Chelmsford City continue their journey in the Essex Senior Cup with a 3rd consecutive game in the competition against Isthmian North opposition when they take on Witham Town on Monday 6th February, 7.30pm kickoff.
The opposition
Witham Town sit in 15th place after 22 games in the Isthmian North this season. They have won 6, drawn 2 and lost 14, scoring 29 goals and conceding 49 in the league campaign so far which all adds up to 20 league points so far. Witham had a decent start to the season, progressing through a couple of rounds of both the FA Cup and FA Trophy but had a horrendous run from late September onwards where they only won 1 in 18. However they are now 3 games unbeaten after a win and a draw in their last 2 league games and a victory over East Thurrock in the previous round of the Senior Cup, they also defeated Stansted in this season’s competition to progress to the quarter-finals.
In terms of players, Witham have experienced keeper Rhys Madden in goal, who has also played for Tilbury, Ware and Thurrock. He is also Witham Town’s captain. They also have former Hashtag United defender Farai Tsingano who has been out with injury for some time so is returning to football at Witham on a deal from Hashtag.
Long-serving left-back Liam Whipps has played for the club since the 2016/17 season and they have a couple of ex Colchester United players in winger Jamahl Godward and centre-back Luke Ige. They have recently added former Crawley midfielder Ryan Richefond to the club, who has played for numerous clubs at the Isthmian league level.
City should be aware of former Chelmsford youngster Adam Vyse who is comfortably the Town’s top scorer with 16 goals, including 2 in Saturday’s draw at Basildon United. Vyse has also appeared for Tilbury, Great Wakering and Canvey Island amongst others.
Witham’s manager is Chris Taylor. He is still registered as a player but has been in permanent charge of the team since January 2022. After finishing 1 point above Barking last season, Witham finished in the relegation playoffs but he preserved their Isthmian League status with a 3-0 win over Essex Senior League side Saffron Walden to stay in the division.
Previous Meetings
City’s last competitive meeting with Witham was in the Essex Senior Cup 3rd Round back in December 2015. Witham took the lead in the first half through Nathan Koranteng, but Lee Sawyer equalised with just under a quarter of an hour to play and two Billy Bricknell goals made the tie safe to win 3-1. For a trip down memory lane, the City team that day was:
Pearce, Girdlestone, Green (Marvel Ekpiteta), Sawyer, Marvin Ekpiteta, McAuley, Morgan, Daley, Bricknell, Whichelow, Thalassitis (O’Hare) Unused Subs: Graham, Marlow
Team News
Robbie Simpson has picked what he has called hybrid squads in the County Cups this season with a mixture of first-team, academy and reserve team players being used. New left-back Ben Brookes is definitely out as he is cup-tied as he has played for former club Hashtag already in this competition so he will have to wait for his home debut. Frankie Terry is also cup-tied having played for parent club Colchester United. Dave Winfield and Henry Ochieng’s suspensions cannot be used up in County Cup matches so they will both miss the Havant & Waterlooville league fixture next Saturday.
Game Information
If the tie is a draw after 90 minutes, the match will be settled by a penalty shootout. The Essex Senior Cup semi-final draw has already taken place with the winner’s of tonight’s tie facing either Colchester United or Braintree at home by Feburary 25th. The other semi-final is Canvey Island or Grays facing Hornchurch.
Ticket News
Where to follow the game…
The Club will be providing coverage of the game on Twitter (@OfficialClarets) using the hashtag #TheClarets.
There will also be live audio commentary from Radio Clarets.
Post-match reports and interviews will be found on the club website, social media and ClaretsTV following the game.
It is set to be a chilly evening with 4 degrees expected at kickoff, dropping to 2 by the end of the game.
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