MATCH REPORT: Larkfield & New Hythe 2-2 Fisher

Larkfield & New Hythe 2-2 Fisher
Saturday 28 September 2024
SCEFL Premier Division

Attn: 81
Scorers: Armani-Jordan Martin (pen 85 mins, pen 90+6 min)

A last gasp equaliser from the penalty spot capped a dramatic comeback for Fisher and earned them a share of the spoils, in an exciting 2-2 draw with fourth placed Larkfield and New Hythe.
Fisher were dealt a blow before kick-off, with Billy Brown, Diego Makesa and Halim Bakre all pulling out of the squad through injury and illness. This saw Tyrone Mbuenimo come into the starting lineup and Luke With and Josh Duyile added to the bench. The absences didn’t seem to affect Fisher though who made a decent start with a number of balls sent in to the penalty area from the flanks early into the game, but no Fisher forward could get on the end of the deliveries. Larkfield thought they had opened the scoring midway through the half, but a linesman’s flag judged the final touch to have been from an offside position as the ball was centred and tapped home. At the other end Jake Lovell volleyed a half cleared header just over the bar in Fisher’s best sight of goal. Fisher were struggling to find space on the postage stamp sized pitch, which made the midfield very congested through balls difficult to judge.
On thirty six minutes Larkfield took the lead. An attack down the right saw a cross thump against the arm of Ange Djadja resulting in a penalty kick being awarded despite Fisher’s protestations. Tyler Ibe saw his spot kick superbly saved by Isaac Ogunseri, diving low to his left, but for all the heroics he was unable to stop Ibe, who was first to the loose ball, from turning home the rebound. Fisher responded well to going a goal behind and finished the half on the front foot forcing a couple of corners, with Courtney Barrington just unable to bring down a well flighted delivery at the back post to get a shot away. Late in the half Barrington saw his effort from a tight angle cleared off the line, after he jinked past several tackles and cut into the box.
Despite being a goal down at the break Fisher’s first half performance would have given them hope of getting back into the game with the slight slope now in their advantage. However, two minutes into the second half, their task became harder after miscommunication between keeper Ogunseri and Jack Gibbons leads to the two colliding and the ball spilling from Ogunseri’s grasp into the path of Matt Day who had the simple task of tapping it into the empty net to double the host lead. Fisher tried hard to build a platform to get themselves back into the game, but with space at a premium on a difficult bumpy pitch they were struggling to impose themselves on the hosts, looking to play too much pretty football when the occasion probably demanded a more direct approach. Djadja saw a back post header from a deep corner well held by the keeper which was the first serious save he had to make and Armani-Jordan Martin had a good opportunity to test the keeper further with a free kick 25 yards out, but his clipped effort went over the bar. When a goalmouth scramble saw efforts from Teddy Jones and Courtney Barrington both blocked, it was starting to look as if it wouldn’t be Fisher’s day, but the introduction of Dan Fleming as an emergency striker with ten minutes to go changed all that.
Suddenly Fisher had the aerial presence in the penalty area to pose problems for the hosts back four and following some pinball in the box, Flemings attempt to turn the ball goalwards was blocked by Larkfield arm giving Fisher a penalty similar to the one they had conceded in the first half. Armani-Jordan Martin stepped up to send the goalkeeper the wrong way and pull a goal back to give Fisher a lifeline with five minutes remaining plus stoppage time. Fisher continued to press in search of an equaliser, but despite good pressure the ball wouldn’t fall kindly to a Fisher foot in front of goal, coupled with determined defending from the hosts. IN the final minute substitute Kensa Clarke saw his powerful effort after a strong run well blocked by a defender’s outstretched leg and it looked as if Fisher’s last chance of rescuing a point had gone. But deep into added time one last delivery into the box from Ed Sata saw the hosts unable to clear and led to Jack Gibbons firing off a fierce drive from just inside the box that cannoned into a Larkfield arm leading to the game’s third penalty award amidst much protesting from the home side and seeing a red card shown. After a long delay, the calmest man on the pitch, Armani-Jordan Martin strolled up and calmly sent the keeper the wrong way again, to level the scores in dramatic fashion. There was barely time for the restart before the final whistle went to signal a gutsy comeback for the Fish.