Fisher manager Dean Harrison, 39, cast a disappointed figure after losing his fifth of his nine games in charge of the club.
“Not happy, obviously to have lost,” said Harrison. “We got unsettled first half. They came out aggressively and it unsettled the boys and it’s something that I’ve just spoken to them about. I spoke to them at half-time and I just spoke to them at the end of the game that we need to learn to deal with that. You’re going to play big, aggressive sides and we mustn’t get bullied. The referee wasn’t strong enough. He missed quite a lot for me first half. I’m not going to say too much on that but I was a bit disappointed in his performance because he should have stamped it out. I’m a little bit disappointed with that but it’s something we need to learn.”
The Millers started the game on the front foot and they created their first chance after only 97 seconds.
Fisher keeper Justin Lee’s clearance looped up in the air and was pounced upon by Alwayne Jones, who sped in the box and was denied when Lee stuck out his right leg to divert the ball around the post.
Harrison added: “He made a good save but it came from his kick! He should have put his foot through the ball and he’s kicked it and it’s gone 30-yards up in the air and it came down on top of him so he reacted well. He made a good recovery.”
The Millers, who started the game with a 4-2-3-1 formation, were to be denied again by another smart save from Lee inside nine minutes.
Jones’ through ball put Hamici through on goal on the break but his right-footed drive from eighteen-yards was parried by Lee, diving low to his left.
Harrison praised his keeper by saying, “He did well. Decent save again. He’s a good stop stopper Justin. He did ok. He claimed a couple of corners. He did alright tonight.”
But Cray Valley were to score the winning goal with their third attempt on goal.
Fisher left-back Kieran Tarbie slid in to foul Alex Chambers down the right and was spoken to by referee Alexis Stacchini.
Left-back Adam Gross swung in the resulting left-footed free-kick into the penalty area where Hamici peeled off his marker and was given time and space at the near post to flick his back-header across Lee into the far corner of the net from 12-yards
Harrison was bitterly disappointed in the manner of losing the game. He said: “He’s made a run across the space in the front area and no-one’s gone with him. We just switched off a little bit.”
Fisher’s first opening arrived at the halfway point of a poor first half performance from the men in black and white stripes.
Tarbie whipped in a cross from the left, the ball was knocked down by Alfie Roche and striker Chas Davis cracked his left-footed volley screaming past the near post from a tight angle.
Fisher should have done better following their first corner in the 31st minute.
Roche’s outswinging corner came out to their central defender Aaron Seales, who directed his free header harmlessly wide.
But Cray Valley should have entered the half-time break further in front when Chambers picked the ball up and raced forwards before drilling a right-footed shot from 25-yards against the outside of the left-hand post, with Lee rooted to the spot.
“We’ve got a young side and we were unsettled by their physicality, by their aggressiveness and it’s something that they need to deal with at this level. First half just wasn’t good enough at all. We didn’t get any width in the game. We didn’t move the ball quickly enough. The options were limited, the movement was poor. It just wasn’t a great first half. They got a talking too at half-time about standing up and being men out there and not hiding because a few of them went missing first half and in all fairness to the lads they responded second half. They did do exactly that and I’m proud of them for doing that.”
Fisher winger Jordan Adekunle sped down the left flank before putting over a cross but substitute Femi Akinwande stooped down to head harmlessly wide of the near post inside the opening six minutes of the second half.
Lee almost blotted his impressive night when his clearance was charged down by Chambers, the ball ricocheting off the Cray Valley attacker and flashing past the post.
However, Lee made amends for that error by keeping his side in the game in the 53rd minute.
Chambers played a sublime diagonal pass to release Hamici down the left, who cut into the penalty area and from sixteen-yards cracked a fierce right-footed angled drive towards goal, which was beaten away by the Fisher keeper. The ball came out to Jimmy Rogers who swept a first time shot wide from 25-yards.
Another out-swinging corner from Fisher winger Roche came out to central defender Jake McIntyre, who directed his free header sailing over the bar from fifteen-yards.
But Fisher almost grabbed an equaliser with their best chance of the game in the 62nd minute.
Substitute Femi Akinwande danced forward before hitting a right-footed shot which forced Stevie Sutton to dive low to his left to save and the former Dartford keeper got fingertips to Roche’s follow-up shot from 12-yards to push onto the top of the crossbar.
Harrison said: “It was unlucky! I think the keeper touches it to be fair. I think it was a decent save and it should have been a corner (instead, the referee awarded a goal-kick).
“Femi had a great second half. I brought him on at half-time because Max Rothwell, it wasn’t his sort of game. He likes to get on the ball and play and it was a little too physical out there and the ball was missing him anyway, it kept on going over his head so I thought I’d bring on Femi. He gives you good energy, he’s a good quality player and he’s got some character so he did well.”
The Millers went close again to killing off the game when substitute Jim Doherty played the ball inside to Hamici, who drilled his right-footed shot just over the bar from 25-yards.
Spirited Fisher created their next attempt which forced a smart save out of Sutton with fifteen minutes remaining.
Akinwande fed the ball to Roche, who curled his shot towards the bottom far corner of the net from 35-yards, but Sutton dived to his left to tip the ball around the post.
Harrison said: “It was a good save by the keeper. We was unlucky there. I think he could have slipped Chaz (Davis) in to be fair a little bit earlier. He did well. He got his shot off, the keeper made a decent save.”
Lee made a comfortable save to deny Chambers, before Adam Gross swung in a corner from the right, the ball was headed down by Ronnie Vint and Chambers swept the ball wide.
Adam Gross then whipped in a free-kick beside the corner flag towards the near post but substitute Doherty nodded wide from a tight angle.
Cray Valley skipper Tommy Osborne – who alongside Jamie Miller played in front of the back four – almost scored a rare goal inside the final three minutes.
The Millers produced a sweeping move involving Hamici and Rogers and Osborne turned his man and took a touch before looping his left-footed shot narrowly over the crossbar from 25-yards.
Lee moved to his right to make a comfortable save at the second attempt to prevent Doherty stroking his right-footed shot into the bottom corner at the death.
But despite good vocal support from their loyal, long-suffering fans, Fisher didn’t have any quality to prevent crashing to their eighth league defeat of the season at Champion Hill.
Harrison, who has thirteen league games of the season remaining, admitted: “We’re still in a dog fight, we know that. I feel we should have got something out of the game tonight. I feel we did enough second half to get at least a point out of it.
“At the same time I think Grossy’s come here and he’s wound his players up and they’ve come out very aggressively first half and if that’s the way he wants to play, that’s the way that he wants to play. I’m not going to knock him for that. I like Grossy, he’s alright, but I think the ref needs to be stronger and our boys need to be stronger. The Erith Town game is massive, another six-pointer so nothing changes. We have to go and win the game don’t we? It’s just another massive game. It’s a tough job but it’s a job that I’ve taken on. I knew what it was. The team, the club was in trouble when I got here. They were third-from-bottom so nothing’s changed. We’re now fourth-from-bottom, gone up a place. We just have to keep working hard. You don’t bring a team in and change things overnight. We’ve got players in at the same time. We’ve got no budget so as quickly as they come, they can go if they get offered a little bit of money. We’re trying to bond, we’re trying to gel. It’s not an overnight process but it’s moving in the right direction.”
Harrison believes five more wins will maintain the struggling club’s place in the division.
He said: “We need to try to win some games, try to get some points on the table. I think we need another fifteen points to be safe. I think fifteen points should move us up a little bit, I’d like to think but who knows? It all depends on what the other teams do.”
Fisher: Justin Lee, Victor Barode, Kieran Tarbie, Al-Hassan Oshijala, Jake McIntyre, Aaron Seales, Alfie Roche, Hassan Janneh, Chas Davis, Max Rothwell (Femi Akinwande 46), Jordan Adekunle (Keanu Williams 82). Unused Subs: Zach Beeden, Ali Musa, Charlie Payne
Attendance: 85
Report courtesy of Kentish Football
