Match Report: Fisher 1-1 Tunbridge Wells

Fisher 1-1 Tunbridge Wells
Monday 10 April 2023
SCEFL Premier Division

Scorer: Michael Sarpong (86 mins)
Attn: 191

Photo credit: Dave Anderson

Despite taking the lead with just four minutes to play, Fisher were held to a draw by Tunbridge Wells in a low key game with both sides showing the effects of playing a second game within 48 hours over a busy Easter Weekend.
Fisher juggled their squad to rest tired legs with Prince Imoru coming in at centre back Luke Thomas and young Kaylam Burgess slotting in at right back when Inesh Sumithran pulled out in the warm-up, giving Fisher a back four with an average age of just 20. There was also a start for Ollie Milton up front.
A very cagey first half saw both sides pushing the ball around in midfield well, but few clear cut chances at either end. Both teams wasted well placed free kicks, when firing into the respective defensive walls, but in the main the four full backs kept their wingers quiet as neither side could find a route to goal. Tunbridge Wells centre forward McCreadie almost got on the end of a through ball but Justice Owusu was off his line quickly to smoother and at the other end Fisher’s best chance of the half came when Joseph Adewunmi got up to head a corner just over the bar.
The deadlock was almost broken just before the break with Sarpong scrambling the ball away after pressure from a half cleared corner.
The second spell saw the visitors start the brighter. Adewunmi needed to nip in to head away a early chance form under his own crossbar and then did well to block McCreadie as the striker found space in the box. Kamara on the right wing seemed to be Tunbridge Wells main outlet but he was superbly marshalled by Conor Darwish throughout the afternoon. On the other flank Kaylam Burgess adapted well to an unusual right back role, linking up with the midfield effectively showing a cool head in several situations when the ball was played over the top to retrieve and turn away from trouble.
With twenty minutes to play Fisher created an excellent chance to open the scoring as Duberry and Darwish combined down the left and a fabulous back post cross was met by a diving Clyde Semazzi header, but the winger could not keep the effort on target. Semazzi was withdrawn shortly after to give a debut to anther youngster, Kyron Cooper who showed some good bursts of pace in his cameo appearance.
With five minutes to go the game suddenly sprung to life. A ball into the visitor’s box caused danger with a Tunbridge Wells defender powering a header at his own goal, which to the relief of his team-mates flew just wide. However, from the resulting corner the ball travelled off a couple of heads to the back of the box where Michael Sarpong retrieved it. Twisting and turning away from a defender he made space to cut inside and get away a low shot that via a slight deflection flew into the far corner to give Fisher the lead.
It was a lead that was to last just two minutes though. Conceding a corner of their own Fisher inexplicably left Robbie Bissett unmarked to head home from six yards out and level the game. It could have been worse for the Fish with an injury time effort flashing just over the bar to the relief of a healthy bank holiday crowd of 191.
A draw seemed a fair result on balance of play, but having led so late on in the game, Fisher will feel they should have secured the points.