Fisher and Cray Valley played out a 0-0 draw at Champion Hill, though both sides had good chances to score. The Fish lost yet more players to injury and will be grateful for the point with a patched up team.
The game saw the return of fan favourite Kris Hollidge to Champion Hill, though this time he was wearing the colours of the opposition. Kris was making a first start of the season for Cray Valley, and after the game Fisher chairman Ben Westmancott presented him with his framed Fisher FC number 2 shirt, in recognition of the huge contribution Kris made to the Fish in our first two seasons as a new, supporter-owned, club.
Hollidge was soon into the action as Fisher made the early running, his superbly timed sliding tackle denying Junior James a chance to beat Valley keeper Jack Carthy. Cray Valley had early chances too, and Danny Firkins made smart saves from Sam Prett and Matt Knuckey, with one save from Prett an acrobatic fingertip stop. At the other end, Ken Jarrett-Elliott should have done better with a free header from a corner.
Fisher started with just one recognised striker in James, as Danny Hunt suffered a recurrence of his groin injury in the warm-up and was replaced in the starting XI by Isa Bangura. Bangura impressed in a holding role in midfield, but Steve Firkins then lost James to injury just before half-time. A reshuffle at the break saw Natty Bell, Adam Wadmore and Richie Monan take the field for the second half.
Inevitably chances were hard to come by in the second period, although Danny Tipple went close with a piledriver and Jamie Turner had a great chance to win the game for the Fish when put through by Jarrett-Elliott but his shot went wide. Turner though was carrying a knock, which he aggravated in the act of shooting, leaving the skipper a frustrated figure as he limped through the rest of the game.
With Valley also missing good chances to score, both sides will feel that a draw was a fair result and the visitors showed that with a little more bite up front they could be pushing for a top half finish this season.
Fisher: Firkins, Demetrius (Wadmore 46), Tipple, Warren, Jarrett-Elliott, Wilson-Joseph, Banton, Turner, James (Bell 45), Bangura, Hubbard (Monan 46). Unused Subs: Taylor, Baker
Attendance: 104
