicked on by Gary Wickens but McMahon's lob bounced away off the crossbar with Craig Evans beaten. Evans was to come to the home side's rescue on the quarter hour mark when a cross by Wickens was met by the diving head of McMahon but the keeper managed to keep the effort out with his legs. United were pouring on the pressure and a low Wickens free-kick was about to be celebrated but Ian Fenn amazingly got back to clear the ball from under his own bar. On the half hour the home side stunned United with an equaliser from the spot. A long ball saw Luke Brandon appear to be bundled over by Jefferson Harriott but the referee waved play on and Chris Webb pulled Harriott down as he moved away from goal and the assistant referee flagged for a penalty. Jamie Debanks stepped up and although Webb got a hand to it the shot had just enough power to sneak into the bottom corner. This stung United but it was still them pressing and they were to be denied by the woodwork again when a corner by Meade was cleared back to him but his return cross picked out Wickens whose shot was deflected onto the bar and over. Right on the break and United had a glorious chance to go in front just before the break. Meade picked out the overlapping Smith whose cross fizzed across the box but McMahon's indecision over whether to header or prod with the foot proved costly and the chance was gone. Half Time: 1 - 1 It was still Witney doing the majority of the pressing but the home side had closed the door a little and the chances weren’t coming as clear cut as they were in the first half. A long throw was flicked excellently by Wickens into the path of Kevin Lewis but his low shot went narrowly wide. Brandon and Stuart Douglas created the next chance with some excellent interplay before the latter's shot went across the face of goal but Wickens couldn’t apply the final touch. As the game went on the home side grew in confidence as they could sense they were nearing maybe a point or better. A couple of long range efforts from Harriott were dealt with comfortably but from a corner Brad Chalmers had a glorious chance but his free header from eight yards went over the bar. As the clock ticked on to 87 minutes United were throwing the kitchen sink at the home side and Jimmy Griffin picked out Jon Steedman perfectly and his low volley scraped the bottom of the post and went inches wide. A minute later though and United fans were in raptures as they scored what they thought was about to be the winner. Steedman picked up the ball on the wing and drilled a low cross which saw several attempts to clear it before it broke to Wickens who prodded the ball home. If we thought that was that how wrong we were! With 95 minutes showing on the clock the home side stunned United again when a horrendous breakdown in communication between Vinny Byfield and Webb saw the defender head the ball over the keeper and leave Harriott with an empty net to tap the ball into and bring the scores level. Surely that was it and United were to be left with just a point but no there was to be one more dramatic twist. As the watch ticked over to 99 minutes Andrew Younie collected the ball and drove at the heart of the defence. He skipped past three defenders and got into the penalty box before unleashing an unstoppable drive past Evans and into the net before being jumped on by ecstatic team mates who knew this was surely it! Another four minutes of injury time were played but much more comfortably than previously and United had clinched the three points that at a couple of stages in the afternoon had looked beyond them. AFCW: Craig Evans, Peter Lamont, Jamie Debanks, Ian Fenn (capt), Brad Chalmers, James Lambert, Michael Fellows, Tommy Hayday, Shaun Weston, Jefferson Harriott, Andrew Storton subs used: Dinarte De Sousa and Michael Weir Sub not used: John Shea |
