3 January 2022

 

Erith and Belvedere          2          Lear 47 (p), 65

Tower Hamlets                    3          Vaivada 30, 77(p), Yilmaz 90

 

DERES SLIP UP ON A MAD AFTERNOON

 

There was mayhem at Park View Road in an extraordinary game when Erith and Belvedere hosted Tower Hamlets.  Goals, penalties scored, penalties missed, yellow cards, red cards, players sin-binned and a winning goal seven minutes into stoppage time were all features of the crazy match.

 

Under new management and with a couple of wins over Erith Town in the past few weeks, Hamlets were unrecognisable from the disorganised team the Deres had hammered 5-1 back in August.  Andrew Denby hit an early free kick over for the visitors before Ebenezer Addu burst down the right hand side but his shot was kept out by the feet of Rilwan Anibaba.

 

At the other end Henry Dasofunjo tried hard to take on his full-back but the recent deterioration of the Park View Road pitch sabotaged his efforts to link with Reece Barrett and James Dyer.  Dyer had an attempt with a free kick, but Taio Olatunde caught it easily.  Hasan Yilmaz blasted over for Tower Hamlets then the Deres had a chance but Danny Lear shot wide of the near post.

 

Benas Vaivada opened the scoring for Tower Hamlets in the 30th minute when his great first touch allowed him to push the ball across the penalty area before crashing home an unstoppable shot.

 

Lee Lewis tried to find an equaliser with another free kick that Olatunde claimed at the second attempt before Vaivada came close to doubling his tally but his drive flew just wide. Lear fired in a low cross but although Olatunde was unable to claim at the first attempt, he recovered quickly and pounced on it before anyone could close in.

 

At half time, Danny Murphy made a double substitution for Erith and they levelled two minutes after the resumption. Kazzeem Richards was felled in the penalty area and Lear converted from the spot.

 

 

 

Harrison Abu did well to create an opening for Denby before Lear was brought down in the penalty area in the 53rd minute. He got up to take the spot kick himself but this time he pushed his shot wide of the post.

    

Omer Bingoi was sent to the sin bin and while Tower Hamlets were down to ten men Erith went ahead on 65 minutes. The visitors were unable to get a corner away and Reece Barrett hit a shot that was diverted home by Lear.

 

 After Bingoi returned, Tower Hamlets had a chance to equalise on 73 minutes when Vaivada was brought down in the penalty area. Denby hit it well but Anibaba went the right way and made a terrific save.

 

 

Ryan Flack was sin binned, and while he was off the field, Richards was sent off for a second yellow card. Although down to nine men, Erith continued to press but were caught short at the back and Vaivada was again brought down in the area. This time he took it himself and gave Anibaba no chance: 77 minutes, 2-2.

 

Con Ariogio headed over at one end and Calum McGeehan had a header saved at the other before Olatunde again did well to come out smartly as Lear burst through.

 

Vaivada got in behind and lobbed Anibaba but also the bar before the Erith custodian made a smart save from Ervin Proshi.  Deres’ manager Murphy was also shown a second yellow and sent to the changing room as his frustrations got the better of him. Seven minutes into injury time, James Hawkins drove low across the penalty area but nobody was able to get a touch to finish. The Hamlets raced to the other end and Hasan Yilmaz scored with a crisp shot to spark huge celebrations amongst the players and management. 

 

DERES: Rilwan Anibaba; Lee Lewis, Henry Dasofunjo, Kazzeem Richards, Calum McGeehan, Reece Barrett, Lucas Atkins (James Hawkins ht), Drew Allassani (Richard Jimoh 87), Danny Lear, James Dyer (Tyler Anderson-Parr ht), Ryan Flack.

Yellow cards:  Allassani, Murphy (manager), Flack (sin bin), Richards, Anderson-Parr

Red cards: Richards, Murphy (manager)

 

HAMLETS: Taio Olatunde; Ebenezer Addu, Aziz Conteh (Adrian Ferd 87), Can Ariogio, Ervin Proshi, Omer Bingol, Benas Vaivana, Toff Adeoji (Mustafa Said 72), Harrison Abu, Andrew Denby, Hasan Yilmaz.

Yellow cards: Conteh, Ariogio, Bingoi (sin bin), Zedini, Bingoi, Koca (manager)

 

Referee: Marcin Indyk

Assistants: Dan Wyatt and Tom Nicholls

Attendance: 128