Airbus made a good start to the evening when they settled into some early good possession, after some patient build up from the back, Airbus were able to exploit the space down the right hand side of the pitch where Kaiden Cooke played the ball into Trialist A on the right hand side of the pitch, the ball was played across the face of the goal where the Witton Albion Right Back misplaced his clearance and the ball diverted into the bottom corner to give the wing makers the lead inside the opening 3 minutes.

The home side responded well and were soon putting Airbus under pressure and capitalising on some errors when playing out from the back.

Witton started to dictate the game and were looking comfortable in possession, they were looking to get joy down the Airbus right with some good link up play between the full back and winger.

The home side came close to equalising when a good ball came in from the left and the Albion number nine brilliantly brought the ball down on his chest and sent a fantastic left footed volley towards the Airbus goal which narrowly went over the bar.

As the half time whistle was approaching the home side won a free kick in a dangerous position just outside the box, the resulting effort sailed wide of the post and although the home side were on top in the possession stats they struggled to test the Airbus trialist goalkeeper.

Airbus took a narrow 1-0 lead into the break.

The second half got underway and the home side continued to move the ball well all over the pitch, however despite the home side having more of the ball, Airbus started to create chances on the counter attack. After a good pass from Josh Stevenson, Kaiden Cooke was able to drive at the Witton defenders, as he cut inside on his left foot his shot curled wide of the far post.

Another good opportunity came through Cooke, when he was played in down the right and he beat his man with a brilliant first touch, the covering defender managed to force him back away from goal and Cooke was unable to produce a decent enough shot to trouble the Witton goal keeper.

For all good Airbus chances, it was the home side who got the next goal, after Airbus managed to recover possession they tried to over play out from the back which resulted in the home side winning possession high up the pitch and the Albion man was able to fire the ball home to bring the game level.

Just as the game was starting to turn in the favour of the home team, Airbus were back in front after a brilliant passage of play, the wingmakers moved the ball into the final third and the dangerous Kaiden Cooke was in hand to put the away side back in-front. With a calm finish after some good footwork.

Airbus then went on to get a third goal, after a good ball down the right, a shot was blocked just inside the Witton box, the loose ball fell to Sam Rickett who unleashed a brilliant strike into the top corner to give Airbus a 3-1 lead.

The home side struggled to create many real clear cut opportunities to test the Airbus keeper, but still remained a threat with some patient build up play.

Airbus then went on to get a fourth, a well worked passing move allowed Kaiden Cooke to receive the ball in a yard of space and the winger drove inside the pitch and unleashed a fantastic right footed strike into the top corner to give Airbus a comfortable advantage.

The home side didn’t give up and still looked to cause Airbus some problems and with 5 minutes remaining they managed to get another goal back, some good passing opening up the Airbus defence and the Albion number 14 was able to get in behind the back line and calmly finish the ball over the advancing Airbus goalkeeper.

Airbus were able to hold out and see the game out. Thank you to Witton Albion for their fantastic hospitality and we wish them all the best for their upcoming season.

The wing makers now travel to Brickfield Rangers on Friday evening for their final game of preseason.