Match Report: Glebe 1-3 Fisher

Glebe 1-3 Fisher
Tuesday 25 October 2022
SCEFL Premier Division

Scorers: Michael Sarpong (37 min, 44 min, 57 min)

Attn: 80

Fisher picked up a vital three league points on their journey down to Glebe with a scintillating comeback performance to win 3-1 under the lights.
A perfect slick surface met the teams, on an Autumn night made for football and both sides looked to use the surface with the ball being passed at pace. Fisher, with Julio Da Mata welcomed back into the starting line up along with Cedric Nganga made a strong start kicking down the slope. Forcing a number of early corners and Joseph Adewunmi almost opened the scoring from one of them when heading just off target.
Fisher again played a high defensive line whilst playing downhill and this reduced the Glebe attackers to shooting from distance, though Jamie Philpot drew a smart low save from Justice Owusu form one powerfully hit effort. Owusu was again called to save well from a header well inside the box, managing to get down again to claw the ball away just as it seemed to be going in.
Twenty minutes in however Fisher fell behind, when a tussle for a loose ball in the box saw a Glebe forward felled and the referee point to the spot. Philpot slammed home the kick to give Glebe the lead and all the good work from Fisher in the game’s opening looked in vain.
Ten minutes later things looked to go from bad to worse. Some quick passing around the Fisher box allowed Harry Gamble to get a shot away with Owusu drawnn out of position and in trying to dive and head off the line, Germanov Petrov instinctively threw out an arm to save the ball seeing him receive an automatic red card and Fisher concede a second penalty. At two nil down with ten men it surely would have been game over, but Owusu threw himself down low to save Philpot’s kick and Fisher were still in the game.
If the penalty save had been a lifeline, Fisher were well on the way to being fully rescued, when Nganga’s clever wing play saw him sweep over across that Michael Sarpong slid onto at the far past to turn the ball home and equalise.
Fisher then had a strong shout for penalty of their own when Nganga went over in the box but the referee deemed the challenge as fair. However just before half time Fisher made a further breakthrough. Another good ball in the area this time found Isaac Thompson who brought he ball down well and slipped it wider for Sarpong to again convert at the back post and give Fisher a lead they fully deserved.
Despite being in front, with just ten men and now playing up the slope a tough second half was in prospect, but Fisher were in no mood to surrender and put together forty five minutes of near perfect football, retaining possession, defending strongly and taking their chance to extend the lead superbly when it came.
The third arrived on 57 minutes, when Glebe attempted to play out from their back line. With Fisher sitting deep a ball forward was intercepted by Michael Sarpong five yards inside his own half. Stopping the ball with his first touch then pushing it out of his feet with his second Sarpong advanced to just inside the visitors half upon which he spotted the Glebe keeper well off his line and sent in the most incredible shot which like a well hit golf shot flew high into the night sky before a little draw brought it inline with the goal and some final dip saw it drop just under the bar bouncing on the line and into the net. One of the great Fisher goals of all time to complete the midfielder’s first hat-trick.
It then just needed some sensible possession based football to see out the game. Jacob Katonia and Darnelle Bailey-King were given plenty of ball out wide and kept Glebe penned back for long periods and the back four with Prince Imoru and Joseph Adewunmi in fine form kept Glebe at distance with some uncharacteristic wayward shooting from the hosts aiding Fisher’s cause and meaning Owusu was relatively untroubled as Fisher saw the game out.
The final whistle signalled a fine Fisher win in what was skipper Luke Thomas’s 100th appearance for the club.