Hollands & Blair travelled to the Fish this weekend and played out an enthralling 3-3 draw. This draw leaves Fisher without a win in their last seven outings.
Fisher’s Nightmare Start
It was a nightmare start for the home side, who found themselves 2-0 down inside the opening 15 minutes. The opening goal came from Blair’s Jack Simons, a cheap free kick given away by Fisher saw Simons step up and convert from 20 plus yards. Fisher keeper Tommy Taylor will have been disappointed with it after getting a big hand, after the match manager Ajay Ashanike expressed frustrations, saying “I think Tommy should do better, both with his wall and positioning.”
Just 10 minutes later and Hollands & Blair had their second. Some excellent hold up and skill inside the Fisher box by Steve Smith saw him ghost from one side of the box to the other, evading some very weak Fisher challenges and square to Ben Brown who cleverly flicked past onrushing Taylor.
Fisher had struggled to get going in the opening exchanges, threatening only from a far as Jacob Katonia struck from distance which Blair keeper Ware smartly tipped over. It was looking to be a very disappointing half for the Fish, but a change in shape from manager Ajay pushed Julio Da Mata further forward and he brought Fisher back into the game. A misjudged header by the Hollands & Blair backline was seized upon by Da Mata who raced through, and slotted home past Ware.
Frantic Second Half
Whether it was a stern half-time team talk or just Fisher clicking into gear, the Fish came out fighting for the second half.
More purpose in possession and constantly threating the Blair goal, it wasn’t long before Fisher found themselves level. After Blair’s management had been booked by the ref for their protests and having Smith sin binned for his dissent towards the referee, Fisher capitalised on their man advantage.
A long ball over the top saw Thompson race through on goal, Ware rushed out in an attempt to clear his lines but never looked favourite and rather than win the ball, was adjudged to have brought down Thompson inside the box, the linesman’s wasted no time in flagging for a penalty. Thompson, who won the penalty, stepped up and converted in cool fashion into the bottom right.
Just five minutes later Fisher had completed the turnaround, and in some style too. Darnelle Bailey-King burst down the right-hand side and squared it towards the edge where Manny Shoderu brilliant took one touch on his right, spun and fired in the bottom corner on his left.
Fisher continues to press for the fourth, which would have sealed the match. But in the 88th minute, Shoderu went from hero to zero as he fouled a Blair man in the box and gifted a penalty to the visitors. Ben Brown made no mistake as he converted into the bottom right sending Taylor the wrong way.
A tough one for Fisher to take, boss Ajay Ashanike felt his side were more than worth all three points, speaking after the game “I believe on that second half display if we took all three points everyone would have said we deserved it.”