Match Report: Welling Town 0-1 Fisher

Welling Town 0-1 Fisher
Saturday 26th February
SCEFL Premier Division
Scorer: Thompson (6 mins)

After the postponement during the week Fisher completed their run of away games with a short trip to Dartford to take on Welling Town. With the sides only separated by a point in the table a tight game was expected and that turned out to be the case, with a difficult bumpy surface troubling both teams and a lot of aerial football played as a result.
Fisher made a bright start and Joseph Adewunmi forced the first save from the home keeper when nodding on Temi Oladejo’s free kick. Minutes later, Isaac Thompson almost got onto Julio Da Mata’s clever flicked header but a defender reacted well to push the ball out for a corner. Thompson took the kick and his in-swinging effort deceived everyone and under pressure the home keeper clawed the ball away but the assistant referee’s flag was up to show the ball had crossed the line. There was a moment of confusion whilst the referee spoke to the assistant but a goal was confirmed and Fisher had a sixth minute lead, with the protests of the home side seeming more vociferous from the bench than from the players in the penalty area.
Welling almost hit back immediately when a corner was flicked on and the ball brushed the upright on its way to being cleared and then Tommy Taylor saved low down as Fisher absorbed some pressure.
Fisher seemed content at this point to sit back and allowed Welling plenty of possession, but chances were few and far between, with the best falling to the former Fish Rob Brown who fired over when well placed to score after breaking free from a knockdown in the box. With the home side getting frustrated several names went into the referee’s book and the home bench received a long talking too with Thompson also seeing a yellow card as the half drew to a close. Darnelle Bailey-King’s presence on the right became greater and just before the interval he wriggled free, to carve open a shooting opportunity, but the keeper saved easily.
The second half saw Fisher again make the early running and Manny Shoderu’s free kick on the edge of the area drew the first save of the half with Adewunmi needing to clear at the other end after good wing play from Welling.
Bailey-King almost slid in at the back post to finish off Da Mata’s cross as Fisher looked to find a second goal to seal the points. Fidan Fejzi entered the fray on the hour mark and shortly after Nickal-David Luzolo came on up front, to allow Julio Da Mata to drop back into midfield after a lot of eager running up front.
A busy referee carded Tommy Taylor who he adjudged to be taking too long over a free kick – rather baffling doing so as the ball was already back in play. Taylor redeemed himself with a reflex save after a bouncing ball had caused problems for the Fisher back line and their centre forward had escaped for a run on goal, but his lobbed effort was blocked as Tayklir closed his space well.
With time running out the hosts pushed forward and Fisher’s hopes of seeing out the game were dashed when left back Oladejo was forced off after catching his ankle on the rutted surface seeing Prince Imoru coming on to slot in at left back.
Rather than sit back Fisher pressed hard for a second goal late on and Fejzi saw a blistering half volley tipped wide as Luzolo’s forward runs looked to keep Fisher on the front foot.
Isaac Thompson could have sealed the game, jinking through the Welling defence but seemed caught between shooting and laying off to players on either side and ended up never really committing to either option with the ball ending up rolling towards the keeper.
Deep into injury time Welling pushed again, but with Adewunmi and Fitzgerald in commanding form at the back, Fisher withstood a flurry of late corners to take all three points.