Match Report: Fisher 4-2 Hollands & Blair

Fisher 4-2 Hollands & Blair
Saturday 16 March
SCEFL Premier Division

Matchball Sponsors: Millwall Community Trust – www.millwallcommunity.org.uk/

Scorers: Thomas Ngegba (5 mins and 40 mins), Billy Brown (64 mins), Nathan Tshola (74 mins)
Attn: 214

Photos: Courtesy of Dave Anderson – Full Album

Fisher made it two wins in a week with an excellent attacking display to overcome Hollands &Blair by four goals to two. The midweek departures of Darnelle Bailey-King and Eniye Amgbaduba necessitated a reshuffle, with Thomas Ngegba leading the line and Billy Brown returning from injury on the wing, and both were to shine in a clinical performance in front of goal. However, it was a powerhouse midfield display from Flavio Jumo and Nathan Tshola that really laid the platform for the Fisher win, as the duo were first to everything in the middle of the park and kept Fisher on the front foot throughout, with driving runs deep into the opposition half coupled with some slick passing.
Fisher took the lead within five minutes, after Jumo ran onto a good ball from teenager Sam Sene-Richardson on the left and sent in a measured chipped cross that found Ngegba inside the area. The centre forward still had work to do but turned his marker with a neat shuffle onto his right foot and stabbed the ball low last the keeper into the far corner.
Both Billy Brown and Sam Sene-Richardson were seeing plenty of ball on the flanks, keeping Blair penned into their own half and a second goal looked to be coming. It arrived on the quarter of an hour mark, but against the run of play was an equaliser for the visitors. A clumsy tackle to deal with ball over the top to veteran striker Dean Grant saw a free kick awarded twenty yards out, which was slammed into the wall and deflected into the path of impressive youngster Devonte West who slipped a desperate Fisher tackle to convert from close range.
The equalising goal didn’t affect the flow of the game with Fisher continuing to attack at will with Sene-Richardson cutting in well twice only to drag the final efforts just wide of the near post and Ngegba hit efforts past the post and then the cross bar after great work from Billy Brown on the right. The Blair keeper also denied Fisher with two great blocks in succession from Callum Flynn and Sene-Richardson as Fisher looked to get back in front, with Adewunmi heading the resulting corner just wide of the angle of bar and post. Fisher finally retook the lead five minutes from the break when Thomas Ngegba brought down a chipped through ball with his left foot and given a touch too much space opened out to curl a sumptuous effort over the keeper into the far top corner for a strike worthy of its status as Fisher’s thousandth competitive goal since reforming in 2009.
The second half began as the first left off, with Fisher very much on the front foot. Despite Fisher’s territorial dominance Blair served notice of the danger of a single goal lead when Otuyo was required to block well form a rare visiting sortie into the Fisher box. It was relief to the 214 strong crowd therefore, when Fisher added a third to create a two goal cushion just past the hour. Michael Sarpong carried the ball well across the midfield and fed it out to Billy Brown on the right. With markers doubling up on the winger his route to goal looked blocked off, but a quick drop off the shoulder gave the opportunity to curl a fantastic precision effort with the outside of his right boot around the two defenders and with him watching on like a golfer viewing a seven iron chip drop in the hole, saw the ball curl around the keeper and just inside the far post. In a season of stunning finishes this was up there with the best.
Blair tried to rally and forced Otuyo into a fine stop, one handed high to his left, but the game was wrapped up ten minutes later when another quick break from midfield by Jumo and Sarpong saw Nathan Tshola teed up for powerful strike form the edge of the box giving the keeper no chance.
With Blair tiring from Fisher’s non-stop running more goals were in the cards. Debutant substitute Joshua Duyile ran onto the through ball and rounded the keeper, but on tucking the ball into the net was adjudged to have started his run too early and ruled offside. Another flowing move saw Teddy Jones powerful shot parried into the path of Ezekiel Miller who slammed the ball home only to see the flag raised once again.
In the dying embers of the game Blair got a consolation to make it 4-2 as the ball fell kindly to Rob Denness in the box after Fisher didn’t cope with a high free kick pumped into the six yard box and the veteran tucked the ball home from two yards out. The point shad been win at this point however and Fisher played out the final few minutes with ease to finally notch their first home win of 2024.