Tweet

MATCH OF THE DAY “WITTERING 3 – SUMMER 0: THE WIND FINALLY TURNS UP!”

After a summer of almost zero rain, multiple heatwaves and enough sunshine to make us wonder if we were still actually in Britain, normal service finally resumed on the south coast. And when it did, the wind, waves and rain arrived with a vengeance!

The Bank Holiday weekend may have been a washout for many, but for the Wittering faithful, Saturday’s forecast was looking decidedly like match day. A southerly gale brought plenty of firepower before swinging southwest for the evening session… game on!

Once the dodgy ref blew the whistle for the late kick off on Saturday evening, John Carter and Henning von Jagow braved the wind and rain to capture the action both in and off the water!

Check out our mega matchday gallery and exclusive post-match report from expert pundits!

PHOTOS JOHN CARTER AND HENNING VON JAGOW!

---

MATCH DAY REPORT!

Wittering made a perfect start to the season with a convincing 3–0 drubbing of Summer, and already look like a team to watch this winter. Despite some questionable refereeing from Simon Basset of 2XS, who appeared to have spent most of the second half helping Daisy Bassett de-rig, the home side were always in control.

Manager Pep Carter was quoted after the game saying, “The boys played well. We stuck to the game plan, kept the pressure on and took our chances. Although, judging by the state of Max Metcalfe and Ian Whittaker the next morning, I suspect they may have gone too far at the pub with their post-match celebrations. But overall I am happy with the performance…the likes of Mullen, Whittaker, Meldrum and Metcalfe were attacking right until the final whistle…they just could not get enough of the wind and waves!”

Referee Simon Basset of 2XS blew the whistle at Joliffe Road and, with that, the battle for the honours at Wittering was underway.

The experienced players wasted no time going all out on the attack. Timo ‘Becks’ Mullen and Ian ‘Witts’ Whittaker were straight out in the thick of the action, throwing down one-handed backies and tabletop forwards with the confidence of riders who clearly hadn’t read the rule book for some time. Summer just did not know how to defend against these rebels who completely disobeyed the game plan from manager Pep Carter who was waving furiously from the dug out at the top of the beach!

Up front, young gun Mad Max Metcalfe stayed on the pitch right until the final whistle, launching wild push loops and stalled forwards and causing all sorts of problems for the summer defence. “He is certainly a bright young player that could be going places!” Said Pep after the final whistle…”I just hope all this fame doesn’t go to his head!”

In midfield, Jamie ‘Hacker’ Hancock produced his usual solid hold-up play, controlling the game nicely while others around him attempted to score spectacular goals. Jamie fresh back from a training session in Portugal was allowed to play after begging his wife to let him come to the beach! There is speculation in the media that he was in the doghouse when he finally returned home…he said he was popping to the beach for half an hour and returned six hours later!

Super-sub Lucas ‘Meldinho’ Meldrum came off the bench and immediately started dribbling his way through the opposition, showing some nice footwork and keeping the summer defence on its toes. Meldinho was carving through the defence, powered up and popping up everywhere. Whether this was tactical genius or just completely ignoring Pep Carter’s instructions remains unclear, but he was always a danger upfront!

Ollie ‘Rambo’ Randall got a yellow card for mowing down a kiter but the lads reckon he got to the wave first!

There was controversy midway through the match when JC somehow managed to miss the shot when Timo Mullen produced a textbook tabletop forward right in front of him. A sitter by anyone’s standards…although, in JC’s defence, the spray was quite bad. Timo was not available for an interview after the game as he was too busy looking through his Go Pro footage and making posts for Instagram!

Meanwhile, Bundesliga sharp shooter Henning von Jagow showed bravery and swum into the thick of the action, battling away in the water and getting amongst the aerial attack, while Witts local Pezzinho was causing problems down the wing on his new Goya combo.

Back in defence, Dan McAulay was defending the box with his Combat Wave, keeping the back line tidy while the forwards continued to throw themselves at the opposition.

As the rain came down and the wind continued to howl, there was no sign of a comeback from the summer. The final whistle eventually blew, once Simon Basset managed to find it!” There were a few accusations of match fixing from Summer but torrential rain late in the second half meant their argument was a washout!

Apparently Daisy Bassett nailed a forward in a secret training session on Friday so congratulations to her!

Windsurfing, Kitesurfing, SUP, Surf Equipment Shop – 2XS®

WITTERING 3 – SUMMER 0.

A comprehensive victory for the home side….Pep Carter…“The boys were a bit rusty in the first half, but once they started to loosen up and find their rhythm, the goals just kept coming. We’ve been working hard in training, although I’m not sure how much training actually happened and how much time was spent looking at the forecast.”

“There’s still plenty to work to be done, but it’s a great start to the season. We’ll enjoy the win tonight… although judging by the amount of beer disappearing after the game, some of the lads have already started their winter training programme. Summer just did not show up today…we was a few glimpses of sunshine but they could not cope with the rain and clouds!”

The summer had plenty of possession over the past few months, but when the real conditions finally arrived, Wittering went all-out attack and put them to the sword.

Man of the Match: The Wind….although in his post match interview Timo Mullen was adamant he should get given the golden foot strap!

Red cards awarded: To all kiters!

Attendance: Anyone stupid enough to watch windsurfing on a Bank Holiday.

Post-match refreshments: Apparently the pub ran out of beer!