Wythenshawe Town	2-2	West Didsbury & Chorlton
Liam Crellin-Myers (13) Kial Callacher (17)	HT: 2-0 Att: 235	Joshua Tinker (65) Billy Matthews (77)
Starting XI		Starting XI
Callum Jakovlevs	1	Andrew Jones
Connor Brotherton	2	Callum Jones
Jerome Wright	3	Dontai Gabidon
Lee Gregory	4	Joshua Tinker
Jan Palinkas	5	Matthew Cook
Kial Callacher	6	Sam Heathcote
Matthew Bryan	7	Curtis Miller
Jack Timmons	8	Lee Gavin
Liam Crellin-Myers	9	Joel Swift
Steven Yarwood	10	Jack Ryan
Jordan Burton	11	George Blackwell
Substitutes		Substitutes
Matthew Roberts	S1	Billy Matthews
Dominic Smalley	S2	Jamie McLellan
Fenton Reeves	S3	Rhain Davis
Tom Wilson	S4	Dylan Moloney
Brad Byrne	S5

West returned back up the Airport Metrolink line with a point against fellow South Manchester side Wythenshawe Town – but that’s far from the full story of a game that saw Chris Rowley’s side experience 45 minutes of agony, and 45 minutes that fell just short of ecstasy.

Much water has passed under the bridge since the originally slated fixture – abandoned due to injury – and even more so since these two sides met at Brookburn Road back in August. West went into that game as slim favourites following a summer of stellar recruitment under then-manager Brad Cooke; this time out, Chris Rowley had an injury-ravaged, depleted squad to select from. Meanwhile, home team supporters predicted emphatic Wythenshawe Town victories on social media after their own recent additions to the squad, and fine form leading into the game.

Well resourced and with ambitions beyond the North West Counties, Wythenshawe Town had the added motivation of gaining three points that they felt had been earned when the first game was called off. Town were two goals to the good, but would’ve had 15 minutes to hold out with only 10 men having received a first-half red card. Still, their own match report suggests “this was a game which should have been won a long time ago” – a mentality that seemed to permeate through their side during the first half. West had a half-chance early on – a low cross eluding Curtis Miller – but Wythenshawe took control through a quickfire double either side of the quarter-hour mark as they looked to put the game to bed as quickly as possible.

Opening the scoring was Crellin-Myers, who took advantage of chaos created by his teammates to acrobatically hit home from close range. A ball from deep to the far post met a Wythenshawe head in space, and Jones could only parry when recovering across his goal. With work still to do, Crellin-Myers beat two West defenders to the ball to find space and hit the net.

Another aerial bombardment resulted in the second goal just 5 minutes later – a good corner kick found Kial Callacher, who nodded home before running to celebrate with the bench. At that moment, it looked as though the home team would be able to win by whatever amount they fancied, with West looking both leaden and fragile. It was Wythenshawe who would have the majority of the play for the remainder of the half too, forcing Jones into a few regulation saves but never doing much to make their pressure show.

Curtis Miller – a bright spark in the first half, sadly robbed of impetus by West’s inability to get the ball into the final third with any real menace – was withdrawn at the break, with Rhian Davis his replacement. Serenaded by a new Englishman in New York themed song in his honour, he would perhaps be the most important player of the second period. Joel Swift, who had ploughed a lone furrow up top with little support as West struggled to attack over the opening 45, was taken off shortly after as Rowley looked to gain control of the midfield through the addition of Dylan Moloney.

On 65 minutes, West had their breakthrough – a corner offered two bites of the cherry, with Tinker being the one to profit after a first header hit our own player with the ball goalbound. Popping up to Josh, he made no mistake as he forced the ball home and sent the travelling support – vociferous throughout, as has become the norm – into raptures, and giving hope of an unlikely comeback.

Moloney, who had made a positive impact on the game immediately, wouldn’t last much longer after the goal, pulling up with a hamstring tweak. Billy Matthews took his place from the bench, and generating the game’s one moment of true quality to level the scores. Davis, the ball-playing Australian, found space in the middle of the park, deftly chipping in behind the defence for Matthews to chase. In a battle he seemed destined to lose, he somehow gained control, taking a touch to settle himself before chipping home over the prone Wythenshawe Town keeper from 20 yards. The emotion of the moment was evident, with the majority of the West side rushing to celebrate with the travelling support.

Though both sides pushed, there were few chances in the remaining 10 minutes: a softly earned free-kick had to be brilliantly saved by Jones late on, and West earned a few corners that were wasted. Still, the full time whistle was greeted by cheers from the away support, who made up a sizeable proportion of the reported 235 attendance and certainly accounted for the entirety of the game’s atmosphere. In fine voice throughout, they greeted the team after the game with a chant of Allez Allez Allez before shaking hands, hugging, and heading for the tram home with a well-earned and much deserved point and several new additions to the songbook.

PODCAST

Rob McKay gives reaction to Tuesday night’s draw