Fisher 2-1 Ringwood Town - Miracle Man Rob Hughes sends Fisher through

Sunday 05th September 2010

FISHER 2-1 RINGWOOD TOWN
(after extra time)
FA Carlsberg Vase First Qualifying Round
Sunday 5th September 2010
Stephen McCartney reports from Champion Hill Stadium

AN IMPRESSIVE performance from “Miracle Man” Rob Hughes ensured Fisher scraped past lower league side Ringwood Town - as they booked a home all-Kent League clash against Norton Sports in the next round of the FA Carlsberg Vase.

The 29-year-old was attacked outside a nightclub in the resort of Malia, on the island of Crete, two years ago and was left fighting for his life in a coma after being kicked, stamped on and bottled by thugs and needed two lifesaving operations to remove chunks of his skull.

Wearing protective headgear made famous by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, debutant Hughes set up one goal and scored an extra time winner as Fisher struggled to knock Wessex League outfit Ringwood Town out of the competition.

“I thought Robbie done well for us,” Fisher boss Gary Lisney told www.kentishfootball.co.uk afterwards.

“Robbie’s background is pretty well known really. It’s just great to see him playing football again and if Fisher FC can help him in his rehabilitation and he can help us along the way, then everybody wins.”

But like defender Dan Young before him (who is now playing Ryman Premier League football with Carshalton Athletic), Hughes is better suited to a higher level of football.

“He was down at Thurrock. I think Thurrock have got a very keen interest in him, but again, all those clubs in Conference South will want Robbie fit and Robbie will be able to do a much better job for them when he’s fit when he’s had minutes out on the pitch, so hopefully he can get them now.

“He’s very keen to stay, the conversation that I’ve had with Robbie is about getting a season under his belt, playing football, and I’m very keen for him to do that here.

“I will not ever stand in anyone’s way whatsoever, of course I won’t, but if I can help him fulfil his potential, it’s great to se him playing. It’s a win-win situation. Hopefully he’ll get some match fitness on the pitch under his belt and we can benefit from his quality.”

Fisher got off to a flying start and their largest crowd of the season were celebrating after just 112 seconds as fellow debutant Adrian Ma scored.

Hughes delivered Fisher’s one and only corner from the right and Ma turned and rifled his shot into the roof of the net - at the second attempt - from eight-yards out.

Fisher boss Gary Lisney also handed goalkeeper Mark Fox his debut, after agreeing a loan deal with now departed Croydon Athletic manager Tim O’Shea last week.

The DISGRACED Thornton Heath based club hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons seven days ago when a Sunday tabloid exposed that their owner, the English born Mazhar Majeed, 35, was allegedly involved in an international cricket scam, involving Pakistan cricketers.

The Ryman League issued the following statement at 3 o’clock this afternoon.

“The Ryman League has been contacted by Croydon Athletic FC as a result of internal problems following allegations made in a national newspaper regarding the person widely regarded as the owner of the club.

“The club has been unable to pay the August wages for the players and are faced with a number of other financial claims. At the end of the club’s home match with Concord Rangers yesterday the management team indicated that the side would be unlikely to play together again.

“The League has been working closely with the club during the past week and attended a meeting at the club last Wednesday with the chairman and 3 other senior members of the club.

“Croydon Athletic FC is doing all it can to stay in business and are hoping that by publicising their plight they may find someone willing to take over the club. The League has agreed to a request from the club to postpone its next 2 League fixtures – away to Tooting & Mitcham United on Tuesday, 7th September and home to Sutton United on 18th September – in order to give the club time to see if it can survive the difficult position in which it finds itself.

“The League and the club will then reconsider the position to ascertain whether or not the club can meet its commitments to the League for the remainder of the season.”

Ryman League chairman Alan Turvey commented: “The League is very sorry that the club has suffered such a blow. We are concerned to act in the best interests of all parties in this matter and to make sure that every avenue is explored to see if the club can continue. We do not want players to play in matches which may not count nor do we want spectators to pay to see matches whose results are then erased from the records.”

Fox made a string of fine saves to keep the hosts in the game, and Lisney believes he will return to the DISGRACED club when they resume playing under Ken Fisher’s caretaker management.

“Fox is on loan from us from Croydon Athletic, he’s a very experienced goalkeeper and he’s playing probably below the level he can, certainly below a level he can, but he needs to get minutes on the pitch” explained Lisney.

“Croydon Athletic want him to be ready and fit and able when he’s called upon down there, so we’ll do him a favour.

“I haven’t had an opportunity to speak to Tim (O‘Shea), who agreed for him to come on loan at the beginning of the week. I’ll speak to Tim at the first instance out of courtesy and I’ll see how that takes us.”

Fox made his first save of the game after eight minutes when Ringwood got the better of Fisher defenders Jimmy Beauchamp and Cedric Abraham and striker Paul Burnett centred low from inside the six-yard box for Carl Fleet to see his close range shot (at the near post) blocked by the keeper.

Ringwood did have the ball in the back of Fisher’s net after 21 minutes, but Burnett’s goal was ruled out for offside.

A fine one-touch move involving central midfielder Ma and striker Dexter Babalola released Raphael Akala through on goal, but his attempted lob was cut out by advancing Ringwood keeper John Page.

Fox made another fine save after 34 minutes when he dived low to his right to prevent Dan Taylor’s downward header (following Jake Ormond’s cross from the left) creeping in at the far post.

However, from this moment on, Ringwood Town began to dominate the game, as Fisher grew frustrated with some of the decisions being made by Maidstone based referee Elad Amir, who had a nightmare, issuing six yellow cards to Fisher players, one to Ringwood, and another yellow - and then a red - to Ringwood’s goalscorer, central midfielder Howes, with four minutes of extra time remaining for a lunge on Fisher left-back Mark Lewis.

Fisher were poor during the second half and they should have conceded inside the opening four minutes of the second half when Adam Heatherington slid the ball through the heart of the Fisher defence for Burnett, who turned and brought a smart low diving save from Fox.

However, an eagle eyed referee, awarded Ringwood a controversial 56th minute penalty after he saw Fisher right-back Kris Hollidge tug Burnett’s shirt as the pair leapt to meet Ormond’s right-wing cross.

With the Fisher faithful cursing both the penalty decision and to book their player-assistant manager, Fox was sent the wrong way from Howes’ resulting emphatic right-footed penalty, which he fired into the right-hand corner.

Fisher were on the ropes and Ringwood appeared to be the team that were favourites to create another shock at Champion Hill within five days, after Kent League side Tunbridge Wells knocked Dulwich Hamlet out of the FA Cup last Tuesday.

Fisher almost snatched a winner - against the run of play - inside the final seven minutes when Babalola couldn’t get a shot away with the ball at his feet, but to his credit the stumbling striker managed to lay the ball off to Hughes on the left and his cut back was met by a first time cross from Lewis but substitute Hulusi Mustafa (who was ghosting in at the far post) headed down and wide.

Ormond’s angled drive from outside the box was comfortably saved by Fox at his near post and then the midfielder drilled a shot into the side netting, as Ringwood pressed.

Fox made his best save of the game within the opening two minutes of extra time when Howes’ free-kick was met by a bullet header from Fleet from the six-yard line, but thankfully the ball was at the right height for Fox to pull off a fantastic reaction save to tip the ball over the crossbar.

But Fisher completed the smash-and-grab raid in the 94th minute, although their performance during extra time was vastly improved as Ringwood’s fitness took its toll.

Full credit must go to Hughes for starting and finishing the move.

The yellow-booted midfielder cut in from the right flank and went on a mazy run across the face of the penalty area before sliding the ball through to Jamie Lawrence (who was inside the box with his back to goal) and he cut the ball back to Hughes, who drove a left-footed shot into the net, via a wicket deflection of the hapless Charlie Pierson, the Ringwood skipper.

Ringwood (now with ten-men) applied the pressure late on and after the ball bounced high along the face of goal substitute Carl Foster slammed his shot into the side-netting and Fox prevented the ball crossing the line from another Ormond drive.

So Fisher scrape through, but Lisney admitted his side were poor.

“They (Ringwood) were clearly up for it. We had a very, very good start, unfortunately made things a little bit harder for ourselves, as much as anything, by giving the ball away cheaply.

“I said to the players in there, commitment, work-rate, effort, can’t ask for no more, but we didn’t play particularly well today, that’s the truth of it, but we’ve ground out a result. We kept going, we never dropped our heads or anything.

“You don’t always get what you deserve in football, sometimes you do. I thought the commitment, the work-rate and the effort of the players was first class.”

Reflecting on his side’s very early goal, Lisney said: “It makes a change from going 112 seconds and going a goal down! We started well in the first 10 minutes, we looked lively and we looked bright and I think people started to rest on their laurels a little bit, started to take things a little bit for granted and you can’t do that against teams that are determined and work as hard as they did.

“Hats off to Ringwood, they did work hard, they came here and gave us a battle but we overcame it in the end.”

Lisney criticised the officials for their performance and the Dulwich based club expect to pick up a fine after picking up six bookings during the 120 minutes of football.

“I think the referee and the officials were awful all day long. I thought they were awful last Monday and I‘m sure he will be awful next Saturday,” bemoaned Lisney, as he recalled Mr Amir awarded Beckenham a goal after Gary Gorman’s looping header was cleared off the line by a Fisher boot.

“It’s very, very easy to criticise the officials and I know they have a really, really difficult job to do, but I just cannot personally comprehend how a little bit of pulling in the box, pulling someone’s shirt is a yellow card and then in the second half of extra time, both their keeper and one of their defenders raise their hands and the referee done nothing about it.

“It’s not consistent, but consistently poor but not consistently making the same decisions for the same side - and I’m sure every manager in the League will tell you at some point, it feels like the world’s against you, but I think the officials were quite poor.”

This weekend, on behalf of “Non-League Day,” season ticket holders of Premier and Football League clubs could watch their local non-league sides at reduced rates.

This was a success at Champion Hill today, as Fisher attracted their largest crowd of the season, as 160 watched today’s game, as the club invited visits from Millwall season tickets.

Lisney said: “We had a fair gate today - 160 - that’s a little bit higher than our average I believe so the whole Non-League Football Day has hopefully been a success for us. I sincerely hope it’s been successful for a lot off other Non-League clubs as well.”

Sadly for those fans, Fisher didn’t put on a performance for them, although they must be reminded (especially the man in the stand that continually criticised his own players) that they are amateur players.

Lisney added: “We didn’t play particularly well, we can play a lot better than that!”

Ben Taylor brings his Norton Sports side to Champion Hill in the next round, expected to be switched to Sunday, 19 September, due to landlords Dulwich Hamlet being at home to Walton & Hersham on the Saturday.

Fisher: Mark Fox, Kris Hollidge (Callum Roberts 96), Mark Lewis, Jamie Lawrence, Jimmy Beauchamp, Adrian Ma (Hulusi Mustafa 53), Kieran Burrell (Joe Goodwin 61), Raphael Akala, Dexter Babalola, Cedric Abraham, Rob Hughes.
Subs: Steve O’Donnell, Daniel Dean.

Goals: Adrian Ma 2, Rob Hughes 94

Booked: Dexter Babalola 39, Rob Hughes 42, Kris Hollidge 55, Mark Lewis 90, Jimmy Beauchamp 92, Raphael Akala 111

Ringwood Town: John Page, Dan Marks, Peter Old, Adam Heatherington, Charlie Pierson, Tom Yeates, Jake Ormond, Nick Howes (Phil Midson 98), Paul Burnett (Aaron Sexton 73), Carl Fleet, Dan Taylor (Carl Foster 86).
Subs: Kane Chattey, Chris Bailey.

Goal: Nick Howes 56 (pen)

Booked: Nick Howes 63, Tom Yeates 111

Sent Off: Tom Yeates 116

Attendance: 160
Referee: Mr Elad Amir (Maidstone)
Assistants: Mr M Heads (Maidstone) & Mr R Adams (Northfleet)