A second half come-back saw Fisher earn a valuable three points in the Southern Counties East League on Saturday when Canterbury City visited Champion Hill.
Canterbury started on the front foot, and put the Fish under pressure right from the kick off. Fisher struggled to get the ball away from their defensive line and Canterbury had a couple of early chances, which were blocked and scrambled away. Fisher produced their first effort on goal in the 8th minute when Harry Draper forced a good low save from Canterbury goalkeeper Roddy Hayward from a close range header.
After a shaky opening ten minutes, Fisher settled down and began to show the crowd what they can do, producing some decent passes, although Canterbury were able to disrupt the flow and stop Fisher from creating anything clear cut.
Although chances were few and far between, both sides had a couple of chances, the best of which saw a Canterbury corner eventually cleared off the line by Fisher debutant Charlie Gray who enjoyed a good game in the Fisher defence. Canterbury produced a few more chances as the half went on, with Lloyd Woodford creating the best of them, seeing his curling shot sail past the far post.
Fisher saw their best chance of the half go begging as both Junior James and Harvey Hanifan mistimed headers from close range allowing Canterbury to recover and clear the danger.
In first half stoppage time (of which there was six minutes, following an injury for Canterbury’s Liam Hreorow which saw him carried off) the visitors won a free kick in a good position just outside the box. Sam Staunton took it direct and, with the help of a deflection, beat debutant Fish goalkeeper Orsharin Francis, and put his side ahead going into the break.
Fisher started the second half brightly winning a corner early on, and then, seven minutes into the second period, levelled through Stephen Ita. Junior James battled his way into the box, with Ita running alongside, and as Hayward came off his line, James stabbed a pass through to Ita who’s only task was to tap the ball over the line, which he did with ease.
With the scores now level, the game started to open up, and Canterbury were soon on the hunt for a goal to regain their lead. Carl Monday breezed past Mike Daramola and blasted his shot wide of the near post, then moments later Lloyd Woodford saw his speculative sail past the target.
Fisher then began to test the Canterbury defence again, with Junior James’s pace tearing City apart on a couple of occasions, with Hayward rescuing his team with a couple of good saves.
In the 73rd minute, Ita broke, made his way into the box and slid the ball across to the incoming Junior James who kept his calm and fired the hosts ahead. Fisher went on the hunt for a third goal as they looked to seal the points but Canterbury resisted the pressure and kept the deficit at just one goal. The final chance from the Fish very nearly caused embarrassment to Roddy Hayward as he managed to get hold of a high looping effort before stumbling and dropping the ball, which Ita was ready for. Hayward managed to block the effort and get the ball away.
Canterbury desperately scrambled for an equaliser in stoppage time, but Fisher held on the claim the points. The win moves them up to 12th place in the league table.
FISHER: Orsharin Francis, Michael Damarola (Jay Garrick), Charlie Gray, Tom Carr, Leighton Francis, Billy Walton ( c ), Harry Draper (Gregg Barton), Junior James, Stephen Ita, Harvey Hanifan (Aaron Seales). UNUSED SUBS: Piers Hanifan, Sean Sinclair.
