Jersey Bulls 3
Dunne 67′, Bickley 73′, Lekimamati 90+6′
Erith Town 1
Jeffery 58′
HT Score: 0-0
Attendance: 707
Player of the Match: Stanley Dunne
JERSEY BULLS certainly gave their home crowd a thrilling showcase of attack, rallying from a poor first half to put on the pressure and secure a momentous 3-1 win over Erith Town.
“Today we were abysmal for 60 minutes, and then really good for that final half an hour, with that being good enough to comfortably win us the game,” manager Elliot Powell remarked following the victory.
“We’ve shown there that we can cause teams problems, but it shouldn’t take us 60 minutes to do so. We had a home crowd here, freezing cold and we didn’t give them anything to cheer about, but the whole place just felt louder for the last 30 minutes.
“We then really got going, and we’re absolutely delighted with how that last half an hour went. Getting the win is a great way to start a busy home period for us, and now it’s all about stringing them together.”
The boys in red kicked off proceedings, but neither side could really get a grasp on the game, as play was very back-and-forth for the opening ten minutes.
However, the odds looked as if they were beginning to tip in the hosts’ favour, when a well placed cross from Fraser Barlow saw the ball up in the air near the goal-line in the 11th minute, forcing Erith Town’s keeper Harrison Firth to think quickly and clear his lines.
That effort boosted momentum, as the Bulls then controlled possession in the final third to have a strong series of attacking play. Miguel Carvalho was once again instrumental in attack on the right wing, passing it off to Joe Kilshaw in the 13th minute who then delivered a pinpoint cross to find the feet of Lorne Bickley in prime position, but unfortunately the striker just couldn’t make clean contact and scuffed it wide.
Just over a minute later, Carvalho had the ball again and was keen to make something happen, cutting in before making a curling shot from outside the box which trailed just wide.
Although they experienced a couple close calls, Erith Town were unfazed as they didn’t hesitate to immediately hit back, as a long ball bizarrely bounced over the Bulls’ back line to see number nine Destiny Oladipo through on goal, one-on-one with goalkeeper Pierce Roche, but his attempt went wide to keep the score level.
The Islanders would have been put on high alert following that passage of play, as they kicked things up a gear to really take control of possession, but there weren’t a wealth of chances created in the first half.
Fans had to wait until the 32nd minute for an opportunity to present itself, as Barlow powered a remarkable cross in to Bickley. With the Caesarean striker right in front of goal, everything looked as if the hosts would finally put themselves ahead, but it simply wasn’t meant to be as Bickley scuffed the shot for it to bobble away wide of goal.
Both sides managed to hold firm heading into the half-time break, with the score tied at 0-0.
Following the restart, once again neither side was able to break the deadlock until the 58th minute. Erith Town may have been the less dominant side, but they certainly made their chance count as the ball dropped from Roche’s hand straight into the path of their own Aaron Jeffery, who easily tapped the ball into a wide-open goal to put his team in front, 1-0.
Falling behind in front of their home crowd seemed to slap the reds into shape, as they rallied well. Substitutes Adam Trotter and Stanley Dunne made immediate contributions to give the side a much-needed second wind, dictating play in the middle of the park.
The 67th minute saw the stadium come alive, as Trotter played a neat pass out wide to Carvalho to commence a promising attacking chance. After a short dribble, the right winger then played it in to Dunne, who remained cool to pull off a nice bit of trickery before then finding the back of the net, scoring his first goal for the senior side in style to make it all level, 1-1.
Now the hosts were really in their stride, as the intensity in attack went through the roof. Less than a minute later, the Bulls were right back in the box, as Jonny Le Quesne attempted an audacious bicycle kick, before Bickley smashed the crossbar in the 69th minute.
Just four minutes later, the Bulls were finally rewarded for their efforts to go ahead for the first time in the fixture, as Le Quesne’s cross was headed in by Bickley. The striker had been running Erith Town’s defence ragged for the majority of the game, so a goal was more than deserved.
It looked as if the Bulls’ late surge was enough to secure victory, but the reds weren’t finished yet, presenting one more thrill to end the match on a high. The decision for Erith Town’s keeper to go up into the box for a late corner proved costly in extra time, as a brilliant slide tackle from Trotter after the Bulls’ clearance allowed substitute Francis Lekimamati to gain possession in the midfield.
There, he took a couple touches, looked up to see the open goal and just sent it from the centre circle, making the final score 3-1 as the ball arched over to find the net.
“We just weren’t good enough in the first half, we came out too slow, didn’t really press them and just didn’t have any quality on the ball. So, we got a bit of a dressing down at half-time which was rightly deserved,” said Jonny Le Quesne.
“Elliot just said to be better, we weren’t good enough and it was down to us. The team played a lot better in the second half, we just stuck to our gameplan and how we know we can play, which paid dividends.”
Young talent Dunne really came into his own to make a huge impression on the game, as his exceptional showing off the bench earned him player of the match honours.
Powell was incredibly proud of the young player, as he said: “First and foremost, Stan put in a brilliant performance there to turn the game on its head. As much as we can take credit for that, as he’s our player today, I think there’s a lot of people that deserve a lot of credit for Stan’s development.
“He’s been well talked about for a while now, and he’s played at St Paul’s since he was six, seven years old. So, every credit to St Paul’s for the player they’ve developed, he just came in unfazed and completely transformed the game at step four.
“Obviously that’s credit to our Academy coaches as well, we have many young players now coming through and making a big difference, and this is hopefully the start of big things. The academy pathway is very important for us, but I don’t mind saying that the Bulls are nothing without local clubs, if Stan wasn’t playing every week with St Paul’s then he wouldn’t have developed like this.”
With the three points now secured, the Bulls will certainly be taking confidence from the game, as Powell continued: “From this, we’ll definitely be taking some confidence and a bot of momentum, as that’s back-to-back wins and three games unbeaten.
“We need to start stringing these together, and if we play like we did in that last half an hour, then I’m very confident we can do that. We’ve found a way to be good and win games at Springfield, as people were making noises about how we struggle at home a while ago, so long may that continue.”
Jersey Bulls: Pierce Roche, Jonny Le Quesne, Jamie Watling, James Queree (C), Fraser Barlow, Joe Kilshaw, Lorne Bickley, Miguel Carvalho, Jay Giles, Luke Watson, James Sunley. Substitutes: Sam Devy, Luke Campbell (on for Carvalho, 90+1′), Adam Trotter (on for Kilshaw, 56′), Stanley Dunne (for Barlow, 56′), Francis Lekimamati (for Sunley, 84′)
Erith Town: Harrison Firth, Luke Northwood, Andrew Dythe, Jerome Jayaguru, Dexter Peter (C), Aaron Jeffery, Destiny Oladipo, Damie Olussel, Tom O’connor, Manny Oluwasemo, Anthony Musoke. Substitutes: Ethan Kevill (for Jeffery, 63′), Olly Milton (for Dythe, 79′), Mecca Maxime-Samuels (for Oluwasemo, 71′), Callum Mcgeehan, Victor Damyanov (for Northwood, 85′)
