After a disappointing defeat against Cray Valley midweek, Fisher bounced back in style when they visited Croydon on Saturday.
Croydon got the game underway and looked like causing Fisher trouble right from the kick off. Billy Walton, restored to centre-half, was forced to make a rather rash challenge within two minutes to bring Croydon’s first attack to a halt and was fortunate that the referee chose not to issue a card.
But once Fisher had settled it was hard to tell which side was in the top half of the table and which was occupying bottom place. Fisher caused all sorts of trouble to Croydon’s back line through the returning trio of Junior James, Richard Morgan and Jay Garrick.
Fisher’s Al-Hassan Oshilaja was forced out of the game after 23 minutes as Fisher physio Sam Clark-Keen did well to spot a bump on his head. Oshilaja was replaced by Jamie Taylor who played very well in his season debut.
The Fish created several chances in the opening thirty minutes. Most chances went begging but Fisher made a deserved breakthrough in the 29th minute when Croydon conceded a corner. The ball was whipped in to a dangerous area and as Croydon hesitated in defence, Billy Walton scrambled the ball over the line for the second Saturday on the trot to put Fisher ahead.
After that Fisher seemed to fall asleep and spent the next fifteen minutes on the back foot. Croydon began to ask serious questions of the Fisher back line and it was only thanks to some majestic goalkeeping by Adam Highsted that Fisher were still ahead at half time. Before the break Fisher had to make another substitution with the injured Kyle Demetrious being replaced by Ashley Henry-Brown.
The second half saw Highsted make a few more superb saves before a long range effort finally got the better of him in the 57th minute. Croydon won a free-kick which Fisher cleared, but the ball fell for Karl Douglin who whipped in a fast shot which was just out of reach of Highsted.
The equaliser was the wake-up call that Fisher needed. The Fish once again began to attack Croydon and it became clear that the Trams were uncertain when defending set pieces. Trams goalkeeper Francis Amenyaw needlessly conceded a corner under no pressure from Fisher, which only served to earn Fisher a second corner as Croydon struggled to defend.
It was a long cross-field ball over the top that finally set the Fish up to regain their lead, Danny Maguire executing an inch-perfect pass to find Junior James on the run. James did well to bring the ball down and tuck his shot home in the 64th minute. Three minutes later Croydon once again conceded and failed to defend a corner and Jay Garrick slammed home Fisher’s third goal with ease, connecting with an Eku Deen cross.
Despite continuous spells of pressure and several threatening attacks, Fisher were unable to extend their lead (even with the introduction of Kieron Campbell 6 minutes from time), but ultimately three goals proved to be enough to secure the win and Fisher’s first points of the season.
FISHER: ADAM HIGHSTED, KYLE DEMETRIOUS (ASHLEY HENRY-BROWN, 37), JACK WEBBER, CALUM McGEEHAN, BILLY WALTON, AL-HASSAN OSHILAJA (JAMIE TAYLOR, 23), RICHARD MORGAN, JUNIOR JAMES, JAY GARRICK (KIERON CAMPBELL, 84), DANNY MAGUIRE, EKU DEEN. UNUSED SUBS: ALFIE ROCHE, TROY ABBEY
