Tuesday night was not the perfect evening for football; the weather of the previous days had meant that the pitch was wet and not playing to its usual silky best, the temperature was cold, and the wind was blowing occasional gusts across the Maurice Rebak Stadium. However, the Blues took all of this in their stride, and showed great resilience and determination, securing a 91st minute winner in a game that had looked destined to be a stalemate.
Ahmet Rifat knew the magnitude of this fixture, and anything less than a win in this "game in hand" would've left the Blues looking over their shoulder at the chasing pack below. Rolling the dice with four changes, in came Jaiden Drakes-Thomas and Andronicos Geogiou into midfield, Ogo Obi returned up front while Ore Bello made his first start since joining on loan from Chatham Town.
From the early battles on the pitch, it was clear this was not going to be a classic, however it was clear that both sides were not here to make up the numbers, with a number of full-blooded challenges going in from both sides, and both dugouts getting a telling off from the referee in the first quarter of an hour.
As the first half meandered to a conclusion, neither side had any chances that would really trouble the xG counters, Matteo Salamon making a good save in his second match on loan from QPR, and Camilo Restrepo glancing a chance past the post from a corner.
The second half continued much in the same vein as the first, albeit it was clear that the Blues were starting to assert some dominance, being the side looking more likely to score, and controlling the ball slightly better than the visitors. However, on a run of 11 games without a win in the league, and after conceding a 94th minute equaliser to Hendon on Saturday, many could've been forgiven for expecting the worst. Especially given Cray Wanderers have won SEVEN league matches by a 1-0 scoreline this season, and the Blues had only kept one league clean sheet prior to Tuesday, in that most recent win at Whitehawk.
Camilo Restrepo went close again, striking from the edge of the box and forcing a save from the visiting keeper Shaun Rowley. Into the final ten minutes, Andronicos Georgiou, who made an excellent cameo at the weekend off the bench, had a couple of half-chances, shooting wide.
Into the last minute of normal time and Rhamar Garrett-Douglas thought he had won it, placing the ball into the net after a cross from Ryan Lowe, but the linesman's flag ruled the goal out, not for the first time in recent weeks. The Blues were not to be disheartened, however, and Jaiden Drakes-Thomas got past his man on the left flank and crossed the ball to find Benjamin Watt who finished nicely to get his first goal for the club.
Next up, the Blues visit Chichester City on Saturday, looking to build on Tuesday night's win and push up the table. Hear from manager Ahmet Rifat on Tuesday's win below.
Wingate & Finchley: Salamon; Cracknell (Tanimowo 55'); Byron; Watt; Frempah; Drakes-Thomas; Garrett-Douglas; Bello; Obi (Newton 76'); Georgiou (Lowe 85'); Restrepo (Keller 77')
Unused sub: Solomon
Photos courtesy of Martin Addison.
By Liam Blaney
Comments