Southern Counties East Football League

Fisher had the better of the encounter against rivals Beckenham, but a wondergoal from Frank Warren in the first half was enough to seal a 0-1 result for the visitors.
Fisher started the match brightly on a beautiful spring day at Champion Hill. Both sides looked keen to get into their attacking flow, but Fisher settled quicker and hit the side netting after three minutes. Fisher’s defence stood strong against counter-attacks with one of the more interesting battles of strength emerging between Daniel Flemming and Beckenham’s Adam Allen who remained a threat for much of the match.
In the seventh minute, a dangerous Beckenham move resulted in a shot which looked destined for the net. A heap of Fisher bodies dived to save the shot off the line and keep the game at 0-0.
Alfie Roche had a fine afternoon which he announced with a cannon of a shot in the 11^th minute which made the keeper work.
Unfortunately for Fisher, it wasn’t long after this promising move that Beckenham’s Frank Warren received the ball on the edge of the box and curled a shot past Joel Hannington to take the lead. Fisher recovered well and continued to dominate the midfield game with Beckenham being limited to long range shots.
Fisher came close to levelling when they were awarded a free kick outside the opposition box. However with the ball being swung in beautifully, Robert Curtis was unable to direct his header goalward.
With one minute remaining in the half, Beckenham had one of their more probing moves with a ball lumped in to the box being headed on target, but Hannington was able to punch clear.
The second half continued much as the first left off with Fisher on top, but unable to put together moves in the final third. The exception to this was Alfie Roche, who after 51 minutes, swung in a lovely shot which sailed agonisingly over the bar. One minute later he had a shot crash off the post after some positive play.
The game continued in this pattern for much of the second half with Fisher’s defence proving impenetrable for Beckenham, but as the last 15 minutes approached Beckenham began to present a much tougher challenge for the home side.
Joel Hannington stopped the game slipping away from Fisher with a great save in the 74^th minute after a shot from Luke Saggers looked destined for the net. A minute later, Saggers found himself by the byline in what looked like a great position for a cross, but surprised the defence by placing a shot on target. Joel was equal to it and tipped the ball over the bar.
Another worrying moment for Fisher came after 80 minutes with Harry Bugden losing the ball on the edge of the Fisher box, but he immediately made amends by putting in a heroic block.
The last three minutes of extra time were full of nerves for Fisher, starting when Beckenham’s Harry Draper broke free of the defence and forced a save from Hannington, the ball deflected to Archie Johnson whose shot was also saved. Shortly after, Luke Saggers took it through the legs of the Fisher defender for what looked like an easy finish, but Harrington once more pushed the ball wide.
In extra time, it was Fisher who threatened to steal a goal with Beckenham’s goalie Lewis Moore only able to tip Alfie Roche’s looping shot over the bar for a corner. From the resulting corner Shelton Gooden’s shot was blocked over the top to preserve Beckenham’s lead. In a hectic last minute, three more shots were blocked from a seemingly never-ending series of corners and Moore grasped the ball on his line to seal the game for Beckenham.