Club News

MATCH REPORT: ERITH AND BELVEDERE 2-1 FISHER

Erith & Belvedere 2-1 Fisher
Tuesday 13 August 2024
SCEFL Premier Division

Attn: 170
Scorer: Ed Sata (89 mins)

Quite how Fisher conspired to lose their third SCEFL Premier Division game of the season against ten men Erith and Belvedere will remain one of life’s imponderable mysteries. Having final pegged back the hosts early lead late on, they then conceded in injury time to remain pointless in the early season table.
Fisher has started well in the opening minutes. Kicking down the slope they pushed their hosts back and Armani- Jordan Martin saw an early effort flash past the post into the side netting after linking well with Jake Lovell. Ange Djadja, back from a trial at Folkestone Invicta, then went close at the back post but couldn’t quite head Ed Sata’s in swinging corner home. For all Fisher’s good passing and movement going forward their impressive start came undone in the rudimentary of ways midway through the half. Some good link up play on the counter had sent Diego Makesa free down the right but when he lost possession deep in the Deres half, a long thump down the middle was not dealt with and Tyler Davis Whitlock won the foot race to get onto the ball and convert pass debutant keeper Isaac Ogunseri with ease.
Fisher looked to respond immediately and when Maritn was upended just outside the box Ed Sata saw his curling free kick strike the post and bounce away to safety. Jack Gibbons also saw a long range effort fly over the bar after the right back had stepped inside on a surging run forward.
Despite being a goal down at the break, the 35 travelling supporters were buoyed by the fluency of Fisher’s first half, which had seen plenty of attacking promise. Early in the second half those hopes were further boosted when Courtney Barrington nipped onto a chipped through ball only to be upended the outrushing Dere’s keeper. After length treatment to both, the keeper was sent off for denying Barrington the goal scoring opportunity that he had created when nudging the ball goalwards before impact.
With an outfield player donning the gloves play resumed after a long break, but Fisher could only smash the resulting free kick into the wall rather than test the rookie keeper. This was to be a familiar occurrence as some determined rearguard defending from the Deres back four protected their keeper and Fisher became more rushed and clumsy in trying to create chances failing to test the keeper sufficiently with either crosses or on target shots, often hitting the first defender with both.
A series of substitutions and positional switches did little to help Fisher find the controlled build up play of the first half as the search for an equaliser became more and more desperate. However, with two minutes remaining of normal time late pressure final told. Jake Lovell did well down the right channel and his low cross found its way to Ed Sata who bundled the ball home.
With plenty of added time, Fisher were now caught in a stick or twist situation, with an unbalanced formation left on the pitch as a result of attacking substitutions. The tried to twist and in trying to get the ball forward quickly from the back they lost controlled possession and conceded needless free kicks, the second of which they were punished for when a long delivery into the box was punched away by Ogunseri, but the downward punch ricocheted off a Fisher player into the path of Donnell Anderson who gleefully smashed the ball home from close range and restored the hosts lead in the second minute of injury time.
Fisher tried to find a second equaliser in the remaining injury time, but overhit final balls and too complicated play in the build up again gave the stand in keeper an easy ride and despite a couple of goal mouth scrambles they could not fashion the all important chance and slipped to defeat.

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