Match Report: Fisher 3-4 Whitstable Town

FISHER COMMUNITY DAY

Fisher 3-4 Whitstable Town
Saturday 18 November
SCEFL Premier Division

Match Sponsors: Millwall Community Trust https://www.millwallcommunity.org.uk/
Match Ball Sponsors: Millwall Community Trust https://www.millwallcommunity.org.uk/

Scorers: Eniye Amgbaduba (28 mins), Callum Flynn (50 mins), Andres Tobon (90 mins)
Attn: 398

In front of a record league attendance at St Paul’s of 386, Fisher fell to a defeat against an in form Whitstable Town, by the odd goal in seven, in a pulsating Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division game.
There was a debut for recent signing Callum Flynn at left back, with Nathan Tshola deputising for the inured Tyron Mbuenimo at the base of a midfield diamond and Manny Shoderu also recalled to the starting eleven. On the bench there was return from injury for both Jospeh Adewunmi and Andres Tobon.
A cagey opening saw both sides push the ball around well but with Whitstable seeming to have the upper hand, however space was at a premium, with both teams pressing each other high up the pitch. Fisher’s first chance fell to Eniye Amgbaduba, as he just failed to get over a cross from Inesh Sumithran as saw his header fly over the bar.
The opening goal arrived on nineteen minutes. A break down the right of the penalty area saw Mark Chidi get tangled with Manny Oloyede and in the resulting tumble the referee pointed to the spot. If Fisher felt a little unlucky with the decision the outcome of the spot kick confirmed their bad luck as Josh Williams kick struck the post and then got a slight touch off keeper Arthur Leblond’s hip on the way back out allowing Willaims to knock home the rebound, whereas without the touch he would have been penalised for a second touch of the ball from the penalty.
The goal saw Fisher up their game and respond well, so it was no surprise that, shorty before the half hour mark, they were level. Having won a free kick wide on the left, an intended delivery into the box crashed back off the wall, allowing Yiadom-Konadu to spread the ball out to the left where Inesh Sumithran sent over a peach of a cross that allowed Eniye Amgbaduba to rise highest and power a header into the near corner to equalise with a text-book centre forward’s goal.
The second spell started in explosive fashion with three goals in the opening ten minutes. The first saw Whitstable retake the lead as some poor decision making in the Fisher midfield coughed up possession on the left and Oloyede was able to square the ball to Harvey Smith, who was given too much time and space in the Fisher area, allowing him to recover the ball from behind him, turn and wrong foot Leblond in goal with a low reverse shot into the near post.
Again, Fisher responded well and equalised minutes later out of nothing. A long throw from the right looked to be causing little problem for the Whitstable defence, but a wet ball saw it skim off a defenders attempted clearing header and found debutant Callum Flynn lurking at the back of the area, where he was able to hook the ball back into the far corner with a sweeping shot from his right foot.
Parity was not to last long as three minutes later Whitstable were ahead again, and once more some clumsy defending was to blame. A high ball down the centre was left by both Leblond and Imoru for the other to deal with and Oloyede needed no further invitation to nip in and lift the ball over the stranded keeper into the unguarded net.
Once again Fisher rolled up their sleeves and worked hard to create another equaliser. However, despite a lot of huffing and puffing and fresh legs coming on from the bench it was only the late introduction of Andres Tobon that looked likely to unlock the door.
With time almost up Whitstable looked to have sealed the game when more poor decision making in the defensive third saw Fisher concede a free kick and after a long delay for treatment to various tiring players on both sides, Josh Oliver struck a fine free kick round the wall and into the net with Leblond well beaten and Fisher ruing the disappearance of the tactic of yesteryear of putting players on the posts in such situations.
With a two goal cushion it seemed as if Whitstable would easily play out time. However, Fisher once again responded immediately and a chipped ball into a crowded box saw Fred Obasa nip in to beat the keeper to the ball a despite being forced wide was able to square for Andres Tobon to hook home and set up an exciting five minutes of injury time for the bumper crowd.
The home faithful almost got their wishes of a dramatic equaliser, as with almost the last kick of the game a long ball across the box again found Callum Flynn lurking, but somehow Dan Eason in the Whitstable goal shovelled his low drive over the bar and his defenders managed to head away the resulting corner as the referee brought a halt to the proceedings with the final whistle.
A highly entertaining game ended in a narrow defeat against one of the leagues in form sides who will likely be in the play off shake up come the end of the season. Fisher meanwhile will need to cut out the defensive errors and poor decisions if they are to be in the mix.