A gutsy performance and tactical masterclass earned Fisher three points on the road, as Courtney Barrington’s hat trick earned them a last gasp 3-2 win at Hollands and Blair in the late summer sunshine. Fisher returned to near full strength with Teddy Jones, Charles Yiadom-Konadu and Billy Brown all back in the starting eleven after missing the midweek defeat at VCD Athletic.
The early stages saw Fisher struggle for fluency with their build up play somewhat rushed and an eagerness to win the ball seeing too many free kicks conceded around their own penalty area allowing Hollands and Blair to deliver some dangerous balls forward. Fisher were made to pay for the lack of control of the game when on eighteen minutes the hosts took the lead. A promising Fisher attack broke down with loose pass and Blair countered up field, with Dean Grant escaping down the left and his low cross across the face of the goal was tapped in by Devonte West at the far post.
The goal forced a tactical tweak from manager Ajay Ashanike as the reverted to three at the back allowing Jack Gibbons and Ed Sata far more influence in wing back roles and the two wide defenders started to link superbly with the front two, with both involved in a dramatic two minutes just before the half hour mark when Fisher turned the game on its head.
Firstly, a majestic sweeping cross field ball from Charles Yiadom-Konadu was brought down by Sata on the left and he dinked the ball over his marker before pulling it back into the penalty area for Courtney Barrington to sweep home from eight yards out. A minute later Fisher were ahead, as this time Jack Gibbons provided the assist, winning the ball back deep into the Blair half and slipping it inside to Barrington, who took a touch before taking aim at goal from twenty yards, the ball passing through several defenders legs, to leave the keeper unsighted and slide low into the corner of the net.
Fisher were now playing with better control in midfield, with a slightly slower approach and knocking the ball around well meaning they had little difficulty with keeping the lead until the break as centre backs Mayvin Vigneswaran and Ange Djadja got to grips with Blair’s lively front runners.
Having used Billy Brown as an emergency centre-back in the tactical reshuffle, half time saw them withdraw Charles Yiadom-Konadu for regular defender Abdoulaye Ly Athie to allow Brown to revert back to midfield. Fifteen minutes after the restart though the plan backfired as Ly Athie became involved in an off the ball incident and his retaliatory contact with a Blair player, although unseen by the referee, saw him red carded after both assistants were consulted leaving Fisher to play the last half hour plus stoppage time with ten players.
The expected Blair onslaught of the Fisher goal duly materialised as the Fisher defended deeper and deeper. Cross after cross into the Fisher box was repelled by the impressive Djadja and Vigneswaran and young Isaac Ogunseri in goal helped out his defenders by claiming high balls well. In front of them Teddy Jones ran his socks off, closing and chasing in a lone striker role, with Barrington and Diego Makesa also putting in a huge shift to compensate for the Fisher’s missing player. With just ten minutes left though Fisher’s resistance was final broken as a low cross was only cleared as far as Jordan Brooker on the edge of the box and he had space to fire home low into the far corner, the ball just beating Ogunseri’s despairing dive.
It was clear if Fisher continued to try and soak up the Blair pressure to secure the point they ran a danger of being overwhelmed, with no out ball and ten minutes of sustained pressure to get through, so Ashanike again changed the formation and throwing caution to the wind went with two up top, reverting to a back four again in a 432 line up. It proved to be a masterstroke as Fisher somehow managed to take the game back to their hosts in the dying stages. Substitute Thomas Ngegba almost found a winner as he was sent free by the industrious Armani-Jordan Martin but stabbed his effort wide of the near post as he broke into the box. However, in added time, Fisher pressed forward again as Jack Gibbons intercepted a clearance and fed the ball into Courtney Barrington twenty five yards from goal, who switched it back onto his right foot to create a inch of space before caressing a curling shot out of the reach of the motionless keeper into the top corner to spark joyous celebrations from his hard working team mates and crown a fabulous hat trick for himself.
There was still work to do at the back in the final moments, but a determination and belief flooded through the young squad and they stood firm to claim the three points, with every tackle and block greeted with roars and high fives before the final whistle final blew.
Photo - Dave Anderson
