Lordswood 2-3 Fisher

On the back of two consecutive defeats Fisher travelled to Lordswood with a number of enforced changes to their line-up. Trey Small and Tunde Aderonmu both had work commitments and Dan Flemming was unable to recover from his injury at the weekend. Jacob Skelley slotted in at left back allowing Richie Hamill to move forward into midfield and Chandler Kasai started on the wing and new signing Aaron Powell on the bench.

Travel issues on the Kent motorways saw the late arrival of two officials and saw kick off put back to eight o‘clock but the delay seemed to affect the visitors who started slowly and were punished in the fifth minute when Teddy Nelson fired home a loose ball following a corner as the Fisher defence stood motionless, much to the dismay of keeper Dan Wheeler who castigated players for their defending.

Wheelers words stung the Fish into action and the response was positive with Fisher forcing four corners. Form the second of these Kush Campbell Palmer appeared to those behind the goal to have his legs taken away from him as he challenged for a loose ball but the referee was either unsighted or unmoved. Campbell Palmer then saw a snap shot from the next corner fix just wide of the post as Fisher took the game to their hosts.

With passes going astray and players struggling to come to terms with uneven surface Fisher looked off the pace and Lordswood took full advantage with hesitancy in the back line over a bouncing ball allowing Fjord Rogers to double the hosts advantage with a measure lob from twenty five yards. A long evening for the seven Fisher faithful who had battled through the traffic problems looked likely at this stage as the game seemed very reminiscent of the 3-0 defeat encountered at Lordswood in the League Cup last season.

However Fisher regrouped and the passing improved with Andy Mott’s probing through ball sending Chandler Kasai away but a terrific save from the Lordswood keeper denied the winger. The keeper made an equally impressive save from a Wangaho header following a well-flighted corner as Fisher looked for a route back into the game. The lifeline finally came in the fortieth minute when Pat Geddis slammed home a loose ball after a scramble from yet another well delivered corner. Confusion from the restart saw two Lordswood players both leave the kick off pass to each other and Andrew Mott swept in and had a straight run on goal but was thwarted by another excellent save from the Lordswood keeper.

A frenetic half ended with Fisher feeling they had certainly done enough to have deserved a share of the spoils and Geddis’ goal meant all was to play fro in the second half. With manage Dean Harrison also pre disposed tonight it was left to Neil Hunter to rouse the side at half time and by his own after match conversation it had matched keeper Wheeler’s demonstrative tone in addressing the sides defensive breaches.

It was a far more resolute Fisher team who emerged and the back four kept chances for Lordswood to a minimum as the hosts seemed to attempt to sit on their lead rather than go for a third. This helped Fisher and on several occasions the speed of Afi Soyemi-Olade looked set to break through Lordswood high back line. The introduction of Rob Brown for Skelley saw Richie Hamill slip back into the left back berth as Fisher pushed for an equaliser. A great chance for an equaliser was spurned on the hour mark when Soyemi-Olade found space on the left of the goal but the bounce off the pitch saw his side footed effort rise over the bar.

Several more good chances came and went as the ball would not sit quite right for players to get their shot away before with 15 minutes left on the clock opened up the Lordswood defence moving the ball around the edge of the penalty area before Kushal Campbell Palmer found space to turn on Rob Brown’s shot come pass and rifle home from eight yards. Fisher were not content to settle for a point and continued to press, with Rob Brown testing the keeper from twenty five yards.

Aaron Powell came on at right back for a debut to replace Pet Geddis who had thrown himself into everything in midfield necessitating another switch with Hamill moving to the holding well and Jamie Brown switching flanks to left back. The switch did not affect the momentum and when Soyemi-Olade was felled near the left hand corner flag Rob Brown’s delivery from the set play found the head of Andrew Mott and his half cleared effort was rifled into the roof of the net by Harry Tobin to give Fisher the lead on 82 minutes.

Martin Begg entered the fray replacing Soyemi-Olalde who had another impressive night on the wing as Fisher resolutely held out with Wanagho marshalling his back line with aplomb. This time last ear Fisher were thwarted in such games with naive game management letting in late equalisers in crunch games, but they have learnt well and the expertise of Brown and Mott combining to win a succession of free kicks deep in the Lordswood half too these sting out of the hosts late rally and sealed a magnificent comeback win.

Man of the Match: Soyemi-Olade and Andrew Mott would both have strong claims for man of the match but Pat Geddis, who not only covered every blade of grass but left with most of them spread across his kit and legs as he slid into tackle after tackle showed the attitude throughout that launched the comeback so gets the nod.

Lordswood 2-3 Fisher
Tuesday 26 February 2018
SCEFL Premier Division

Lordswood:
Teddy Nelson 5
Fjord Rogers 18

Fisher:
Pat Geddis 40
Kushal Campbell-Palmer 71
Harry Tobin 82

Attn: 90

Photo courtesy of Lordswood FC: https://twitter.com/LordswoodFC

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