WITTON Albion’s disastrous run in the UniBond Premier continued on Saturday against a side suffering a similar existence at the wrong end of the table.
Gary Finley is yet to secure his first league points since returning as manager at Wincham Park and the 3-2 defeat to Worksop Town will have been a bitter pill to swallow.
With falling crowds and confidence on and off the pitch at its lowest for many seasons, Saturday was, on paper, the perfect opportunity to kick-start their campaign but going into half-time 2-0 down gave the men in red and white too much of a mountain to climb.
Finley said: “We started sluggish and conceded two soft goals, calamitous goals in fact. We got ourselves back in the game but another horrendous mistake has cost us.
“And it is spreading. Basic errors and individual mistakes are creeping in and it’s not the same players. Two or three players will make a mistake that perhaps played well the week before.
“But I have told them that we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We just cannot afford it. It’s no use saying ‘well, we are bottom of the league’, we have to be positive.
“I am a positive person and that’s what I am trying to instil in the players.”
A penalty from Mark Smyth and a rare goal from stalwart Brian Pritchard gave the majority of the 250-strong crowd hope that Witton would finally earn their first victory since September. But a Mick Galloway strike six minutes from time broke Albion hearts.
Witton had injury doubts over James Olsen and Gary Scott for last night’s Mid Cheshire Senior Cup tie with Lostock Gralam while keeper Greg Smith and Rod Thornley were unavailable. Philip Bruce, from Eccleshall FC, was brought in as temporary cover for Smith.
On Saturday, Albion travel to rejuvenated and play-off chasing Bradford Park Avenue (3pm).
Loan signing and fans favourite Mike Moseley is unlikely to feature against his current employers and while Finley will seek an instant response from his players to Saturday’s defeat, the Horsfall Stadium represents one of the league’s toughest destinations.
