Bostik North Witham Town 1 Felixstowe & Walton United 1 Felixstowe & Walton are fast becoming draw specialists with four of the last five games finishing all square, writes Barry Grossmith.
But it was Witham, with keeper Luca Collins in top form, who held on for the point, leaving the Seasiders disappointed not to be taking all three.
Credit should be paid to both sides for managing to play at all on a bobbly pitch with wind gusts determining the passage of play far too often.
It was Chinedu Vine who opened the scoring for the home side on 16 minutes and although conditions meant lucky breaks were always a possibility for either side, it was the visitors who took control from that moment on, first with Callum Bennett, outstanding on the day, levelling things with a power drive on 33 minutes, then with countless efforts from everyone right through to the dying seconds.
A second half goal line clearance, however, from captain Rhys Barber saved Felixstowe’s blushes, showing defensive work is as important as everything that happens up front.
In the words of manager Ian Watson: “The conditions were awful but we still got the ball down and played. We dominated for 90 minutes but didn’t pull the trigger at the right time with one too many touches in front of goal.
“We couldn’t quite finish them off.”
He made special mention of Bennett, adding: “He was outstanding today. He had a complete game. We know he’s got it.”
With too many chances to mention all of them, one effort in the 88th minute from Liam Hillyard was particularly frustrating, the ball bouncing off the inside of the post only to fall kindly into the keeper’s arms.
Positive as always after the game, assistant boss Danny Bloomfield told us: “Really proud of our group. If we’d won 2-1 we’d have been saying what a performance! I don’t want to take anything away from the performance just because that didn’t happen. We weren’t quite good enough in front of goal but overall we deserved it.”
Next up at The Goldstar Ground is Brentwood Town, with a thumping home win surely not far away.
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