MATCH REPORT: Fisher 3-1 Wingate & Finchley

Fisher 3-1 Wingate & Finchley
Tuesday 27th January
London Senior Cup Third Round

Matchball Sponsor: Millwall Community Trust

Attn: 210
Scorers: Tom Jones (17 min), Don Macaulay (30 min), Sha’mar Lawson (90+6 min)

Fisher advanced through a cup tie for the second time in four days, following up Saturday’s FA Vase win with a 3-1 victory over two league higher side Wingate and Finchley in the London Senior Cup, to set up a mouthwatering quarter final with Dulwich Hamlet.
Fisher showed their intent by naming a full strength side, with only the enforced changes of Flavio Jumo and Rafael Garcia, both succumbing to injury, replaced by Nas Crespo and Chris Ojemen, with welcomed returns to the bench for Sha’mar Lawson and Jacob Katonia after long injury layoffs.
The first chance of the game fell to visitors, who were knocking the ball around well on the slick surface, when Ayyuba Jambang found room to set himself to shoot from the edge of the box, with the low effort whistling wide of the upright. Fisher were holding their own though and soon fashioned an early effort from a short corner routine with Esteban Salgado sending over a dipping cross that Don Macaulay sent goalwards only for the keeper to be well placed to save. Michael Sarpong, playing in his 150th game for the club, then also found the keeper’s gloves with a shot after cutting in from the right.
On seventeen minutes Fisher took the lead with a fine goal. Jack Gibbons beat the winger to a loose clearance and strode forwards before slipping the ball to Festos Kamara who pinned his marker and fed Tom Jones on the right and the midfield dynamo unleashed a fierce low shot that flew into the far corner kissing the inside of the post on the way in.
Wingate & Finchley pushed to get back into the game forcing a number of corners but could not make the most of their aerial dominance, wasting several free headers at the back post with Isaac Ofgunceri doing well to turn two over the bar. They were made to pay as just before the half hour mark Fisher doubled their advantage, having forced a corner of their own. Jones sent the ball in low and Don Macaulay executed the training ground routine by peeling off at the near post and hooking the ball home through a crowd of players on the line. Fisher then had to absorb heavy pressure for the remainder of the half as Wingate & Finchley seemed to sense they needed to pull a goal back before the break to stay in the game. Akinola sent in a free kick just wide of the post and then tested Ogunseri from range before he made a more impressive save to deny Restrepo who had latched onto a loose ball from another corner, before yet another good save at the very end of the half saw him deny Akinola again by tipping a strong header over the bar.
Fisher were forced into a substitution at half time with Jack Gibbons replaced by Omari Williams, and with Lorenzo Duncan also withdrawing before the hour, Fisher had to play out half an hour without a recognised fullback on the pitch. They were aided by some wasteful finishing from the visitors with Horsley-McKay rifling a shot over the bar and Stallard failing to find the decisive placement of several back post headers allowing Ogunseri to gather. The dangerous Restrepo also saw an effort fly over that on another day he might have kept down given the space he found. It was not all one way though as Fisher found chances of their own, with Lorenzo Duncan firing over and Tom Jones saw a dipping effort just pass over the bar after a superb tackle on the press gave him a shooting chance.
Midway through the half though Wingate and Finchley pulled a goal back, A deep cross was not dealt with and allowed the ball to be send back in low where top scorer Gianluca Botti had time to trap the ball and pick a spot with the goal at his mercy for which he needed no second invitation.
Salgado almost restored Fisher’s two goal cushion, when he drilled an effort that looked to be heading to the top corner before being pushed away by the keeper with Ojemen’s acrobatic follow up passing just wide. Salgado also saw along range effort whistle just wide with the keeper looking beaten.
Fisher had to repel a late onslaught from Wingate and Finchley, but with the pressure mounting ill-discipline saw the visitors reduced to ten players with substitute Watt picking up two bookings inside three minutes, helping Fisher to find space to get out their own defensive third.
Deep into the five minutes added time, Fisher had to defend a late dangerous free kick but the ball smashed into the wall and Garcia quickly fed Jones and flooding forward Fisher created an incredible five on one break with the entire wall joining the attack. Jones drew the sole defender and fed Sha’mar Lawson who strode forward and then clipped his shot which helped by a flick off a desperately covering defenders boot went over the keeper and into the net and Fisher were through to the quarter final after another thoroughly entertaining game at St Pauls.