FA Vase – First Qualifying Round

Camberley Town 0 - 1 Fisher
Saturday 26 August 2023 - 15:00

Camberley Town 0-1 Fisher

Saturday 26th August

FA Vase First Qualifying Round

Scorer: Lewis Duberry (95 mins)

A stunning Lewis Duberry free kick, late into injury time, sent Fisher through to the second qualifying round of the FA Vase after a narrow 1-0 win at Combined Counites League side, Camberley Town.

Suspensions and injuries meant a rejigged side for Fisher, with Tyron Mbuenimo reverting to right back allowing Luke Thomas to partner Joseph Adewunmi in the centre of defence. Lewis Duberry reverted to a central midfield role with Jojo Kinzonzi coming back in on the wing. On the bench there was a return to Fisher colours, in a competitive game, after a four year gap for Jamie Brown and both Nader Zeddini and Thomas Ngegba also earned a place on the bench for the first time this season.

Fisher played down the slope in the first half, on a tricky grass surface, with the weather flitting between sunshine and violent thunderstorms as the half progressed, making difficult conditions for both sides. Fisher moved the ball around well, with Charles Yiadom-Konadu at the heart of everything, but a tendency to be too ambitious with the final ball often saw their early attacks break down. The hosts opted for more direct approach, supported by long throws from both sides of the pitch.

Jojo Kinzonzi got the first sight of goal, but his effort was tame and Manny Shoderu just failed to get onto a sublime through ball from Yiadom-Konadu, after he had glided past two defenders with a customary drop of a shoulder and some fancy footwork. At the other end, Camberley spurned a great chance   when a long diagonal ball found Mason Taylor, who had caused Fisher problems when playing for Redhill in preseason, but the burly forward’s powerful shot was fabulously tipped over by Justice Owusu, who then manged to punch the resulting corners clear under heavy pressure.

With the rain getting heavier the game became scrappier, resulting in a booking for a clumsy tackle by Tyron Mbuenimo and a sin bin for Camberley’s forward for comments to the referee. Fisher failed to take advantage of the extra man with Shoderu heading over a Yaidom-Konadu chip into the box and then seeing Camberley’s captain Steve Lee looping header bounce against the bar as the home team ended the half the stronger.

The second half saw Fisher play with greater attacking threat and Billy Brown’s powerhouse display on the right wing was a pivotal factor. Lewis Duberry saw a long range effort fly high of the bar and the same fate awaited Kinzonzi’s attempt, after fluid Fisher give and go move saw them open up the Camberley defence.

A number of injuries to players on both sides and several clashes of heads stopped a build up of momentum for Fisher and the hosts rallied with a stabbed effort from inside the box clipping the base of the far post, before being hacked away to safety. Fisher dealt well with the aerial threat presented by the long throws and in swinging corners with Owusu punching decisively and Thomas and Adewunmi heading clear when needed. Some good build up play again set Fisher up for a shooting opportunity, but Duberry’s blasted effort just had too much swerve from the outside of his boot and flew wide of the post, when perhaps opening up and curling it with the inside of the boot would have been more productive.

Fisher brought on fresh legs, with Jamie Brown replacing Mbuenimo after he couldn’t shake off the effects of a heavy challenge. Nader Zeddini and Thomas Ngegbe also entered the fray, replacing Yaidom-Konadu and Amgbaduba. The changes allowed a freer role for Billy Brown and his direct running caused problems of the hosts back four, but several good crosses from him and Kinzonzi could not find a Fisher forward.

With time running out and penalties looming, both sides looked for the decisive goal and Camberley almost snatched it when a flighted ball into the box found two of their players converging at close range  to nudge the ball goalward, drawing a miraculous save from Owusu has he clawed the ball that seemed past him onto the post and threw himself back onto the rebound to the astonishment of all in the ground. With the hosts wondering how he had kept the ball out, Fisher quickly advanced up field and with Ngegba fouled whilst holding the ball up thirty yards out Lewis Duberry looked to deliver a final chance for the Fish. Rather than hoisting the ball into the box, the Montserrat international arrowed his kick for the far top corner and judging it perfection saw it rifle into the net off the inside to post to add to the midfielder’s increasing collection of wonder goals. There were moments of confusion as the assistant referee held up a flag, but the referee overruled the oddly judged offside, as clearly no one could have been actively interfering  from the inch perfect strike.

Billy Brown almost added a second very late on as Fisher ended the game on the front foot, with a powerful low shot, after a good run, just flying past the post. The closing moments of the game saw little late alarm for the Fish and they will now hosts Bexhill United of the Southern Combination league it the next round.

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