Today we welcomed last weeks opponents and second in the league Diamonds academy.
As we know, playing a team back-to-back certainly isn’t easy, especially if you beat them in the first game.
We were missing a few today but welcomed Fin back and he was certainly back with a bang. Some great work from Omar got the ball wide to Rushy, who put a dangerous ball across the box which made its way to Fin on the back post and he lashed into the far top corner. 1-0.
The game had a scrappy feel about it and that suited Rayyan as he was scrapping for everything in the middle of the park. Diamonds obviously had a plan for Rushy this week having seen him score 4 against them last week, but that pace and desire is so difficult to defend against and Rushy managed to break through a couple of times but was thwarted by their stand-in keeper. Rayyan then weaved his way into the box and was bundled over, penalty to Hampton. Oscar decided that he was going to take it, despite Rushy & Harry trying to convince him otherwise, and stepped up to try and banish the demons from the cup quarter final a few weeks ago. Indeed he did, too much power for the keeper who got a toe to it but couldn’t keep it out. 2-0.
Diamonds weren’t giving up and were playing some neat stuff, but our back 5 and Harrison were staying strong.
Half time 2-0.
A keeper change for Diamonds didn’t stop Rushy, as JP popped one through for him to chase and 1v1 there was only one winner, slotted into the net and 3-0.
At this point, Hampton were cruising, but with 25 minutes to go, we got a puncture…
Diamonds were now pressing high, probably wondering how they’d managed to go 3-0 down. Their attacker bashed his way into the box and despite Harrison’s first save with his foot, it bounced back to the striker who rifled home. 3-1. A few nervy minutes for Hampton and some panic was setting in, mistakes being made and then a bit of misfortune followed. Harrison came out to clear the ball, but it bounced straight off JPs boot and trickled agonisingly towards goal… and despite his best efforts JP couldn’t keep it out. 3-2.
Now it was nervy, a rejuvenated Diamonds could smell blood, and Hampton needed to stay strong.
A very nervy moment when the ball trickled its way through to Harrison who decided to go for the kick rather than pick up, swung and missed probably due to a bobble and it went just past the far post. PHEW!
A flurry of corners for Diamonds were handled well by the boys in red and a couple of half chances for Rushy would be matched by their keeper, the game remained 3-2.
A fantastic win, but one that we very nearly let slip. Fair play to the lads for hanging on.
With Kielan taking a whack to the head and Omar also going off, we were thin on the ground today but those 6 points have really closed the gap to 2nd place with 5 games to go… the boys have put themselves in an excellent position.
Difficult to pin-point performances today as everyone played their part and battled hard, but again the difference proved to be Rushy with another goal and assist to earn himself his 2nd MOTM of the season. Well done Rushy!
Next week we’re in Sutton for an early kick off before having a week off for the team event at TOCA social.
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