First Team Vs Glebe

28 December 2019

Erith and Belvedere          5          Pope-Campbell 10, 31,De Melo 53, Lake 63, 66

Glebe                                     2          Bola 12, Philpot 80

DERES RECOVER THEIR MOJO AND END DECADE IN STYLE

Erith & Belvedere saved their best performance of the season for the last matchday of the 2010s as they recorded a fine win against Glebe.

The visitors had beaten Deres 2-1 with a late winner on the hottest August bank holiday on record.  This time, on a mild winter’s day, they were decidedly second best.  And it was notable that for all the comings and goings in the squad since September, all the players involved in this win (bar the last two substitutes) either played for Deres last season or signed over the summer.

The returning Guyliano Mpungi was quickly in on the action, having a smart shot held in the fifth minute, before further good work down the left wing made an opening for Kameiko Pope-Campbell to bury the chance and give Deres the lead.  It didn’t last long, however, as a drive by Venceslas Bola two minutes later was initially disallowed by the referee but then given on the word of his assistant.

Deres continued to dominate, an exchange between Mpungi and Chan Quan ending in the former’s shot being held by Mackenzie Foley, and a Ramell Lake free-kick going off target, while at the other end Dan Teeley held a Saio Blackwood header from Bola’s cross.  On the half-hour Deres took the lead again when Mpungi intercepted a Crossfield ball and bombed down the wing before setting a second goal on a plate for Pope-Campbell.

Glebe had a couple of chances before half-time, notably when Stacy Long’s shot was parried and James Philpot blasted over the bar with the goal gaping, but Deres were the ones to take the second half by storm.

Eight minutes after the interval Eric De Melo pounced on a loose ball to put Deres 3‑1 ahead.  Lake drew a save from Foley, Quan shot high and Pope-Campbell wide before de Melo’s jinking run set up Lake for the Deres’ fourth on 63 minutes, and three minutes later home fans were in raptures as Lake bagged his second to make it 5-1.

With all the points dropped from winning or drawing positions this season, it was a luxury to see a Deres side relaxing with a confident lead and able to introduce Dominic Edwards and Best Toke for their debuts.  Philpot’s header from ex-Dere Matt Parsons’ cross on 82 minutes was too little and too late to spoil the Deres’ best league win at this level since February 2016.

DERES: Teeley; Hill, Dobson, De Melo, Yembra, Jones, J Wade, Quan (Toke 84), Pope-Campbell (Edwards 73), Lake, Mpungi (Muchenje 66).

GLEBE: Foley; Parsons (Johnson 75), Williams, Fitzsimons, Parr, Eshilokun, Bola, Long, Blackwood (Darko 70), Philpot, Ajala (Johnson 70).