Sporting Club Thamesmead 2-4 Glebe - It's going to take time but eventually we will turn it around, says Owen Jones

Sporting Club Thamesmead 2 – 4 Glebe
Location	Bayliss Avenue, Thamesmead, London SE28 8NJ
Kickoff	12/12/2016 19:45

SPORTING CLUB THAMESMEAD  2-4  GLEBE
Southern Counties East Football League First Division
Monday 12^th December 2016
Stephen McCartney reports from Bayliss Avenue

SPORTING CLUB THAMESMEAD recently appointed joint-manager Owen Jones insists he will turn around the club’s fortunes after giving Glebe a scare.

The Acre went into this Southern Counties East Football League First Division game second from bottom in the table with two wins and three draws from their 15 league outings, while Glebe arrived at Bayliss Avenue in second place in the table with 12 wins and two draws from 15 league games.

So it was quite a shock when Sporting Club Thamesmead found themselves 2-0 up inside half-an-hour through Ramell Lake’s sublime free-kick and striker Aaron McCallum, who punished poor defending from a corner.

Glebe, who were without 24-goal striker Ryan Golding, goalkeeper Adam Molloy and central defender Scott Whibley through injury, grabbed a couple of goals from left-winger Fred Obasa to get them out of jail before half-time after Sporting Club Thamesmead’s goalkeeper Charlie Martin suffered a painful knee ligament injury.

Inevitably, the home side capitulated during the second half as Glebe closed the gap on league leaders Rusthall to just one point, although the Chislehurst based big-spenders do have three games in hand and retain their favourites tag to claim the league title.

Striker Elyon Marshall-Katung and winger Andreas Felipe Losada Tobon added further goals during the second half past substitute keeper Simon Vanderhook as Glebe ran out comfortable winners, in the end.

Jones, who has now lost two of his three games in joint-charge with Lee Hill, said: “Started off sloppy again.  For about 15-18 minutes or so we got into the game and went 2-0 up and then we seemed to put our foot of the gas especially when they got their first goal to make it 2-1 to us.

“I just felt we kind of backed off a bit and we didn’t compete as we did for 15-20 minutes.

“I’m not making excuses, two or three players cried off at the last minute. Jordan Keenleyside (central midfielder) is a big player for us and he was involved in a car accident so he couldn’t make it.  That messed us up a bit, it really did.

“It’s a work in progress regardless of what people want or think. It’s going to take time. I’m happy with how it’s going and I think that with the extra players that we’ll bring in, eventually it will turn around, it’s going to take time.

“We’ve got to get a little bit more fitter, a bit more taking on responsibility, get a bit more organised but I think we’ll be alright, definitely.”

Glebe manager Adam Woodward said: “We made hard work of it but as I said, three points is three points and that’s what we came for and that’s what we got.

“I thought the boys up front were exceptional once we made the change.  Ryan Golding’s got a lot of goals for us and he’s going to be a big miss.  He didn’t play tonight because he took a knock on Saturday, he’s a little bit sore and it was maybe a little bit early for him to play tonight. Adam Molloy, my goalkeeper, didn’t play tonight and he’s a big influential player for the side and my captain Scott Whibley. Any team in my opinion in this league and the league above and possibly the Ryman League will miss those three players. They’re big, big players for any side and they’re big, big players for us.” 

Glebe started the game on the front foot and played at a high temp and Sporting Club Thamesmead struggled to keep up.

Central midfielder James Day released Obasa down the right channel and he crossed for Tobon to smack his volley over the crossbar after only 59 seconds.

“As I said to the boys at half-time, we started like a house on fire but the goalkeeper didn’t have to make a save,” said Woodward.

“It’s all well and good starting like a house on fire, you’ve got to score goals from it!”

Glebe right-back Davy-Jo Anderson took a touch before whipping in a cross from the left but Obasa’s near post glancing header from eight-yards was comfortably caught by goalkeeper Martin.

Obasa then turned provider by playing a fine diagonal pass to Tobon, but his right-footed drive flashed past the post from 25-yards.

But Sporting Club Thamesmead rode the storm and grabbed the lead, totally against the run of play, with nine minutes and 59 seconds on the clock.

The home side were awarded a free-kick inside the D in a central position and Lake, who followed manager Jones to the club from Greenwich Borough, scored a great goal from 21-yards.

Playing behind lone striker McCallum, Lake stepped up and drilled his left-footed free-kick into the right-hand corner, leaving Glebe’s debutant goalkeeper Connor Pearce rooted to the spot.

Jones said: “Fantastic goal. I bet you enjoyed that didn’t you? It was a very good goal. The lad has got so much ability. He’s a fantastic player and it didn’t surprise me when he stepped up to take the free-kick. It was a great goal!”

“Worldie, absolute worldie.  Sometimes then you think it may not be your night once he puts that in,” added Woodward, who needs to curb his touch-line antics of shouting and hollering as the stress reached fever pitch.

“It was a bit of a sucker-punch after we started so well. I think maybe again for 10 minutes we sort of went to pot and conceded the second one.”

McCallum had a chance to double The Acre’s lead but his right-footed drive from 25-yards was comfortably saved by visiting keeper, who is on-loan from Ryman League Division One North side VCD Athletic.

Jones added: “The other goal that we got, that would’ve bene three. Maybe our confidence would’ve been sky high and maybe sustained the onslaught that we knew was coming. We knew they were going to throw everything at us but we didn’t deal with crosses well enough, we didn’t deal with them.”

Glebe missed a great chance to equalise in the 14^th minute following their first corner of the game, but Carson Dennis came up from the back to hit his volley wide of the left-hand post after meeting Tobon’s corner from the left.

“He’s got to score, even though he’s a centre half and in my opinion centre halves are there to head and kick, he’s six or seven yards out and he’s got to put that in the goal really,” added Woodward.

Tobon played the ball inside to central midfielder Frazer Cronin, who curled his shot around the far post from 30-yards, as Glebe struggled to concern a well-organised outfit.

Sporting Club Thamesmead’s were only a threat in the first half and another chance went begging when Lake cut a corner back to Billy Holloway, who whipped in a cross from the right for Dan Parish to send his free header just past the right-hand post from 16-yards.

“We rode our luck a little bit,” admitted Woodward.

Jones added: “Should’ve finished really, if I’m honest, but that’s what happens.  I’ve brought a group of lads together in two weeks and their still trying to understand each other’s play but you’re right, he should’ve put that in!”

Holloway found himself lurking at right-back and he played a sublime 40-yard diagonal pass to pick out Lake, who brought the ball down under control to set up winger Alain Akumwami, who curled his shot around the far post.

Glebe were poor during the first half and the home side’s holding midfielder George Jones smacked his first time shot high over the bar and into the car park from the edge of the box after Holloway floated in a free-kick.

Glebe built down the right with right-back Davy-Jo Anderson and Tobon linking up, the ball was cut back to Day, who leaned back and his 30-yard shot sailed over the crossbar.

Marshall-Katung won Glebe a free-kick, which he took himself, but his right-footed curling effort dipped just over the crossbar from 29-yards out.

But Woodward’s stress levels increased when Sporting Club Thamesmead deservedly doubled their lead with 29 minutes and 25 seconds on the clock.

Akumwami swung in a corner from the left and the ball fell at McCallum’s feet, whose low shot was cleared off the line by Steve Jerrom and Glebe failed to clear their lines and McCallum drove his shot through a crowd of players from 12-yards.

Jones said: “That’s Aaron! He works really hard, tireless running from left to right. I can’t fault the lad, great commitment! He was a bit frustrated at the end, a bit upset because all he wants are people to put the effort in and he’s right. We’ve got to be more committed to work harder in games like this.”

Woodward added: “Carson Dennis has held his hands up in the changing room at half-time. He said he lost the ball in the light, which is fair enough. I’ve lost the ball in the light quite a few times at Thamesmead.  He’s held his hands up to that.

“But we cleared the first one off the line and then we tried to dribble out of defence and that is under 7 stuff! I’ve got a kids’ side and they done exactly the same yesterday. You just have to kick it as far as you can and we’ve got to learn to do that and I was a little bit disappointed with the goal to be honest as you could tell.

“If you find yourself 2-0 down against any side in this league you’ve got to do something to get back into it.  We made the change.  We pushed Fred out wide left and pushed Steve Jerrom straight through the middle with his pace and made the change and it was a bit of an impact.”

Glebe’s played could hear Woodward shout out “I’m not watching any more of this s**t!” and they responded.

Sporting Club Thamesmead keeper Martin received treatment to his injury in the 36^th minute and was picking the ball out of his net with the clock showing 39 minutes and 5 seconds.

When asked about the keeper’s injury, Jones revealed: “He’s done something to the side of his knee. It might have been a ligament so we’ll have to wait until tomorrow or the next day to wait for the swelling to go down again. 

“It was a key moment. It did disrupt us a little bit but I thought the keeper that came on done really well.”

Cronin clipped a long ball over the top of the Sporting Club Thamesmead’s back three to put Obasa through on goal.  Jerrome was tackled strongly in the box by Mudiaga Wanogho but the ball was swept home into the top left-hand corner by Obasa from 10-yards.

Woodward said: “I’ve got to be honest with you, I thought it was a penalty, the first one, the tackle on Steve Jerrom and it’s broke to Fred, a good advantage by the referee (Tony Woods) and we’ve scored from it.

“I was quite happy to go in at half-time 2-1 if I was honest because we had to get back in and maybe a little bit of a rocket up the backside and a little bit of organisation and tell them what to do, a little bit better!”

Jones added: “I thought maybe Charlie should’ve come off his line a little bit quicker for that personally.

“We’re panicking and backing off and that’s what happens if you keep backing off and backing off, especially with the way that Glebe play They’ve got two players who are very quick and that’s all they do, a ball over the top and two players to run onto.”

Obasa’s fourteenth-goal of the season got Glebe out of jail, with the clock showing 45 minutes and 37 seconds.

The home side had dealt with George King’s inswinging corner from the right but they allowed the left-back a second bite of the cherry, swinging in a deep cross towards the far post, which was knocked back across goal by a towering Charlie McCarthy and Obasa hooked his volley into the left-hand corner from four-yards out.

“Get us out of jail! I’ll be honest with you, we was very, very lucky to go in at 2-2 at half-time,” admitted Woodward.

“Freddy is a centre forward but when I play him on the left-wing, he seems to score lots of goals so he’s playing on the left-wing at the moment. He’s chipping in with his goals, he’s a threat with his pace and he done really well tonight.”

“We managed to get in at half-time, we regrouped and we organised and second half we were much better.”

Jones added: “Again, bad marking! We’re not reacting quick enough!

“When you spring a team together, we’ve got some players who have been struggling the whole season. It’s the mentality. We’ve got to be more ruthless when we’re in front so I just think the way we reacted is not very good at the moment and we’ll work on that.”

Obasa then hit an angled drive flashing past the far post after Cronin’s pass as Glebe went in at half-time on level terms.

When asked whether Obasa’s quick double had changed his half-time team talk, Woodward replied: “No! I promise that on my kids’ life that they still got the same team talk they would have got if they were 2-0 down! I was not happy at all! I’m not happy because we’ve conceded two sloppy goals but we started so well in the first 10 minutes and we were so good in the last 5 minutes. That little 30 minutes in between we conceded goals and we looked like we were lost out there, it was like a rabbit in headlights.”

When asked about his thoughts at half-time, Jones replied: “For 15-20 minutes when we were working hard, that’s what they’ve got to get back to so from siting back and allowing them to get the two goals, we mustn’t do that.  We’ve got to keep progressing and working hard, competing with them and then we’ll get more goals but we kind of stopped for a bit, then we did again in the second half but it was too late really.”

Vanderhook came on at the start of the second half and stayed on his line following McCarthy’s free-kick and watched Obasa sweep his shot across him and past the far post after 55 seconds.

Sporting Club Thamesmead then immediately went up at the other end and a move involving Holloway and Parish saw the ball cut back to Akumwami and Parish’s first time drive sailed over the crossbar from the edge of the Glebe box.

But the hard work and desire that was evident from the home side during the first half, vanished after the break and Sporting Club Thamesmead paid the price in the 56^th minute.

The pacy Obasa was released down the left and he reached the by-line before whipping in a cross towards the near post for Marshall-Katung to volley his shot into the top right-hand corner from eight-yards.

Woodward said: “Good goal by him.  I thought he was exceptional. He has been very, very patient and he’ll tell you he’s had two ACL’s, he tore his hamstring pre-season and he’s come back, been patient, he’s been getting minutes here and there and I’m looking after him the best I can.  I thought he was man-of-the-match tonight out there. I thought he was absolutely superb.

“The good thing about Elyon, he’s been a pro with Leyton Orient but his attitude towards some of the younger players is absolutely superb. The way he organises and the way he helps them along in their game, he’s a real big credit to himself.  He has played exceptional tonight and he’s going to be massive for us this season.”

Jones added: “Unfortunately we started getting stretched and we were pulled all over the place really.”

Glebe’s fourth goal, which arrived 177 seconds later, killed the game off.

Jerrome played the ball to Tobon on the right-hand side and his deep cross was knocked back by Obasa, which flashed across goal and Tobon ran in to flick his shot into the near corner at the second attempt.

Woodward said: “Andreas was absolutely exceptional at Snodland in the second half, very quiet in the first half, came in. He’s adapting to this level of football. It’s hard for him. He’s got great feet, great delivery. He just needs to get used to the level and understand he just needs to beat his man and deliver the balls into the box.   He’s getting his kicks here and there but he is becoming really, really good for us.”

Jones admitted: “I think by then people’s minds are all over the place. People are not taking responsibility. It will get better. It will definitely get better!”

The goal shot Sporting Club Thamesmead to pieces and another McCarthy free-kick from inside his own half was met by Dennis’ header, which he planted wide from the edge of the box.

Glebe created one more clear cut chance when Day played a sublime 40-yard pass to Tobon, who cut the ball onto his right foot before drilling his shot towards goal, which was parried by Vanderhook diving to his right and David Hooker’s flag went up as Obasa slotted home.

“Thank god for that,” came Jones response.

“I thought the keeper did really well when he came on.  You can mention that in your report. I’m really pleased with the goalkeeper that came on.”

Woodward added: “Jim’s been playing with a little knock tonight, he’s come through. Real club man Jim, real leader. He’s playing with an injury tonight and I thought he was brilliant in midfield in the second half with Frazer Cronin and Sam O’Keefe when he came on.”

Sporting Club Thamesmead created the last chance of the game in the final 15 minutes.

Substitute Ermal Nurja delivered a cross from the left channel and Akumwami’s shot from the edge of the box was destined for the top right-hand corner, only for Pearce to claw the ball towards safety, high to his left.

Jones said: “It was unlucky.  I thought Alain has got to do a little bit more. He didn’t seem to be on it as he was the last game so if he can get onto it more then I think if he was sharper, he would’ve got onto it more than. If he was sharper he would’ve put that in because I’ve seen him put that in the back of the net before.”

Woodward added: “A good save. It was the only thing that Connor had to do in the second half. I thought his kicking was really good tonight. He came in and done really well for us. It was good to get him games and thanks to VCD for letting us borrow him.”

Glebe welcome fifth-from-bottom Meridian to Foxbury Avenue on Saturday, before travelling to Bromley to tackle ninth-placed Holmesdale, whom are managed by former Glebe assistant manager Ian Varley.

“We’ll just keep plugging away. Listen, we might have three games in hand but points on the board are what counts.  We’ll keep doing our thing and we’ll see where we are at the end of the season.

“It’s nice to be involved (in the title race).  We had a good run in the Vase, we’ve got to play catch up in the league and win as many games of football as we can.”

Next up for Sporting Club Thamesmead is a trip to fourth-placed Kent Football United on Saturday, before a trip to Phoenix Sports Reserves on 27 December.

“I’ve come in and we’ve played two of the top teams (Sutton Athletic, lost 2-1 at home on Saturday) so you’re sorting the team out and trying to get players in,” said Jones.

“I got Ramell Lake from Greenwich so I have to wait 28 odd days to get another one so the players I want are the players I had so that’s why it’s going to take a bit of time to get the players’ I want, but once I get the players’ I want, we will climb, I know that, I haven’t got a problem with that.

“We’re looking to strengthen the squad and I think we’ll be alright. I’ve put a seven-dayer in and (central midfielder) Gary Stock is going to be joining us from Lydd so that’s a plus.  I think we’ll be alright.”

Sporting Club Thamesmead: Charlie Martin (Simon Vanderhook 46), Tony Ecuyer, Cory Knight, George Jones, Ricky Hardie, Mudiaga Wanogho, Billy Holloway (Sadiq Badaru 63), Dan Parish, Aaron McCallum, Ramell Lake, Alain Akumwami (Ermal Nurja 71).
Subs: Jack Smith, Luke Dietrich-Coke

Goals: Ramell Lake 10, Aaron McCallum 30
 

Glebe: Connor Pearce, Davy-Jo Anderson, George King (Joe Borland 86), James Day, Carson Dennis, Charlie McCarthy, Andreas Felipe Losada Tobon, Frazer Cronin, Fred Obasa, Elyon Marshall-Katung (Sam O’Keefe 80), Steve Jerrom (Tamer Bilal 87).
Subs: Jamal Alexander, Sam Long

Goals: Fred Obasa 40, 45, Elyon Marshall-Katung 56, Andreas Felipe Losada Tobon 59
 

Attendance: 68
Referee: Mr Tony Woods (Bexleyheath)
Assistants: Mr David Hooker (Bromley) & Mr Lucas Hooker (Bromley)

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