Gathering Momentum

Wittering claimed a hard-fought three points against Fishbourne to move up to fourth in the table, surviving a scrappy first half before a thrilling second-half display sealed the win.

Match Report

Fishbourne got the game underway and started brightly, almost taking the lead inside six minutes when a scramble in the Wittering box from a corner ended with a close-range effort drifting just wide. The visitors continued to apply pressure and Wittering were forced into some last-ditch defending on 15 minutes, with Luke Blackman producing a crucial tackle before Charlie Selby made two huge blocks to keep the score level.

Wittering responded well. Brad Timson saw an effort cleared off the line on 17 minutes, and from the resulting corner Ben Sullivan’s sweetly-struck volley from the edge of the box was superbly tipped over by the Fishbourne keeper. Chances continued to come at both ends, including a moment on 25 minutes when the Fishbourne keeper dropped a high ball under pressure, but no Wittering player could react in time to tap into the empty net.

Just before the break, James Hubbard nearly produced a moment of magic, spotting the keeper off his line from 40 yards, only to see his audacious attempt narrowly miss the target. At half time, it remained goalless after a physical and scrappy first half, with the pitch beginning to cut up and both sides having created decent openings.

Wittering got the second half underway and were quick out of the blocks. On 51 minutes, Zac Moy created half a yard and fired just wide in the first big chance after the restart. The breakthrough finally arrived on 68 minutes in spectacular fashion. On his first-team debut, Charlie Bell brought the ball down before unleashing a stunning strike from 25 yards that flew into the top corner, leaving the Fishbourne keeper with no chance.

Fishbourne hit back on 74 minutes, their first shot on target proving decisive as a front-post flick-on from a corner found the net to level the scores. However, Wittering responded well and regained the lead five minutes later amid controversy, with Fishbourne players unhappy about the drop ball decision in the build-up. Ben Sullivan drove in from the right and calmly tucked his shot into the bottom right-hand corner.

As Fishbourne pushed for another equaliser, the game became increasingly stretched, and Wittering looked dangerous on the counter attack with plenty of space to exploit. The visitors picked up a series of bookings for breaking up play and flying into some robust challenges as the tempo increased.

The decisive moment came on 85 minutes. Ben Sullivan beat two defenders and shaped to shoot before slipping a clever reverse pass to the unmarked Brad Timson, who rounded the keeper and rolled the ball into an empty net to make it 3–1 and effectively end the contest. Charlie Bell was shown a late yellow card on 90 minutes, capping an impressive debut performance.

At full time, Wittering celebrated a deserved 3-1 victory, securing all three points and climbing to fourth place in the table after an entertaining and hard-fought encounter.

Goal Scorers:

Charlie Bell – Sponsored by Studio 44 Reformer Pilates

Ben Sullivan – Sponsored by Cavavin The Wine Shop

Brad Timson – Sponsored by Cavavin The Wine Shop

Man of the Match:

Ben Sullivan – Sponsored by Cavavin The Wine Shop