AFC Croydon Athletic 3-4 Erith Town - I think we made hard work of it, says James Collins

AFC CROYDON ATHLETIC  3-4  ERITH TOWN
(after extra time)
London Senior Cup Sponsored by Coventry Scaffolding Second Round
Wednesday 12^th September 2012
Stephen McCartney reports from Croydon Sports Arena

ERITH TOWN manager Tony Russell decided to leave his first team back on the training pitch and watched his second string win a seven goal thriller to book the club’s place in the Third Round of the London Senior Cup.



Russell watched from the stand at the Croydon Sports Arena as reserve team manager James Collins, 29, took charge of the team against Combined Counties League Division One side AFC Croydon Athletic and the Kent League leaders needed extra time to book a trip to Ryman League Division One South side Dulwich Hamlet in the next round.

The Dockers made TEN changes to their side that saw Tunbridge Wells end their 100% record with a 1-1 draw at Culverden Stadium.

Erith Town, who have only let in one goal in their opening seven Kent League games, though Lamar Hubbard’s 64^th minute header would have been enough to win the game, but AFC Croydon Athletic snatched a last-gasp equaliser through Edward Cardona’s copy-cat header to force extra time.

However, there was confusion down on the pitch as referee Peter Killip brought extra time to a halt after three minutes as London Football Association officials sought the rule book for advice as they felt the match should have gone straight to penalties after 90 minutes play.  The hapless referee spoke to both benches before deciding to continue with extra time.

The game exploded into life during extra-time and former Charlton Athletic striker Tamar Tuna’s curler gave Erith Town the lead, before Cardona produced an equally quality finish at the end of the first period.

Erith Town striker, David Noel, hooked home the third with seven minutes remaining, but the home side levelled for a third time courtesy of an own-goal from visiting keeper Alex Hyde.

But Erith Town snatched victory at the death through a 30-yard screamer from former Motherwell midfielder Grant Brown.

“I think we made hard work of it,” admitted Collins after the game.

“I thought that we didn’t start off great for the first fifteen minutes. I think the longer the game went on we settled into it, which is what you’re going to get when you throw players in together from top end reserve team players and players from the first team that needed a game.

“We took a little while to get going. I weren’t overly pleased at half-time, but I thought second half we came out.  I thought for the main parts of the game we looked in control.  We did look naïve defensively I feel.

“Every time we got in front we seemed to throw it away, which was slightly disappointing, but again like I said when you throw lots of players together that don’t really know each other that well and haven’t played a lot of match time perhaps that’s what you’re going to get.”

When asked why Russell decided to keep the first teamers away, Collins explained, “The club’s ambitious.  They’ve had a great start to the season and I feel there’s people in the reserves that are good players, perhaps not ready, perhaps a bit naïve but put them in with first team players to see how they get on.

“With the first team winning six out of seven, there’s probably not been much change. There’s players like Dean Morris, David Noel and Jamie Humphris who probably need games. Players like Calum (Comerford) who’s in the reserves and switch in between so it’s good for them to play first team football.”

With so many changes, it took Erith Towna while  to get into their stride and their first chance arrived in the 12^th minute when the impressive Jamie Humphris cut inside right-back Colin Harvey before playing the ball inside to Tuna who dragged his right-footed drive just wide of the foot of the near post.

AFC Croydon Athletic, who went into this game sitting in sixth-place in their table, created a decent chance when former Merstham midfielder, Danny Cumber, played the ball over the top to release Cardona through on goal, but the winger’s left-footed half-volley sailed wide of the near post from just inside the corner of the penalty area.

Erith Town’s best first half chance, however, arrived in the 24th minute.

The home side’s left-back, Jamal Rhoden-Stevens, gave the ball away to Hubbard, who played the ball inside and Noel’s left-footed curler from 20-yards narrowly missed the far post.

Another chance came the Kent side’s way when right-winger Hubbard played a low ball across the face of goal and Jamie Humphris’ shot on the line was blocked by Harvey.

AFC Croydon Athletic had to wait until the half-an-hour mark to create their best chance of the half.

Skipper Daniel Pledge’s short free-kick bobbled to his central defensive partner Simon Logan, who pumped a long ball into the penalty area and Joe Loyza headed the ball across goal and Lee Jansen brought the ball under control with his chest before hitting a right-footed volley just wide of the far post.

Erith Town then upped their tempo for the remainder of the first half.

James Hawkins swung in a left-footed corner from the right and skipper Calum Comerford came up from the back to send his free header wide of the far post.

Hubbard then whipped in a decent cross from the right and Brown was left unmarked to hammer a right-footed drive from 20-yards, which keeper Tom Ralph dived to his right to parry and then Humphris lashed his shot wide of the near post from two-yards out.

AFC Croydon Athletic almost snatched an unlikely lead when Harvey hit a first time cross-come-shot from 35-yards which caught Hyde out and the right-back’s speculative effort from the touch-line curled narrowly wide of the far post.

A long ball from Humphris caused confusion between home keeper Ralph and Harvey, whose indecision allowed Hubbard to nip in but the winger rolled his shot wide of the left hand post.

AFC Croydon Athletic created the last chance of the first half when Jansen cut the ball back to Rhoden-Stevens, who had time and space to float in a cross towards the near post and Cumber’s back header sailed past the diving Hyde but also just past the near post.

Reflecting on the first half, Collins said: “I suppose people were rusty. If you watch Erith they always do create chances. Putting the ball in the back of the net over the last couple of years has been slightly the problem.

“David (Noel) hasn’t had a lot of football. Jamie Humphris has just come back off holiday so I think it’s just rustiness, but we managed to score in the end.  More worryingly was the way we gave away cheap goals.”

When asked his first half thoughts, Collins added: “I don’t think we kept the ball well enough. I go back to the same thing I say to the reserve boys all the time, just maybe slightly naïve and I just felt we weren’t getting tight to them in midfield.  We weren’t clearing our lines.

“It looked like we had thrown eleven players together and asked them to put a performance in but we weren’t too disappointed at half-time.

“I thought we came out a lot better second half.   I think it was just a case of whose going to have the bottle to make something happen, who’s going to have the bottle to throw a marker down, say they want a first team shirt and some responded and I thought we played better in the second half.”

AFC Croydon Athletic created the first chance of the second half after ten minutes play when Lee Stripp played Jansen in behind the Erith Town defence but his low shot across the face of goal only just evaded Cardona, who slid in at the far post but only just failed to connect.

Erith Town forced Ralph into action just 72 seconds later when Noel’s hooked pass released Humphris through the middle but he was thwarted by a solid defensive block and the ball fell to Hubbard, whose left-footed drive was pushed away by the diving keeper.

Humphris then cut in from the left and his right-footed shot from 30-yards sailed across goal but the diving Ralph tipped the ball around his post.

And at the other end Daniel Penfold swung in a corner from the right and Logan came up from the back to plant his free-header over from 12-yards.

With first-team keeper Kevin Fewell unavailable through work commitments tonight, Hyde excelled on the hour-mark, denying Loyza from scoring with a right-footed shot from a tight angle, the keeper getting a strong left hand to the shot at his near post to tip around the far post.

Erith Town broke the stalemate in the 64^th minute when Humphris clipped in his cross from the left and Hubbard was left unmarked at the near post to bounce his downward header into the bottom left-hand corner from six-yards.

Praising Hubbard, Collins said: “He’s scored goals for the reserves two years’ ago and he left to go to University and he’s come back again this year.  He’s scored a few goals for the reserves.

“I keep saying to Tony he’s not a million miles away.  Probably not his best performance this season but I’ve asked him to play out wide. He usually plays at the point but he played well I thought.”

Lee Conrad, 17, slotted in at left-back to make his first team debut with 20 minutes of normal time remaining.

The home side should have done better when Erith Town’s central defender Michael Scott was booked for pulling back Jansen after a poor back-pass towards Hyde.  Luckily for the Dockers, Penfold lashed his right-footed free-kick high over the bar from 26-yards.

AFC Croydon Athletic upped their tempo as they searched for the equaliser.

An excellent whipped in low free-kick from substitute Kieran Burrell caused panic inside the danger area and the ball found its way back to where it came but Cardona inexplicably hooked his shot wide of the near post from very close range.

Erith Town could have won it after substitute Peter Afolayan and Noel combined down the right and the ball came out to the unmarked Tuna, who blasted his right-footed shot over.

AFC Croydon Athletic’s supporters were celebrating their last-gasp equaliser, timed at one minute and 34 seconds into time added on.

Full-marks must go to left-back Rhoden-Stevens, who whipped in an excellent cross towards the far post and Cardona powered his header past Hyde into the near corner from six-yards.

Collins revealed that he was disappointed with Michael Scott’s positioning for the late leveller.

He said: “It’s disappointing. We’re saying why has the centre half got dragged out?  The danger’s in the box with the geezer. I thought the right-back would’ve dealt with it.  Even if the cross had gone in, if the centre half hadn’t got drawn out then he would have won the header.

“They haven’t played together, it’s information, but it was a cheap goal on our part, but great character to come back.  It was a sucker punch really.”

Then came the embarrassing scenes before the start of extra time when it appeared that the match was going to be settled by a penalty shoot-out before referee Peter Killip kicked off extra time but held play up for a couple of minutes after Ralph saved Comerford’s driven shot with his legs as officials sought advice as to how this London Senior Cup tie was going to be settled.

Collins revealed: “He said that he was told that the match should have gone straight to penalties.  I think everyone said we’ve started and then he came back over and said you can play the extra time so I think it was a bit of a miss-communication.  It was meant to go to penalties by all accounts, but I don’t know so much.”

Erith Town regained the lead in the 97^th minute when Humphris cut inside from the left and slid the ball through to Tuna, who curled a stunning right-footed curler around Ralph to find the bottom far corner from 12-yards.

Collins said: “I think it’s well known he’s played at a decent level and I think he showed that.

“It’s his first game for us (this season) tonight and you can see in parts he’s sometimes on a different wavelength which I suppose can be quite frustrating, but great finish!  You would’ve put your house on him to score when he was put in that position.

“He was down at the club last season.  Obviously he likes the way Tony works and I suppose when the club’s doing well everyone wants to play for you!”

Humphris curled a right-footed shot wide of the near post from 20-yards after Noel laid the ball back to him, Cardona’s right-footed hooked shot beat Hyde and bounced off the far post with the keeper beaten.

But AFC Croydon Athletic fought back for a second time and equalised in the 104^th minute – with yet another copy-cat finish.

Loyza released Cardona through on goal and with only Hyde to beat, produced a quality finish, curling a right-footed shot across Hyde and into the far corner from 22-yards – to score his sixth goal of the season.

Collins said: “Again, we’re in control of the game.  We’re giving the ball away cheaply in midfield. We committed men forward. It was a good finish but again it’s a cheap goal to concede.   It’s us giving the ball away. We’ve given the goal away.

“It’s a good finish and don’t take it away from him but I think it was the theme of the night for us. I thought we gave the ball away cheaply far too often and that’s what I said to them.  That’s different from when you watch the first team. They keep the ball and they don’t give the cheap goals away and you look at their goalscoring record – they don’t give any goals away!”

The second period of extra-time produced even more drama and three more goals.

A mistake from Dean Morris gifted the ball to Penfold, who stroked a left-footed shot into Hyde’s gloves from 22-yards.

And at the other end, Noel’s left-footed drive from 25-yards saw Ralph make yet another fine save, diving to his left to parry.

Erith Town scored their third with seven minutes remaining when Conrad delivered an excellent cross from the left and Noel appeared to be yards offside but the flag stayed down and the hardworking striker hooked a volley past Ralph to find the right-hand corner from four-yards.

“I was pleased with him because I said at half-time I felt because he’s a big guy you have a tendency just to whack the ball long up to him and hopes he does something.

“I thought he worked hard today. I’m not sure he’s had a ninety minutes for the first team this season so I was pleased for him to get through 120.  He’s got a goal and I thought he took it well.”

Praising the creator, seventeen-year-old debutant Conrad, Collins said: “He’s a reserve. He plays for the youth team as well so it’s great for him. He’s had a couple of first team appearances in the friendlies so I’m really pleased for him.”

When asked whether he thought the game was won at that point, Collins admitted: “No! I didn’t because I thought we would throw it away again!  Every time we’re just giving the ball away so cheaply in the middle of the park, but again it shows great character to keep coming back, but we were saying it didn’t really ever feel comfortable. We seemed to be committing suicide with the ball. We seemed to be playing silly balls into silly areas.”

But AFC Croydon Athletic were rewarded for their exploits as they equalised for a third time with three minutes remaining.

Loyza charged towards the six-yard box but his shot looped up into the air and dropped into the six-yard box and the grounded Hyde inexplicably swept the ball into the near corner of his own net.

Collins said: “I suppose there’s two ways of looking at it. Was it a bad goalkeeping error or was it a freak goal?

“Possibly he could have done better but again it came from giving the ball away cheaply on the edge of the area, which we’ve caused our own downfall but I don’t know.   Is it bad goalkeeping or is it lucky?  I’m not sure!”

With the crowd of 64 expecting penalties, Erith Town snatched victory 20 seconds into stoppage time at the end of this seven-goal epic.

Hitting the hosts on the break, Noel played the ball inside to Brown, who had time and space to unleash a stunning right-footed screamer from 30-yards, which sailed over the stranded keeper’s head and crashed down off the underside of the bar and bounced down over the line and up again into the top left hand corner to bring an exciting game to a close.

Collins said: “He’s got that in his locker to be fair.  Sometimes off the ball he switches off, he’s a fantastic player. He played for Motherwell in Scotland. I think it’s like anything. We always keep saying at this level there’s not massive amounts of difference in ability.  It’s your attitude, your application and your work-rate and your desire.  I’m not saying he hasn’t got that. Sometimes he just drifts in and out of games.

“He’s one of the players, especially Tony says he can take the bull by the horns and make something happen and show that you’ve got bottle. He’s got that in his locker. He’s a fantastic player.”

Collins is delighted that his side have stretched the club’s run of just one defeat (and that was in the FA Cup) in their opening nine games.

He said: “It’s always good to score goals and with the first team scoring so many, it would have been nice to keep a clean sheet because it is a first team fixture and that’s what we said to the boys – the first team have done their jobs, let’s go away with another win.

“It’s another victory for the club and the first team are still undefeated, well apart from the FA Cup!”

Collins added: “I’ve just spoken to Tony – I think there’s performances out there (to show him) what he’s got in reserve. He’s be quite happy.  One to three of them could fit into the first team if there’s injuries and they’re needed.  I think if you put all of them in together, I think you’ll need a leader.”

Looking ahead to the visit to Dulwich Hamlet in the next round, Collins hinted that the first team squad will be taking to the Champion Hill pitch.

He said: “I’m not sure he’ll do the same thing (as tonight).  I suppose it depends how things are going in the league.

“We said if he wants to be successful this season you can’t do it with sixteen players.  You’ve got to keep as many people happy as you can.

“I’ve taken this game tonight because I was asked but that might change against Dulwich Hamlet.”

AFC Croydon Athletic: Tom Ralph, Colin Harvey (Cody Best 85), Jamal Rhoden-Stevens, Lee Stripp, Daniel Pledge, Simon Logan, Daniel Penfold, Danny Cumber (Kieran Burrell 82), Joe Loyza, Lee Jansen (Blake Pickett 70), Edward Cardona.
Sub: James Stevenson

Goals: Edward Cardona 90, 104, Alex Hyde 117 (own goal)

Booked: Lee Stripp 107

Erith Town: Alex Hyde, Dean Morris, James Hawkins (Lee Conrad 70), Junior Sampson (Levi Sealey 79), Calum Comerford, Michael Scott, Lamar Hubbard (Peter Afolayan 83), Grant Brown, David Noel, Tamar Tuna, Jamie Humphris.
Subs: Leonard Howard, Joel Hannington

Goals: Lamar Hubbard 64, Tamar Tuna 97, David Noel 113, Grant Brown 120

Booked: Michael Scott 73

Attendance: 64
Referee: Mr Peter Killip (Crystal Palace, London SE20)
Assistants: Mr Piotr Zachwieja (Orpington) & Mr Mohammad Dilawari (Clapham, London SW11)