Fisher 2-2 Tunbridge Wells - We've dropped too many points to win title, says Martin Larkin

FISHER  2-2  TUNBRIDGE WELLS
Southern Counties East Football League
Monday 24^th February 2014
Stephen McCartney reports from Champion Hill Stadium

TUNBRIDGE WELLS manager Martin Larkin says his side have dropped out of the Southern Counties East Football League title race with thirteen games remaining.

The Wells would have leapfrogged over Whyteleafe and leaders Ashford United to the summit had they followed up Saturday’s 7-1 home win over Lordswood with a win over a Fisher side in the bottom five tonight.

And things were on course when Tom Davey scored from a free-kick to give the visitors’ the lead against the run of play.

Fisher equalised when striker Junior James powered home a header following a 70-yard run on the break from his strike partner Stephen Ita.

Fisher lost goalkeeper Billy Hensman, 18, to a shoulder injury and with no replacement on the bench they played right-back Aaron Seales, 23, for the remaining 53 minutes of the game.

Fisher went into the half-time break with a deserved lead through a curling free-kick from influential skipper Danny Maguire, but Tunbridge Wells grabbed a point when super-sub Richard Sinden came off the bench to slot home.

Fisher finished the game with ten-men after midfielder Harry Draper picked up his second yellow card in the final six minutes.

“It was a very fast, frenetic game, lots of tackles flying in, lots of chances, lots of breakaway stuff, both teams playing quite quick on the break,” said Larkin afterwards.

“We’re disappointed not to win. We’re disappointed when we don’t win any game so a draw was probably a fair result.”

Fisher manager Billy Walton was full of praise for his side.

“I’m chuffed to bits considering we played a very good side for nearly 60 minutes without a goalkeeper when our right-back went in goal and the last 10 minutes we went down to ten-men with the ridiculous sending off of Harry Draper so I’m more than chuffed,” said Walton.

“What done I for me, one of their players walked past the dressing room as they were coming out and he turned round to one of his team mates and said “these are s**t aren’t they?” and the reply was ”yes” from one of his team mates.

“I went to tell the lads that they’ve come down here to give us no respect whatsoever and to tell us that we’re s**t so I thought we gave them a second opinion on that right.

“What the lad has to learn - I hope he reads this report and read our club’s history and how big we are compared to them. We’ve been a Conference club and won trophy after trophy. They’ve won a little cup once upon a time. He’ll need to have a look at Fisher’s history!”

This was Fisher’s first competitive game since they beat Canterbury City 3-2 six weeks ago, but they came out of the traps well.

Left-back Piers Hanifan progressed up the pitch before cutting inside and playing the ball inside to Billy Walton (junior), where visiting keeper Steve Lawrence dived to his right to claw away the 25-yard effort.

Maguire played the ball into Draper, whose right-footed drive bounced into Lawrence’s gloves, before Fisher created a third chance.

Maguire whipped in a low cross from the right and James couldn’t steer the ball into the net. The ball came out to Draper who powered his right-footed drive straight at Lawrence from 30-yards.

Walton said: “What we find, I keep on saying when we play at home let’s get at teams from the start, let’s put them under pressure.  They’ve travelled up here, let’s go and do what teams do to us. They know we’re going to play football. And we got out of the blocks really well and they’ve done exactly what I asked.

“I asked the forwards to press them high up the pitch and they pressed and we pressed all over.

“It was a little compliment to my mate (Lordswood manager) Simon Halsey, who gave me a little report on them so I did a few things on what he told me to do and it worked for us so I’m more than happy.”

Larkin was full of praise for his new goalkeeper.

“I thought it was pretty even in the first 15-20 minutes. We had a couple of chances and they had a couple of chances.

“He was with us in pre-season. We didn’t need him. He went away, he’s part of the Maidstone Academy so they sent him out to Woodstock Sports and we kept an eye on him.

“Chris (Oladogba) has got a long-term knee injury so we brought him in to have a decent look and he’s a good lad.”

But Tunbridge Wells grabbed the lead against the run of play in the sixteenth minute through midfielder Tom Davey’s 22-yard free-kick.

Fisher’s wall was at fault for the goal after Davey drilled his left-footed free-kick underneath their feet. The ball deflected off the wall and slid along the deck and nestled into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

Larkin said: “He’s scored two or three from that sort of range. He normally goes over the wall and puts it in the top corner, but the ball went through which we’re not going to complain about. A goal’s a goal, but yes, he’s pretty good with that, from that kind of range.”

A disappointed Walton added: “The wall jumped expecting him to shoot. Give him his due the lad, he hit it underneath them and it went straight in but it was a good free-kick.”

However, Walton was pleased with his side’s reaction and Fisher almost restored parity on the break within 170 seconds.

Maguire progressed down the right and played a low pass inside and James put his head in his hands after flashing his shot just past the foot of the post.

Tunbridge Wells deployed their direct style of play halfway through the half when Lawrence pumped a long ball forward and Fisher’s defence failed to deal with the bouncing ball and Andy Irvine sent his right-footed chip over the crossbar from 20-yards.

Fisher produced a fine move when James played the ball inside to Walton, who swept the ball out to left-back Piers Hanifan but his left-footed drive from 25-yards deflected into Lawrence’s arms.

But Fisher deservedly equalised in the 29^th minute, courtesy of a quality counter-attacking goal.

Tunbridge Wells were awarded a free-kick down the left and Davey swung in with his left-foot, which was gathered by Hensman.

The Fisher goalkeeper bowled the ball out to Ita, who picked the ball up inside his own half on the left-hand side.

He burst forward making a 70-yard run with the ball to reach the by-line before whipping in a brilliant cross towards the near post for James to power his bullet header into the top left-hand corner from seven-yards, leaving the goalkeeper rooted to the spot.

Walton said: “I’ve been talking to Stephen quite a lot. He’s got a great left foot and he’s got bundles of pace and I said to him get into a race with players because he’s very quick.  I said to him tonight as soon as you get past them whip in a cross. We’ll get people going in and it worked perfect for us. A great cross in, Junior came in and planted the header, which he’s missed in training for the last seven times I think so it was great. I’m really pleased.”

“It was a good cross, a good header,” added Larkin.

“We feel that we could’ve engaged a little bit earlier before he got a cross in from the by-line.  We could’ve got tighter to him on the half-way line but it’s not very often when you come to places like this that players on the left hand side run 70 yards and whip a perfect ball into the box.  Normally it’s slices out for a goal-kick so he’s got a bit of ability about him. It was a good header. It was a good goal to be fair. A really good breakaway goal.  It’s a goal we score quite a bit.  We probably could’ve engaged him a little bit earlier on but fair play to him, it was a good cross.”

Fisher faced a mountain to climb when Hensman was helped off the pitch with an injury to his left shoulder after 37 minutes.

Tunbridge Wells left-back Lewis Mingle whipped in a cross and Irvine hooked his volley towards goal, which forced Hensman to dive to his right to parry, but was forced off after receiving treatment.

Walton brought on Kieron Campbell, right-back Seales donned the gloves for the first time in his career and Harvey Hanifan moved back to slot in at right-back.

“Bill’s got a problem with his left shoulder,” revealed Walton.

“I think it’s about the third time it’s gone this season. I feel really sorry for the lad because he trains hard. He gets back and then it pops out again so we’ve got to have a look at Bill properly. Someone’s got to take him to a specialist and have a look at his shoulder.

“I’d like to speak to him and his dad and say to them let’s go and see somebody properly and see if we can sort it out. Maybe he might need an operation, I don’t know.”

When asked whether Seales has played in goal before, the Fisher boss replied: “I just asked for a volunteer really. I said who’s going to volunteer? Basically Aaron came forward and said he’ll go in goal.”

Tunbridge Wells called the stand-in goalkeeper into swift action when Irvine hooked pass released Ian Parsons, but the striker’s right-footed angled drive had Seales diving to his left to parry the ball beside his near post.

Fisher broke away and James used his pace to good effect, cutting in from the right before cracking a left-footed angled drive, which forced Lawrence to dive to his left to push behind for a corner.

Tunbridge Wells produced a sweeping move, which included Mingle and Davey, before Jake Beecroft curled his right-footed drive around the far post from 35-yards, much to the relief of the diving Seales.

But Fisher went into the half-time lead with a deserved lead as Maguire’s seventh goal of the season arrived six minutes and 8 seconds into time added on.

Davey took Ita’s feet away from him down the left channel and Maguire stepped up to whip in an excellent right-footed free-kick from 25-yards, which curled around the struggling keeper to bounce into the near corner.

Walton said: “I’m going to take credit for that because I said to him we had a little bit of wind with us and I ran down the touchline and said to him to have a go.

“He can deliver the ball on six-pence. He’s got a great delivery on him.  It’s only a couple of minutes to go (before half-time), whip it in and he’s done it. He’s done exactly that. He’s whipped it straight in. He’s scored about four or five of them this year.”

Walton added: “I don’t think in terms of possession we had loads of possession. Most probably shaded it a little bit possession wise in the first half but I thought on chances we more than had the better chances so it just goes to show you can produce good players and get a team going with no money whatsoever.”

Larkin added: “Davey went across him to try to get a leg on him, which was probably right in front of his eye line so the keeper lost it in flight.  He almost kept it out. The ball was put into a decent area. Unfortunately Davey distracted him coming across.  It’s only his second game for us. He’s been superb in training. These things are going to happen but outfield players make mistakes all the time so I’m not too fussed.”

Tunbridge Wells created the first chance of the second half when Davey swung in a left-footed free-kick from the right which dipped just over the crossbar from 35-yards.

Jon Pilbeam then clipped his left-footed free-kick over the wall from 35-yards, which was caught by Seales.

However, the stand-in was at fault for Tunbridge Wells’ 62^nd minute equaliser.

Scott Whibley pumped a long ball over the top of the defence to release Sinden through on goal, but instead of coming out to narrow the angle, Seales was stuck on his line and Sinden accepted the gift to slot home his right-footed effort.

Larkin said: “It was a good pass through. I call it a through ball rather than a ball over the top!

“Sinders went through and a good finish, which is what he’s been doing for the last 50 years or for how many years he’s been doing it.  Very composed and he struck it well so it was a good finish.

“Night’s like this when you need a goal he’s always there to go and put pressure on.  He’s scored some very important goals over the last year or so and tonight’s another one.”

Walton added: “I know Richard from old and I’ve shouted myself horse. I’ve known Richard will be a goal poacher and he plays on the shoulder and gets in behind you. I just couldn’t get the message on to people to watch him.

“A long ball out of defence from Tunbridge Wells, our centre half Leyton Francis should’ve headed it clear. It’s gone straight over his head and Richard’s just run through and I think Aaron had deep sea divers boots on and just stayed on the line. He made up for it though!”

Sinden got his chance after Ian Parsons was stretchered off the pitch with a foot injury and Tunbridge Wells also lost another striker in the shape of Irvine, who hobbled off with a knock to his right ankle.

Larkin said: “Irvs got smashed in the box so he’s ankle is twice the size it should be but we’ll see how that settles down and Parsons got hit on a follow through. The tackle caught him and he can’t feel his feet and he’s been taken to hospital.”

Fisher defender Tom Carr escaped punishment for scything down Brett Ince down the right and Davey whipped in another excellent delivery towards the near post, which was headed over by Whibley.

Seales, however, made amends for Sinden’s goal when he produced a brilliant save to earn his side their sixteenth point of the season.

Ince drilled his right-footed free-kick over the wall and the ball was destined to sail into the roof of the net but Seales dived full-length to his left, stuck out both of his arms to push the ball over the bar.

“We had a couple of free-kicks and corner’s whipped in to the box but we didn’t quite have that proper one-on-one chance that we would’ve finished,” said Larkin.

Walton paid his defender a glowing tribute.

He said: “I think he’s pulled off a save that Gordon Banks would be proud off!

“I’m chuffed to bits for the lad. It’s great.  A bit of football theatre wasn’t it?  A lad going in and being the hero. That’s what I like. Someone who wants to step forward and be the hero and he was the hero tonight. Good luck to him.”

Tunbridge Wells threw the kitchen sink at Fisher for the remainder of the game with a number of balls being pumped into the box.

Beecroft clipped the ball up to Pilbeam, who unleashed a right-footed 40-yard drive straight into Seales’ borrowed gloves.

Fisher did receive a slice of luck along the way too.

Davey whipped in a left-footed corner from the right and Andy Boyle came up from the back to glance his near post header on to the top of the crossbar and behind.

Fisher created a couple of chances as this entertaining game edged towards the final ten minutes.

Campbell knocked the ball down into James’ path, who hit a first time shot with his right-foot, which deflected just wide of the post.

Maguire swung in the resulting corner and James held his head in his arms after looping his shot over from the edge of the box.

Fisher finished the game with ten-men after Draper walked following a crunching tackle on Sinden.

Both managers were asked their thoughts on the red-card.

Walton said: “I’m going to go in now and speak to the referee. That’s just a great tackle! He won the ball. He took the player after the ball. It weren’t malicious, it weren’t nasty. I think they scream for everything don’t they? They scream, scream and scream and when we get tackled we don’t say a thing!

“I’m not going to complain about the referee but I keep that to myself what I think of the referee.”

Larkin said: “Nowadays you can’t tackle with that velocity. If he went for the ball or not I don’t really know.  I’m not really fussed. I don’t think it had an outcome on the game at all.”

Tunbridge Wells almost snatched it at the death when Davey’s free-kick found its way over to Mingle, who drilled a shot across goal heading towards the top far corner, but the ball smashed into Whibley’s face at the far post and the defender nodded the ball over the bar from close range.

Larkin added: “It was unlucky. Scott got the ball smashed at him and he’s reacted a little bit late and the ball’s gone up rather than down. He’s a centre half, not a centre forward so chances on another day go in the back of the net.”

When asked about the result and where that leaves the club in the title race, Larkin replied: “It’s a point more than we had this morning, that’s the way we have to look at it!

“We’re disappointed when we drop points anyway.  We want to win every game that we play in.

“I’ve got a two hour drive home. I’m sure after that I’ll calm down a bit and it’s one more point than we had this morning, that’s all you can ask really.

“We’ve dropped too many points this season and Whyteleafe and Ashford have had a fantastic league campaigns so far.  It’s just unbelievable records so all credit to them so I expect those two will win their games in hand when they’re played out and will break away and go and fight for the top so it will be interesting to see which of those two will win it.

“All we can do is win games to try to put pressure on them, but those two teams have got four games in hand. We’ve dropped too many points.  It will be a case of how high can we finish.  There the ones that have got this fantastic record from the start of the year.  I’m sure they will be the two that’s battling it out.  Whyteleafe have only got league games to play. Ashford have got the semi-final to play which might distract a little bit but they’ve gone and strengthened with Dave Cook and Pat Kingwell coming in (from Hythe Town). 

“It will be interesting to see those two battle it out and see where it ends up.

Ashford United have claimed 42 points from 15 games, Tunbridge Wells 41 from 19 and Whyteleafe 40 from 15.

Larkin added: “Any other year we’d be top. We’re scoring a lot of goals and won a lot of games. We’ve just come up in a year where those two have gone on fantastic runs.  Ashford have dropped three points all year and Whyteleafe have dropped five points all year. That’s just a sensational run of wins and they probably deserve to be up there.

“Nothing’s even conceded. At the same time people are saying we’re not really in it. I’m not really fussed.

“At the end of the year all the points add up and we’ll see where we are. We’ve got to play everyone.  They’ve both got tough March. They’ve got a lot of games so have we. It’s going to be a frantic end to the year because everyone’s got so many games to play so the team that can get those midweek wins, the Saturday stuff takes care of itself. It’s when you have to play every Tuesday and Thursday so those teams will have a little taste of what we had last year with the games backing up.

“I’m sure one of those two will come away with it and win in the end.”

Larkin reflected on his 200 games in charge of the club.

“I suppose we’ve built a decent platform in these 200 games,” he said. “We’ve won more than we’ve lost, increased the fan base from an average of 80 when I took over to 300 now so I must be doing something right.”

Walton had the final word, saying: “Disappointed with the point really. I think if we had a full quota and a goalkeeper I think we quite possibly could’ve won. I’m disappointed with the point to be honest with you. I’d like to take all three.

“I love the big games. I love upsetting a few of them. I’ve upset them tonight and stopped them in their tracks.  They thought after their result on Saturday they were going to come down here and whack poor little Fisher – they haven’t have they?

“I hope Tunbridge Wells go on and be very successful this season with their style of football.”

Fisher: Billy Hensman (Kieron Campbell 37), Aaron Seales, Piers Hanifan, Tom Carr, Leyton Francis, Billy Walton, Danny Maguire, Harry Draper, Junior James, Stephen Ita, Harvey Hanifan.
Subs: Kieron Burrell, Michael Daramola, Daniel Fleming, Sean Sinclair

Goals: Junior James 29, Danny Maguire 45

Booked: Harry Draper 18, Piers Hanifan 90

Sent Off: Harry Draper 84

Tunbridge Wells: Steve Lawrence, Jason Bourne, Lewis Mingle, Jake Beecroft, Scott Whibley, Andy Boyle, Jon Pilbeam, Tom Davey, Andy Irvine (Joe Fuller 46), Ian Parsons (Richard Sinden 58), Brett Ince.
Subs: Keelan Mooney, Michal Czanner

Goals: Tom Davey 16, Richard Sinden 62

Booked: Tom Davey 45, Richard Sinden 68

Attendance: 72
Referee: Mr Jack Owen (Sevenoaks)
Assistants: Mr Conteh Nixon (Beckenham) & Mr Tom Marshall (Eltham, London SE9)