Fisher battled their way to a first leg win over Canterbury City in the Macron SCEFL Premier Division Cup Quarter Final on Monday evening.
After some concerns about the pitch following a sharp downpour two hours before kick-off, the referee decided that, after some work from the ground staff, the pitch was playable, much to the delight of the visitors.
The game itself was a scrappy affair, with both sides adopting a mix of approach play and competing well in midfield. Fisher, looking to bounce back from a 5-0 defeat at the hands of local rivals Beckenham Town on Saturday, went straight for goal, getting forward within the opening 30 seconds but were caught offside. Canterbury took a little longer to settle in to the game, producing their first shot after five minutes, which sailed harmlessly wide of Hensman’s goal.
The game became very open, with both sides playing a long ball style in the difficult conditions. Canterbury came up with a few threatening breaks, the best of which saw a short range header go over the bar by just a few inches. It was clear that the Fisher players wanted to get something for their loyal fans, and in the 18th minute, Danny Maguire opened the scoring from a well-placed, a sweetly struck free kick which flew past Canterbury goalkeeper Roddy Hayward into the bottom corner.
The game then became scrappy again with both sides picking up bookings (Billy Walton for Fisher and Canterbury’s Steven Baines) for separate incidents. Fisher came close to extending their lead in 34th minute when Hayward spilled a save, before scrambling the ball off the line. Although the celebrations were half hearted, the Fish seemed certain that it had gone in, but the referee was having none of it and the game continued.
Fisher then finally settled into their usual passing game, which saw Troy Abbey fight his way into the box, before the referee awarded Canterbury a free kick for a collision in the box involving an awaiting attacker. Just minutes later, Danny Maguire unleashed a venomous shot from long range which was deserving of a goal (and had it been on match of the day, would have had the experts drooling and talking about it for weeks) which snuck agonisingly past the post. That was the final effort of the first half and the Fish went in 1-0 ahead.
After a slightly longer than usual half time break (19 minutes in total), Canterbury started the second half on the front foot, and won two corners in the first three minutes. Billy Hensman collected the second unchallenged and released the Fish, who were unable to produce anything from promising break.
Canterbury got a soft equaliser courtesy of Dan Gonzalez-Bello. Fisher broke forward almost straight from the restart and were unlucky not to go ahead as Canterbury became exposed at the back. Fisher settled back into their passing game and Hensman did well to find a short pass under great pressure from the Canterbury front line. Billy Hensman continued to dominate in the penalty area when Canterbury won another corner and then again when he faced a long, deep ball into the box, which he collected with ease.
Fisher then introduced Kieron Campbell who made an instant impact, getting himself into the box and seeing his lobbed effort tipped over the by Hayward within minutes of being introduced. The resulting corner was cleared but Fisher regained possession before seeing the follow up effort ruled offside.
As the game became a little broken down, Hensman pulled off another good save from a set piece before Fisher introduced Junior Fatai (who replaced Junior James). Fisher then won a corner of their own, which Canterbury failed to deal with, and Troy Abbey threw himself towards the ball, and saw his headed effort beat Hayward to put the Fish back in front.
Fisher broke forward again just a few minutes later, Troy Abbey was beaten to the ball by Hayward, before the pair collided and Canterbury were awarded a free kick. Canterbury then made a double substitution, introducing George Coshall and Glen Johnson in place of Jack Winder and Dan Gonzalez-Bello. Piers Hanifan did well to recover possession when faced with a pacy run down the wing, and was unlucky with his forward ball which failed to create anything.
Canterbury won yet another corner which, once again, Hensman saved. Then, in the first minute of stoppage time Fisher broke and Junior Fatai fired home the hosts’ third goal of the game. Just a minute later, as it looked like Fisher would have a two goal cushion going into next weeks, second leg, Canterbury substitute Glenn Johnson broke through Fisher’s defence dispatched a shot which comfortably beat Hensman to reduce the deficit to a single goal.
FISHER: BILLY HENSMAN, AARON SEALES, PIERS HANIFAN, HARVEY HANIFAN, TOM CARR, BILLY WALTON, DANNY MAGUIRE ( C ), HARRY DRAPER, JUNIOR JAMES (JUNIOR FATAI), MIKE DAMAROLA (KIERON CAMPBELL), TROY ABBEY. UNUSED SUB: KEIRON BURRELL
