8 September 2020

AFC Croydon Athletic       1          N Green 35

Erith and Belvedere          1          Springett 64

DETERMINED DERES FRUSTRATED BY STUBBORN RAMS

The continuing signs of promise were on full show for the new look Erith & Belvedere side who were frustrated to only come away with a point against a stubborn AFC Croydon Athletic side on Tuesday night.

The Deres looked sharp and played fast-paced attacking football from the first whistle.  They looked to take the game to their opponents and had a flurry of early chances, forcing some excellent saves from Rams keeper Piotr Jacucha.  Things were going well for the Deres until suddenly against the run of play they found themselves a goal behind with the hosts’ only real chance of the game.  Rams striker Nahum Green ran onto a long ball from brother Jermaine and finished well, lobbing the ball over the advancing Rilwan Anibaba with the ball just going under the bar into the empty net.

The Deres did not let the goal get them down - they continued to take the game to the Rams but were let down by a couple of unlucky bounces in the Rams penalty area and more excellent saves from the Rams keeper.  The hosts were very fortunate to find themselves leading 1-0 at half time.

The second half started pretty much the same as the first with the Deres looking threatening and continuing to play free flowing attacking football. Deres manager Del Oldfield made his first change of the night in the 58th minute, bringing James Hawkins on to replace Guyliano Mpungi.  This proved to be an inspired move because six minutes later the Deres were awarded a free kick halfway inside the Rams half which was delivered perfectly by Hawkins to the edge of the six yard box for Steve Springett to head home and give the Deres a deserved equalizer.  

From there on the hosts looked to consolidate the point while the Deres continued to go on the attack and the game turned into a classic scrappy affair with tackles coming in hard and each team picking up yellow cards after a slight flare-up when the Rams took exception to a tackle from James Hawkins.  Drew Allassani put in an absolute shift for 70 minutes before coming off to an excellent ovation from the travelling Deres supporters to be replaced by Dane Moore.  The chances continued to come but the Deres were unable to score what would have been a deserved winner.  They came away from Croydon with a well-deserved point, but it could have so easily been three.

AFC Croydon: Jacucha; Richards, Oshin, Mengi, Khallon, Hardwood, Bangura, Clark (King 79), Greenwood (Lika 70), J Green, N Green (O’Connor 90).

Deres: Anibaba; Oldfield, Adeyemo, Taylor, Curtis, Springett, Dasofunjo, Allassani (Moore 70), Diakiesse, Nosike, Mpungi (Hawkins 58).