Match Report: Fisher 5-1 Glebe

Fisher 5-1 Glebe
Monday 26 December 2022
SCEFL Premier Division

Scorers: Joseph Adewunmi (3 mins), Jacob Katonia (6 mins), Isaac Thompson (38 mins),
Cedric Nganga (54 mins), Osemen Usifoh (73 mins)
Attn: 142

Fisher gave their supporters a festive treat with a 5-1 Boxing Day win over local rivals Glebe at St Paul’s.
After weeks of injury woes, manager Ajay Ashanike was able to pick from an almost full strength squad, with returns to the bench for Malaki Coker and Osemen Usifoh, although a slight injury pre-game to Prince Imoru saw Luke Thomas switch to centre back and Darnelle Bailey-King fill in at right back. Glebe on the other hand looked to be missing several key players, most notably the prolific striker, Jamie Philpot and featured several of their development squad.
Almost from the first whistle, Fisher were in control and having forced an early corner, Darnell Bromfield’s delivery was headed on by Luke With to find Joseph Adewunmi too big and strong for his markers and having won the ball, he clipped it into the roof on the net to give the Fish a third minute lead. Just three minutes later they had doubled that lead and taken total control of the game. Jacob Katonia burst onto a lofted through ball and chesting it past the defenders, he masterfully chipped the ball over the advancing keeper, for his tenth goal of the season.
Glebe looked shellshocked, but continued to play some tidy football when getting in the Fisher half and Justice Owusu had to be aware as a sharp shot past just wide of his post and then from a similar effort had to be quickly up to claim the rebound having parried the initial effort. However it was always Fisher who looked the more likely to add to the score and on thirty eight minutes a third duly arrived, albeit being more of a gift than anything found under a Christmas tree the day before! Isaac Thompson, making his fiftieth appearance for the Fish, chased a back pass and robbed the keeper of possession as he tried to cut back inside the winger, allowing him to walk the ball unchallenged into the net. Fisher could have added a fourth before the break as Bailey-King surged forward but his low drive was well saved by Glebe’s young keeper, who saw his goal lead a charmed life with further efforts from Bromfield, Zeddini and Nganga flying over the bar as the half time whistle approached.
The second spell saw Fisher stay in command with the added luxury of being able to rest players and give game time to others with Billy Brown coming on for Katonia for the restart. Brown should have added to the score almost immediately as he burst through to create a one-on-one shooting chance, but the keeper made a smart block and Luke With fired over when teed up from the rebound. But within ten minutes Fisher had a fourth as With nodded back a Temi Oladejo cross and Cedric Nganga ghosted in at the back post to nudge the ball over the line. It was to be Nganga’s last contribution as he too was rested allowing Malaki Coker to make his return from injury also notching a half century of appearances, with Thompson also giving way for Osemen Usifoh’s to return to action after his recent injury.
Glebe finally pulled a goal back when Fisher wasted several attempts to clear and a recycled ball into the box finally found Reece Barrett whose shot just beat the grasping hand of Owusu, diving to his right. Fisher quickly restored their four goal lead however as Luke With, whose height had troubled the Glebe backline all game headed on another well delivered cross and Osemen Usifoh pounced to finish from close range.
A final change saw Eni Amgbaduba replace With and he almost got his name on the scoresheet with two good efforts late on when sweeping onto low crosses from Bailey-King who had moved up to his accustomed right wing position for the final stages of the game, demonstrating the wealth of attacking options available to the Fish when everyone is fit and bring a highly satisfying end to 2022 for the fans in the Dockers End as they celebrated the win with the team on the final whistle.