Gary – the start of good things to come. Fisher 4 – 0 Snodland Town

At St Paul’s on Tuesday evening it seemed that Gary Abbott’s Fisher side had put all the worries of the league table behind them as they dispatched SCEFL Division One side Snodland Town with ease, wracking up a 4-0 win to progress in the Macron SCEFL Challenge Cup. Against the backdrop of Canary Wharf lit up behind the Wharf End goal, the Fish could easily have scored twice as many goals if the ball had run better, with the goals that did hit the back of the net coming from Tyrell McLeod-Bentley and Mickandros Mackangou before the break, with an own goal and a debut goal for Antwon McKenzie wrapping it up in the second half.

Abbo was understandably pleased to see his side stop the rot and finally get the result that we’ve all been looking for. “I thought we had 3 to 5 outstanding players last night, it was great to see it clicking into place. You have to mention Spencer Forte and Joel Mensah in the middle of the park, they haven’t stopped running all night and they looked so comfortable in there. At times it looks like Spencer must have lost the ball but he shifts his body shape so well to defend it. Toyo Adesina coming in at right back was great, he kept going forward with so much energy and pace all night – particularly in the second half. Scott Wason looked comfortable at the back tonight, once he build his pace up he’ll be a real asset back there. Overall it was a much better team performance; we have been working really hard on getting the ball back within 5 seconds of losing it and I think that showed last night.”

Having seen the referee give a penalty against him which even the opposition players couldn’t understand debutant goalkeeper Ashley Davy picked himself up and did enough to put off the Snodland striker who slammed the resulting spot kick against the bar in the first period. After the break Davy grew into the game, commanding his box well and pulling off a pair a top drawer stops. “Ashley Davy looked comfortable in goal, making a couple of great saves to bring up the clean sheet.”

With strike partner Trey Williams putting in masses of work and somehow not getting onto the scoresheet it was front man Mickandros Mackangou who drew praise from the boss – “Mackangou up top has done well, taken his goal well and generally caused them problems as they didn’t know whether to watch him or Trey. He needs to build up his match fitness, but we will work him at training tomorrow”

“We had a good chat in the dressing room before the game about team performance and pressing to get the ball back, also sticking together because we all know we have got some good players here. For me the clean sheet was my main aim last night, and to get a convincing win and a clean sheet was pleasing. Let’s hope this is the start of good things to come. Myself and Isa are confident we will get up the table, there is no question mark there. Another win on Saturday to keep this momentum building, then we can get out there next week and have two good training sessions and look forward to the Deal Town game Saturday week at home.”

The Fish progress to play Sheppey United at home in the Second Round of the Macron SCEFL Challenge Cup, more details on that fixture will be released when confirmed. This Saturday sees more cup action at St Paul’s as we welcome Lydd Town of SCEFL Division One to Rotherhithe in the Kent Reliance Senior Trophy First Round. Kick off is 3pm, with the turnstiles open from 1.45pm.

Fisher 4 – 0 Snodland Town

Fisher goals – Tyrell McLeod Bentley ’31, Mickandros Mackagou ’36, Own Goal ’78, Antwon McKenzie ’81

Fisher Starting XI – Davy, T. Adesina, Miller (c), Wason, J. Wadman, Mensah, J. Adesina, Forte, Mackangou, Williams, McLeod-Bentley
Fisher Substitutes – Roche (on for Mackangou), Jabbie, Thompson (on for Miller), R. Wadman, McKenzie (on for Mensah)

Attendance – 83

Match Photo – OrientSteve