Match Report: Erith Town 5-2 Fisher

Erith Town 5-2 Fisher
Tuesday 5 March
SCEFL Premier Division

Scorer: Darnelle Bailey-King (25 min and 46 min)
Attn: 104

Extended highlights courtesy of AJHVision – here

Fisher fell to another defeat, compounding their recent run of poor results, after again leaking late goals in what had been an otherwise competitive performance for three quarters of the game where a brace of goals from Darnelle Bailey-King had seen them twice lead.
A late pull out from Ezekiel Miller meant a debut for Lloyd Prezmecky-White in midfield and Luke Thomas returned to the starting line up allowing Michael Sarpong to move into midfield with Eniye Amgbaduba also making a start, up top.
A scrappy opening saw both sides struggle to find rhythm in the early exchanges with through balls overhit and little link up play evident coupled with some clumsy challenges being made, seeing an early yellow card for Nathan Tshola, who on another day may have seen red. However, as the sides got used to the bumpy surface the game settled into an entertaining and open affair. Erith should have taken the lead on ten minutes, but a free header was planted wide of the post with Mo Otuyo the Fisher goal looking beaten. Moments later though the big keeper pulled off a smart save low to his left, to tip a sharp shot from the left of the area away for a corner. Erith’s early dominance almost saw reward, but an assistant’s flag correctly wiped off James Dyer’s neat finish as he had started his run onto a well-placed through ball a fraction early.
Having weathered Erith’s good start, Fisher got themselves in the ascendency with Darnelle Bailey-Kings pace on the right causing the home left back problems and subsequently an early booking. It was Bailey-King who was to open the scoring on twenty five minutes. Fisher carried play from left to right and a defender’s effort to tackle the powerful running of Enye Amgbaduba saw the ball deflect away and find Bailey-King who neatly tucked it inside for a one two with Amgbaduba to give himself space to fire the ball across the keeper and in off the far post for the former Rotherham United players first goal of the season.
Eniye Amgbaduba was causing the Erith back line difficulties, winning a lot of headers as Fisher looked to double their lead. Pressure in the Erith box from Amgbaduba’s presence saw the ball fall nicely to Bailey-King just inside the area, but Foley saved well with his legs from the fierce shot. Sam Sene-Richardson’s equally powerful shot on the rebound smashed against an Erith defender’s mid-rift as Fisher were in full flow. However, their momentum was stalled as Amgbaduba received a bad cut above the eye and had to leave for treatment. During his absence Erith equalised, as missing the big man’s presence in defending a corner, the ball was bundled in at the back post with Harry Taylor’s header hitting the back of Otuyo and deflecting into the net, to see the sides go into the break level.
Fisher regained their lead within a minute of the restart. Nathan Tshola hit a hopeful through ball over the top of the Erith left back, sensibly targeted after his early booking, and Darnelle Bailey-King’s pace saw him hassle the defender for possession and then stab the ball home, beating Foley at his near post.
At this stage Fisher looked good value for their lead and relatively in control of the game with Bailey-King always a threat on the right. Legs tired however and despite changes from the bench including the introduction of Jacob Katonia for his seasonal debut after an injury hit couple of years. Erith made a tactical change, replacing their left back and throwing two up front and this changed the game over the last quarter.
The equaliser came when Fisher spurned an easy lay off in midfield for a more ambitious cross field ball which was picked off by the substitute left back and Fisher’s next controlled touch of the ball was picking out their net as Taylor took advantage of a missed tackle on the left and a further defensive slip to curl a sumptuous effort into the far corner.
Both sides continued to press to regain the lead. Fisher wasted some good opportunities with a poorly hit free kick and corner straight into the side netting, whilst Erith were more proficient with their chances and on 79 minutes turned the game around as Aaron Jeffrey sped down the right, hurdling Imoru’s last ditch tackle and Fisher couldn’t regroup sufficiently as he broke into the box and the ball passed through several Erith players before Jake Lovell slotted it home from close range.
Two minutes later the game was done as Erith got a two goal cushion with the influential James Dyer, a candidate for the SCEFL player of the season, jinked into the box and whilst an outstretched Fisher leg seemed to make contact with the ball a penalty was the result, which Dyer hammered down the middle. As in many recent defeats another late goal gave the score an unrepresentative look as a half cleared corner fell kindly for former Fisher defender Callum McGeehan to hook home. There was still time for Fisher to almost add a third of their own as Teddy Jones did well on the right to cross for fellow substitute Thomas Ngegba, but Foley smothered his attempt to tuck the ball in at the near post.
The final whistle signalled another disappointing result for the Fish amidst a torrid run of fixtures against the divisions front runners, and they will need to regroup to ensure the season doesn’t trail off disappointingly.