With the Witches having an eye on the cup final on Tuesday night against local Evostik side Northwich Victoria, the game against Denton was always going to suffer. Manager Parr rested key players with Potter, Millington on the bench and Tebb, Cope, Lowe, Howard and Morris also left out of the squad.

 The game was played on a heavy pitch with the Witches playing with the strong wind in their favour. It was Denton that had the bulk of the possession early on with Bentley tormenting the Witches down the Denton left flank. However, the breakthrough came Middlewich’s way as O’Sullivan picked up a loose ball 20 yards out  after a quick thinking long throw from Parr was flicked on by Elliot Goryll, and the prolific midfielder  fired home a left footed strike into the bottom left hand corner in the eighth minute . Middlewich seemed to sit deep allowing the Denton’s key players Kirk and Bentley to control the play. It was Bentley who created Denton’s first chance as he reached a through ball from Kirk and beat Hewitt to be cleared off the line from Harrison. On 22^nd minute the Witches were undone by a deep corner which was headed back across goal and met by Yuille who was left with a simple finish. The goal sparked the Witches into spells of better play keeping possession pressing the home side. A chance came beckoning for full back Harrison as he latched onto a deep cross from Collins only to be deflected wide and in the same play the full back had another chance which was easy for the keeper to gather. Both sides went into half time level but it was Denton who had the better of the play and could have taken the lead all but for a great save from keeper Hewitt just before the break.

 Middlewich were facing a battle against the elements as they pushed into a strong wind for the second period only for the visitors dominate the half without reward in points. Denton took the lead on the 56^th minute as Bentley broke free and had the opportunity to pick out one of two team mates at the back stick only for the cross to be intercepted by Harrison who’s clearance stuck the back of O’Sullivan and flew into the top corner of Hewitt’s goal, this was unfortunate for the Witches who were playing their best football of the game.

 Parr and Collins began to link up well and pressed Denton down the right flank, this led to a neat ball inside from Parr to Warder who turned his marker and struck the bar with a left footed effort. Immediately Denton came down the other end of the pitch and threaded a ball through to Bentley who was clearly offside, laid the ball across to McCann who gave the home side a two goal cushion. Middlewich did not give up hope as they continued to control possession, again the visitors looked likely to score as Harrison’s skewed shot fell to O’Sullivan whose shot was saved by the outstretched keeper. It was the unlikely Dean Burgess who gave Middlewich a lifeline as he finished tidily off a corner, the defender deserved the goal after marshalling the defence throughout the game. Manager Parr introduced Potter, Millington and youngster Ryan Nugent to install fresh legs in search of an equaliser. Millington looked lively as he jinked past the Denton defence and forced another outstanding save from the Denton custodian. It was turning out to be one of those days where the luck just doesn’t fall after Parr delivered some great whipped balls into the box which were met by Goryll and Millington only to be denied again leaving the Witches with no points in a fixture where the manager will have no qualms with the squad’s effort and play.

 The Witches can be pleased with the play in the second half and deserved something out of the fixture, perhaps most importantly there were no injuries picked up with one of the biggest cup finals in the clubs history as they face Northwich Victoria on Tuesday night in the Mid Cheshire Senior Cup.

Middlewich Town : Hewitt, Parr, Harrison (Potter), Burgess, Lunt, Collins, O’Sullivan (Millington), Warder (Nugent), Priest, Goryll, Ruane

Managers Corner:

 “I thought we played really well second half and deserved to take something out of the game. It was a good opportunity to give players a rest ahead of the cup final next week and at the same time have a look at some of the younger players in the squad. I thought the lads brought in from the reserves aquitted themselves well and will benefit from the experience. Although our recent league results have been disappointing, we have played well (with the exception of the Knutsford game) for large parts of these games and are due some better fortune soon”