We started the day with a bit of a problem as two players were late and after waiting an extra ten minutes we had to leave without them. This meant we only had fourteen of the squad travelling to todays match. Despite this we still had a job to do on what proved to be a tricky pitch and against an in form Rusthall side. When the game kicked off it was the opposition who made the better start and it was Lewisham who had their backs to the wall. After ten minutes Jason had to come off after taking a knock and shortly after Olumide who wasnt feeling well was also replaced by Steven and Sam respectively. In the twenty second minute, against the run of play, we broke free and scored when Darien hit the net from an acute angle to put us one up. Two minutes later and again against the run of play we doubled our lead as we hit Rusthall on the counter attack and Darien again supplied the finish. We were riding our luck at this point and to say James was being kept busy in goal was an understatement. Six minutes before the break Jordan showed his quality from dead ball situations by smashing home an unstopable free kick and put us further in front. Rusthall couldnt believe they were three down but were rewarded just before the break as they pulled back a goal to make it one three at the break.
H/T RST 1-3 LY Sub Jason on Sam off.
If anything the second half shows we have backbone and resilience as in all fairness it was one way traffic towards our goal for most of the half. We created one or two half chances which came to nothing but our backs were against the wall and it was all hands to the pumps. Rusthall were really pushing hard looking to get back into the match but we were defending as a team and were a bit fortunate that the opposition were having trouble hitting the target. The defence were holding out and James was having a blinder behind them in goal. Carlos replaced Jason with fifteen minutes left as we looked to strengthen the defence and hold onto what we had but we were now under extreme pressure. A grandstand finnish to the match was set up when Rusthall finnally got another goal to make it two three with five minutes left. Credit to todays opposition for throwing everything they had at us but after gifting us a three goal lead, in the end, it was just to much for them and we will gratefully take the three points today.
M.O.M. James, outstanding display between the sticks and growing in confidence all the time.