MATCH REPORT: SE Dons 1-4 Fisher

SE Dons 1-4 Fisher
Monday 8th December
SCEFL Challenge Cup Third Round

Attn: 120
Scorers: Tom Jones (18 min), Lorenzo Duncan (38 min), Festos Kamara (59 min), Addae Paponette (90+1 min)

Fisher’s good cup form continued as they moved comfortably into the fourth round of the SCEFL Challenge Cup to ensure their cup campaigns stayed alive on four fronts heading into the New Year. A potential banana skin tie against Division One side SE Dons, was negotiated with minimal fuss thanks to goals two goals in either half leading to a 4-1 victory.
Fisher’s depth of squad allowed them to field a strong side despite resting several players from the FA Vase win forty eight hours earlier, with Jack Gibbons, Conor Darwish and Rafael Garcia all sitting out and departing striker Kesna Clarke replaced on the bench with debutant Addae Paponette, a Trinidad and Tobago under 21 international. Lorenzo Duncan, Stephan Richard Kingson and Alex Kozak all came into the side with Tom Jones back from a family commitment at the weekend.
The large playing surface at SE Dons Chatham base caused Fisher some issues early on, with the home side seeing some success on either flank as Fisher’s narrow shape gave up space out wide. The side were dealt a further blow when centra back Adejola Lahan pulled up with a hamstring issue, seeing the introduction of Michael Sarpong off the bench and a reshuffle across the back. However, the energy in Fisher’s midfield and eager pressing soon saw Fisher build a platform and take the lead in the eighteenth minute. Lorenzo Duncan hassled a home player in possession and nudged the ball inside where from near forty yards out, Tom Jones, spotting the Dons keeper a yard too far off his line instinctively sent in a first time chip that dipped delightfully over the keeper’s flaying arms and into the lead.
A common theme this season has been Fiser wasting advantages by conceding straight after scoring and there was no escaping that today as from nothing a long ball down the right channel saw everyone leaving it for everyone else to deal with and Mo Hechachena ghosted in to beat Ogunseri to the ball and roll it into an unguarded net.
That was as good as it would get for the home side though as seven minutes from the break Fisher regained the lead as the impressive Lorenzo Duncan, having switched to left back, danced into the area and from an impossible angle embarrassed the keeper at the near post by squeezing his shot inside the post and into the net.
It was a lead Fisher looked unlikely to give up in the second spell and the match was pretty much sewn up just before the hour when Duncan again caused mayhem down the left on the overlap and getting behind his marker fired in a low cross for Festos Kanara to gratefully turn home from three yards out.
At the other end Isaac Ogunseri pulled off a smart low save to deny Ryan Gondoh, one of several step four side AFC Whyteleafe players guesting for the home team, but Fisher were not unduly troubled and moving into injury time debutant Addae Paponette capped an impressive cameo off the bench with a fine strike having found a pocket of space twenty yards out to leave the keeper groping to his left after his well struck effort flew into the top corner.
Some late unnecessarily heavy challenges from the home side eventually drew the wrath of the referee after Tom Jones was needlessly kicked and earned the miscreant a red card as Fisher cruised into the quarter finals, seeing added tine out with little alarm.