Fisher 2-1 Erith Town - We battled until the end and got a huge win, says Fisher boss Dean Harrison

Fisher 2 – 1 Erith Town
Location
Kickoff	23/03/2015 19:45

FISHER  2-1  ERITH TOWN
Southern Counties East Football League
Monday 23^rd March 2015
Stephen McCartney reports from Champion Hill Stadium

ERITH TOWN joint-manager Joe Ford admits his club have got a massive battle on their hands after losing the Southern Counties East Football League Basement showdown at Fisher.

 

A crowd of 122 took advantage of reduced admission prices to see Fisher snatch only their seventh league win of the season as both of their goals came at the end of each half.

The Dockers were gifted the lead when Kadeem Ajeon’s 30-yard free-kick from the left flank dipped underneath the body of Fisher keeper Charlie Payne, who kept his side in the game with some smart saves.

But two teasing crosses from Fisher right-back Kieron Tarbie were finished off by Max Rothwell, and striker Luke Haidarovic, who completed a smash-and-grab raid with 46:15 on the clock at the end of the second half.

Erith Town remain rooted to the foot of the table with 22 points from 30 games, while Fisher remain one place above them on 28 points with a game in hand.

Fisher boss Dean Harrison was delighted that his side’s third home win of the season gave them a fighting chance of beating the drop.

“Take the three points. Happy with the three points,” he said.

“We battled until the end and we got a win. It’s a huge win. We knew the importance of tonight’s game. We didn’t play well but we battled hard and I’m pleased with the way that we defended and worked as a unit.

“I was a little bit anxious about it to be honest.  We knew how big it was and we knew if we lost tonight then we’re in trouble.

“We’ve still got a long way to go, but tonight was massive.”

Ford, meanwhile, admits his side are the favourites to be relegated at the end of the season.

“Gutted to be honest with you. It was a crucial game tonight. We drummed into the lads before the game about how important it was and we thought if we lost tonight it’s going to be a long road in terms of the relegation battle that we’ve got ahead.

“Tonight was a chance to get level on points (with Fisher), albeit they’ve got a game in hand but it was a chance to get level with them and put a little bit of pressure on some other people as well.

“We prepared the lads right. They were spot on in the warm-up.  Their attitude going into the game was superb.

“We tookd a lead. As the old cliché says, we blew it! We blew the lead from going 1-0 up, we eventually lost the game 2-1 just through two poor goals to concede.”

Erith Town, who went into the game on back-to-back defeats, squandered an excellent chance to open the scoring after only 109 seconds.

Kery Kedze played the ball into Richard Morgan, who played a reverse pass to put in striker Romone McCrae, who stroked his right-footed shot past the right-hand post from 12-yards.

“You expect Romone to score from there, there’s no bones about it, he’s got to finish and he’s not taken the chance early on,” said Ford.

“That would put us in the driving seat going on to the end of the game.  It weren’t to be though so early on in the game. You’ve just got to get him going again. There’s no point drowing your sorrows straight away. It was a good opportunity wasted.”

Fisher lacked quality for large chunks of the game, but they created an opening after ten minutes.

Femi Akinwande released Alfie Roche down the right and his low centre was sliced behind by Chidi-James Williams-Agunabor.

Jake McIntyre swung in the resulting corner from the right, which goalkeeper Joe Hagan punched down towards Akinwande, who drilled a deflected shot past the left-hand post from 10-yards.

Former Fisher keeper Hagan was forced into making a smart low save at his near post to turn Jordan Adekunle’s whipped in cross from the left around the post after the winger was released by Akinwande.

Fisher created a good move in the 20^th minute, which they should have finished off.

Adekunle progressed down the left flank to whip in a deep cross towards the far post, which was headed back across goal by Tarbie but Haidarovic’s stopping header from eight-yards went over.

“There wasn’t too much to write home about,” admitted Harrison.

“We had a couple of chances. We knew their back four would be flat and we knew we could get in behind their back four but we didn’t do it enough and when we did there was a couple of little moments there but not too much to churp about.”

Erith Town went close again when Kedze cut in from the right to play the ball to McCrae’s feet inside the Fisher box.  He laid the ball back to Morgan, who took a touch and drilled his right-footed shot wide from 20-yards.

But a howler from Fisher keeper Payne gifted the Dockers a lucky 27^th minute lead.

Ajeon swung in a right-footed free-kick from the left touchline from 30-yards, which dipped and bounced underneath the keeper’s body to bounce up into the near corner.

“It was lucky,” admitted Ford.

“One thing I will say is we try to get the lads’ very organised from set-plays. They’re all told their jobs and what do do from free-kicks. It’s one of the things when Martin (Ford) and I came in here we felt that it could be a strong point for us with some of the size of the boys that we’ve got.

“Kadeem’s put in a great whip with plenty of pace on it. Yes, a bit of luck, the goalkeeper probably made a bit of an error there and will want to stamp that out because it was a bit of luck.

“The movement was right in the box. It just evaded everyone and because all of the boys’ movement was right, I felt they lost their markers, done things correctly and they’re all run past the ball and it’s snuck in the corner.”

Harrison added: “Cheap free-kick to give away and Charlie’s got to do better. He knows that.  He’s disappointed with himself.

“But he made up for it with two fantastic saves so everyone makes Ricks. He’s picked himself up and he’s recovered.  He did well. He got his head up and finished the game well.”

Erith Town winger, Morgan cut in and unleashed a right-footed drive from 25-yards, which was saved low down by the Fisher keeper.

Payne, however, showed great character to bounce back from his earlier blunder as he went on to make some fine saves.

Kedze and McCrae linked up well and the ball came out to Paul Springett on the right, who whipped in a deep cross into the box, which was flicked on by McCrae and Payne dived high to his left to prevent Thomas Youngs scoring.

Ford said: “At 1-0 up, you’re in dreamworkd really.  We had most of the game. I felt we could go on and create a second, possibly a third goal.

“Thomas Youngs has had a great opportunioty to make it two just before the break and if that goes in, obviously it’s a game changer.”

Fisher left-back McIntyre swung in a free-kick from the right-hand side, which was destined to dip in underneath the bar but Hagan pushed the ball over the bar.

Ford said: “Joe Hagan’s a goalkeeper that came highly recommended to me. We’re very lucky to have two good goalkeepers. We’ve got Joel Hannington, whose on loan from Welling United and with Joe Hagan coming in from Chipstead, they’ve both been fighting eachother for competition.”

Fisher grabbed the equaliser with 44:27 on the clock through Rothwell’s second goal for the club.

Tarbie whipped in a lovely cross from the right which saw Haidarovic challenge Dwayne Campbell at the near post and Rothwell poked his shot into the bottom right-hand corner from six-yards.

Harrison said: “Fantastic ball from Kieron and it’s a scrappy goal. I’ve been after one of them – we don’t score anouth scrappy goals in the six-yard box in those kind of areas and I’m happy with that.”

Ford added: “It’s just one of those things at the moment.  We conceded as well against Rochester late on and we’ve conceded in stoppage time in silly points of the game and you just want to see things out. They didn’t do that and the lads’ switched off.

“As I said to them at half-time, you’re team talk absolutely changes from positives to a negative (after conceding) right on the stroke of half-time.

“There was a bit of confusion in the box. I spoke to my goalkeeper personally it’s not his fault by any means.  I feel he’s got to get his two centre halves out of his six-yard box after the original clearance goes out.

“I don’t think we got out quick enough and the ball’s come in and if we retreated to our eighteen-yard box like the boys should have done then they would have been caught offside.

“A little bit of confision in there and the guy’s built on that and got his toe on that.”
It was a good time for Fisher to score and it changed Harrison’s team talk slightly.

“Yes, it did. It did to a point but not particularly because I weren’t happy with the way that we were playing and the things that we were doing so I didn’t change it too much.  I was a little bit happy to go in level!”

Ford added: “At 1-0 up, a minute before half-time, you feel that you’re going to get in at half-time at 1-0.  You’re team talk completely different, to get done right at the end is obviously a massive blow to us.”

Both teams struggled to keep possession of the ball, giving the ball away at the first opportunity on plenty of occasions.

“We didn’t have a lot of composure on the ball tonight,” admitted Harrison.

“We didn’t find areas, we didn’t control the game. We didn’t get the ball down enough and that’s something we’re disappointed with because we knew that we can play in those areas so we need to have a look at it.”

Erith Town were to be denied the lead in the 56^th minute when Youngs’ run saw him reach the by-line and his cross beat Payne but Rothwell was on the line to hack the ball towards safety.

Erith Town squandered a better chance when Youngs released Ajeon down the left and he wrapped his foot around the ball from the by-line but McCrae powered his near post header over the bar from six-yards.

Ford said; “I’m sitting there in the dug-out and I don’t want to sound big-headed or anything, I thought there was only going to be one winner of the game.

“Even at 1-1 it was all us going forward. They had the odd counter atrack but I felt we defended quite well.”

Youngs then cut into the box from the left and his low right-footed drive forced Payne to make a smart low save to his right to push the ball away towards safety.

But as the game ticked towards the final 20 minutes, both teams knew how important it was to claim the three points.

Ford agreed, saying, “I’m not going to lie to you, with 10 mintes from the end, a draw’s not good for us. We went for it a little bit. It was a must-win game for both clubs and we’ve had all the possession in the second half and to be done on the counter attack like we was, was very frustrating!”

Harrison added: “We didn’t create enough at all! We weren’t great on the ball. We didn’t put the ball in the right areas, what we spoke about we didn’t threaten their back four enough.

“They’re a good side going forward. Martin’s done a good job with the players he’s got, they attack very well.  We knew they wouldn’t be as solid at the back but they attack very well.”

Erith Town substitute Ola Kukoyi shrugged off the attentions of Fisher cental defender Mike Aziaya to drill his angled drive towards goal and Payne produced a great save high to his right to tip the ball over.

But Erith Town appeared favourites to go on and win the game as Fisher lacked any quality going forward.

Fisher debutant Ikechi Eze failed to make a name for himself when he was left in space some 30-yards from goal but his right-footed drive was off target.

Fisher forced a corner, which Akinwande swung out towards the edge of the box but an unmarked Haidarovic hooked his right-footed volley high over the bar.

The home fans were expecting their side to settle for their eighth league draw of the season, but Fisher snatched a vital victory at the death when they hit Erith Town on the counter attack.

Rothwell swept the ball out wide to Tarbie, who whipped in a low cross into the box and Haidarovic pounced on the ball to sweep his right-footed shot across the keeper, past a couple of defenders to find the far corner from 12-yards.



WINNER: Fisher striker Luke Haidarovic grabs a late winner in the Southern Counties East Football League Basement Battle against Erith Town.
Photograph: Dave Anderson

Harrison said: “It was a nice little move. It’s nice that that happened because we had Canterbury last week, we had one disallowed in the 88^th minute for a dubious offside.  We hit the bar against Phoenix in stoppage time and tonight we got one!

“It went for us. It makes a change. It’s nice. It’s a great time to score the winner, a great time. You’re not going to get a better time.”

Ford added: “We gone from one end to the other. It’s come from a poor free-kick that we under hit that got cleared and all off a sudden we’re on the back foot.

“People haven’t picked up their runners in the box and to be fair, credit to him, it’s a good finish, a strike across the goalkeeper. It’s a good finish.

“The only thing that disappointed me was their right-back went forward twice all night and got two crosses in and they’ve scored two goals.

“It’s very disappointing in the way that we’ve conceded the second goal.

Erith Town finished the game with ten-men after Springett was forced off on a stretcher with an injury to his right-foot.  The Dockers had earlier lost right-back George Savage and central defender Campbell to hamstring injuries.

Ford said: “I’ve got nothing but credit to say to Paul Springett. He was a joy to watch at times. The determination since he’s come in, he wasn’t getting as much game time at Erith & Belvedere as he would have liked but he’s just come here to play football.

“I’ve just sat down (in the dressing room) at the end with the boys and said if I had 11 Paul Springett’s we would have won the game comfortably. He put his heart on the line. He hit tackles that he had no right in hitting tonight. He was superb. He was all around the pitch. His talking was brilliant and he’s going to be a big blow if he’s out long-term.

“They were saying outside it was a suspected broken right leg. When he walked in the changing room it was such a relief to me (it wasn’t) because that’s the horrible side of football.

“He was head and shoulders above everyone. I told the boys if they had just maybe 20% of what he done tonight in terms of commitment levels, his tackles and his passion and desire to win tonight then we would have got something out of the game.”

Fisher have eight league games left to play, starting with a home game against a Deal Town side that are hitting form at the right time, sitting in fourteenth-place in the table with 33 points from 31 games.

Despite the vital win, Harrison admits his side cannot take their feet off the gas.

“It doesn’t ease any pressure, we’ve still got a long way to go.  We’re still bang in it,” he said.

“We’ve got some tough games coming up, Deal and Rochester so the pressure is still massively on.

“We’ve got to keep grinding out results, it’s all we can do. We’ve got to work as a unit, work hard for each other and try to win games and get points.”

A crowd of 122 watched tonight’s dog-fight and Harrison added: “It’s good. It’s a bottom of the table clash so I’m sure it would have interested a lot of people.

“It wasn’t the best of games but it was a battle. It was end-to-end at times.”

Erith Town have seven left and face second-placed Erith & Belvedere (home); third-placed Ashford United (away); fifth-placed Greenwich Borough (away) and fourth-placed Tunbridge Wells (home) next.

“We’ve got a massive battle on our hands,” admitted Ford.

“It will be silly for me to sit here and say that it will be easy for us to get out of it because it’s not going to be easy to get out at all.

“We’ve got to make the six point gap disappear and then we’ve got to get points on the board to go above those who are there.

“We’re in a tough situation at the moment at the moment.

“You’ve got to beat the bigger teams now. I’m not going to say it’s going to be easy, because it’s not. We’ve got the talent in our squad. We’ve certainly got the players who are capable of doing it.  It’s just whether they can pull themselves together after another disappointing result tonight and go again Saturday against Erith & Belvedere – they don’t come any harder than that!”

Fisher:  Charlie Payne, Kieron Tarbie, Jake McIntyre, Al-Hassan Oshilaja (Ikechi Eze 46), Mike Aziaya, Hassan Janneh, Alfie Roche (Frazer Bent 60), Max Rothwell, Luke Haidarovic, Femi Akinwande, Jordan Adekunle (Troy Abbey 73).
Subs: Ali Musa, Chas Davis

Goals: Max Rothwell 45, Luke Haidarovic 90

Booked: Kieron Tarbie 16, Al-Hassan Oshilaja 37, Mike Aziaya 67

Erith Town: Joe Hagan, George Savage (Sam Gent 58), Koby Botwe, Chidi-James Williams-Agunabor, Dwayne Campbell (Christian Howells 70), Paul Springett, Kery Kedze (Ola Kukoyi 65), Kadeem Ajeon, Romone McCrae, Thomas Youngs, Richard Morgan.
Subs: Elyon Marshall-Katung, Joel Hannington

Goal: Kadeem Ajeon 27

Booked: Sam Gent 88

Attendance: 122
Referee: Mr Craig Burton (Rochester)
Assistants: Mr Christopher Dodd (Eltham, London SE9) & Mr Philip Dunkley (Nunhead, London SE15)