SCEFL Premier Division

SE Dons 1 - 3 Fisher
Tuesday 15 September 2026 - 19:45

SE Dons 1-3 Fisher
Tuesday 15 September 2026
SCEFL Premier Division

Attn: 285
Scorers: Don Macaulay (52 min, pen), Euan Mutale (73 min), Jake Lovell (85 min)

A fantastic attacking display in the second half earned Fisher the points in an entertaining evening of football against league newcomers SE Dons despite trailing at the break. With Charles Yiadom injured, Fisher brought Tyrese Briscoe into the starting line-up and Tyron Mbuenimo returned in midfield allowing Conor Darwish to revert to centre back. The strength on the bench was evident with Euan Mutale and Jake Lovell both coming in.
A dry pitch caused some issues for both sides with the ball not flowing, but it was the Dons who mastered it quicker using long aerial diagonal passes to release their quick wingers on either flank, but determined defending meant there was usually a Fisher body to clear the resulting centre. The hosts were moving the ball well around in midfield, but a tigerish display from James Bessey Saldanha and Mbuenimo kept them at bay. Fisher’s first real chance on goal came when Jack Gibbons swept over a fine cross from deep and Festos Kamara’s glancing header flicked the ball to the back post where a diving Rafael Garcia just failed to make contact with his head to force it home. At the other end the Dons were guilty of a glaring miss when a low cross from the left travelled through the bodies at the front post to Josh Bohui but a slight bobble saw the ball make contact with shin rather than boot and with the goal gaping it somehow lifted on the crossbar and was pounced on by Zach Akinde.
A cagey game carried on with Fisher shielding the midfield well forcing Dons to go side to side or backwards rather than breaking the lines. As an outlet the eager running of Kamara, Briscoe and Alaka always gave Fisher options and Briscoe and Alaka both saw powerful shots blocked. With the game looking like it might go the break deadlocked, the host took the lead from a free kick on the left. The ball was fired in low to the near post and fortune favoured the hosts as it bounced into the path of Ralfi Hand, who bundled it home from two yards out.
The second half saw Fisher push a little higher and play with little more freedom and this changed the shape of game with Fisher seeing far more possession in the Dons half and the hosts resorting to counter attacking football. The class of Bessey-Saldanha came the fore as he harried to win the ball early in the second press and then probed with some superb distribution. Within seven minutes Fisher had levelled. A fine cross from Alaka was nodded out for a corner and taken short it allowed Rafael Garcia to wriggle through a gap into the box where he was upended. After a long delay Don Macaulay kept his nerve and calmly stepped up to stroke the penalty into the top corner. Fisher’s link up play got better and better with Briscoe a real handful for the Dons back line, and their evening got no easier as Euan Mutale was brought on providing yet more pace and power to the front line. An unnerved Dons back line crumbled as a loose back pass was wide of Freeman who had advanced form his goal and Mutale gratefully chased it down with his pace giving him time to slam the ball into an empty net.
Dons tried to respond but Conor Darwish at the heart of the Fisher defence was in imperious form on the end of almost everything they threw forward, covering either fullback as well, as Dons ran out of attacking ideas. Fisher continued their hunger for goals and threw on further offensive options with Jake Lovell adding strength down the right as Fisher’s versatile front line bubbled with confidence. With five minutes left Fisher made the game safe with the goal of the night from a lightning break with Kamara’s turn and run starting it off it then saw the ball spread to Lovell on the right he powered into the box, sat the defender down with a chop back onto his left and then curled a chipped effort around Freeman and a retreating defender to the delight of the vocal Fisher fans behind the goal. Fisher saw the remaining minutes out without undue alarm forcing Dons into shots from distance that few harmlessly wide and after seven added minutes the points were on their way back to SE16.

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