A late goal from Matt Waters gave Wroxham the win in a hard fought tight affair with Felixstowe & Walton. In the later stages of the game, when a draw seemed to be on the cards, David Hinton and Matt Waters combined to break the Seasiders’ spirit writes Tom Wardle

This game was in doubt as heavy overnight rain necessitated an early morning pitch inspection however come 3pm the sun was beaming down on Trafford Park.

There were a number of changes to personnel in the Wroxham starting XI since last season and this was seen as Felixstowe looked to put them under pressure straight from the kick-off. Field saw a good chance to open the scoring with a header over the bar within the first minute of the game. Although as the game progressed, it settled down. The Wroxham defence took control and did not let the opposition get hold of the ball.

Midway through the first half, a series of chances fell Wroxham's way. Firstly good skill by Matt Waters saw him put a high cross in the box, but wasn't met by any of the Yachtsmen attackers. Then Jordan Attree came close to scoring after he poked the ball past the keeper on the edge of the box, but Barber managed to get in front of the forward and shield the ball away from Attree. The forward then got a talking to by the referee seemingly for attempting to out-muscle the covering defender.

The later stages of the first half saw some tackles you wouldn't normally expect in a pre season friendly fixture as Felixstowe in particular took exception to some of Wroxham competitiveness. Both teams started shooting from range, but never really getting close until a good move between Danny Beaumont and Attree resulted in Beaumont forcing a good save from the Felixstowe goalkeeper.

Going into the second half with the game goalless there could have been an argument for the introduction of a few substitutes. Both managers however decided to stick with the same players that had finished the first half. The early minutes of the half saw Attree and Jordan King link up on the edge of the box, before King’s awkward cross into the box, bounced up at Adam Smith who couldn't control the ball to get a decent shot away.

Half way through the second period Wroxham’s Smith shot from the edge of the box which smashed against the crossbar. The follow-up from King resulted with an incredible save. The ball got palmed out to the edge of the six yard box, before an almighty scramble which ended up with the ball hitting the bar again until finally getting cleared away on the line by Felixstowe for a corner.

Wroxham’s possession finally gained its reward with around 15 minutes to go. David Hinton drove past two players before playing an exquisite through ball to Matt Waters His first touch around the goalkeeper was wide, but managed to pass the ball into the net from the narrow angle.

There then followed the usual raft of substitutions seen in pre-season games as Stewart Larter looked to give some game time to the crowded substitutes bench and a few more of his new signings entered the fray.

The game faded out as the Yachtsmen controlled the remainder of the game until the final whistle to earn their third pre-season win from four games.

Team: Pride, Sommerfield, Taylor, Hinton, Howell (Capt), Halliday, Waters, Smith, Attree, King, Beaumont. Subs: Guyton, Rust, Garrod, Rogers, Grady. Attendance: 74