Glebe 3-2 Punjab United - I actually think some of the stuff we played today was some of the best we've played in the league this year, says Glebe boss Harry Hudson

Glebe 3 – 2 Punjab United
Location	Foxbury Avenue, off Perry Street, Chislehurst, Kent BR7 6SD
Kickoff	13/08/2021 19:45

GLEBE  3-2  PUNJAB UNITED
Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division
Friday 13 August 2021
Stephen McCartney reports from Foxbury Avenue

GLEBE manager Harry Hudson says his side made the game much harder than what it should have been after being given a scare by brave Punjab United at Foxbury Avenue.

The Chislehurst-based outfit are sitting at the top of the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table with three wins out of three, while their Gravesend opponents remain in ninth-place in the table with three points from their three league outings.

Glebe have beaten Bearsted (5-0) and Erith Town (4-0) but suffered a shock 3-2 home defeat to Abbey Rangers in The FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round at the weekend.

Chipie Sian’s side beat newly-promoted side Kennington (3-2) before losing 2-1 at home to Hollands & Blair but overcame Mile Oak 2-0 in the FA Cup.

Glebe created 17 clear cut goalscoring opportunities in front of 182 fans at Foxbury Avenue and Punjab United goalkeeper Max Ovenden put in an outstanding man-of-the-match display but poor defending in central positions cost them dear.

Without Diljit Boora and Fabrice Mbola, Punjab’s two central defenders Warren Beattie and Stephen Ratcliff allowed way too many balls to be played in behind them in embarrassing fashion as Glebe’s two centre-halves split them open with precise through balls out of defence.

Glebe’s left-back Matthew Parsons drilled in the opening goal but Punjab United equalised within 91 seconds through left-winger Harry Main.

Glebe striker Jamie Philpot notched his seventh goal in four games to give the home side the lead just 97 seconds into the second half before 37-year-old striker Paul Vines headed in an equaliser.

Glebe claimed a deserved victory with only six minutes left through winger Solomon Baugh, settling an entertaining Friday night encounter.

“I thought that we, in my opinion, fully deserved the three points,” said Hudson.

“I think the goalie’s had one of the best performances that I’ve ever seen.  I think we’ve hit the post twice and when we did get past the goalie they make the best goalline clearance that I’ve ever seen in my life!

“I’m really disappointed that we’ve conceded two goals because we made the game much harder than what it should have been but I was proud with how the boys played and I was proud we got what we deserved from the game, which in my opinion, was 100% three points.

“We conceded 91 seconds after scoring in the first half, which was really poor and we then had loads and loads of chances, which we haven’t converted.

“In the second half, though, we scored after 97 seconds and it was like the Alamo. How we didn’t go 3-1 up, I will never really know!

“All the time you don’t do that you give a team a chance and I actually didn’t see the second goal because I was about to make a substitution. Even after that, we had chance after chance after chance. Although they gave us a scare, if we play that game 10 times, we probably win much more comfortably than we did tonight.”

Punjab United assistant manager Jindi Banwait said: “I thought we done well to stay in the game. I think overall they kept the ball well in possession and they’re a good, tidy side.  You can’t fault that with the level of players they’ve got.

“I think we probably took around 15-18 minutes to get back into the game and then at one-all I think we were in the game.  I think we stayed well into the game well until half-time.

“Our thought process was to stay in it for as long as we could.

“It was a great finish from Paul Vines to level it up and I think it was legs that really got them the result over the line.  I think we were good enough to probably get a result. I’m not saying that Glebe didn’t do enough to take the points from us but a draw would’ve been a good result for us.

“You want the three points, that’s the important thing, or at least a point when you’re away from home but to lose in this manner, 3-2, against a very well organised side. I honestly believe if Jordan Campbell had stayed on, I honestly believe we would’ve walked away with a draw today.”

Glebe took advantage of kicking down the slope as they created their first chance in the 10^th minute.

Centre-half Helge Orome waited patiently before pinging a 60-yard diagonal out of defence to release right-back Dami Olorunnisomo and his deep cross found Baugh, who easily cut inside his marker and swept his right-footed shot towards goal, bouncing once and easily gathered by Ovenden down on his knees.

However, Ovenden was called into making a flying save when holding midfielder Bradley Wilson (who was later to be forced off with a knock to his left knee), clipped the ball up to Ryan King-Elliott and his flick on released Baugh down the left.

Baugh rode a tackle from Punjab’s right-back Marvin Okundalaiye, cut inside and cracked a right-footed curler towards the top far corner, forcing Ovenden into diving high to his left to tip the ball over his crossbar.

Local scouts must start coming to Glebe games as Baugh is way too good for the ninth-tier of English football and the goalkeeping in this division is excellent too.

Hudson said: “I thought that was in when it left his foot. That’s one of many fantastic saves the goalie has made. He gets man-of-the-match from me all day long.”

Banwait added: “Max was unreal today, I’ve got to be honest. We always say if the keeper takes the plaudits it kind of shows how the result really may have gone.  I think three saves in the second half were exceptional as well. He’s definitely walked away with the plaudits from us but if they hadn’t put the ball in the net the scoreline stays as it is and it gives us hope so credit to him.”

Glebe deservedly opened the scoring following the resulting corner, the goal coming with 11 minutes and 34 seconds on the clock.

Wilson swung the ball in from the right, the ball was cleared out to Parsons, who drilled his first-time angled drive through a crowd of players and nestling inside the bottom far corner of the net from 16-yards.

Hudson said: “It was good to nick one from set-plays. We’ve actually done a couple of them this year so once it dropped to Matt and he’s got his left-foot on it, we know it’s only going to end up one way because he’s got a sweet strike on him and he’s hit it so sweetly. The pressure told and it was good to get our noses in front.”

Banwait added: “Clearances should have been better on set-pieces. We do talk about that, very drilled in how we do it. I think we were lacklustre for that first goal.  Organisation probably should have been better.

“I think what probably cost us that is the way that Glebe started. They started hard and fast and caught us unawares on that. Normally we’re not used to that high pace straight away and normally we dictate the play but coming away from home, we probably played it slightly different.”

However, Glebe conceded their first league goal of the season just 91 seconds later as Main scored a goal that his uncle Jon (now on the coaching staff under Danny Kedwell at Isthmian Premier Division side Cray Wanderers) would have been proud off.

A long ball out of defence was flicked on by the otherwise quiet Rohan Badbhagi, releasing wideman Main down the left.

Main cut into the box and cut the ball onto his right-foot before slotting past the slender Glebe keeper Sheikh Ceesay into the centre of the goal.

Banwait said: “He looked like his uncle, cut in, right-foot, can’t fault the finish.

“Harry has been excellent for us and he’s grafted hard. He’s been good to coach him, he’s a very talented player, young lad but the way he conducts himself in any of our sessions, whether if that’s on or off the pitch, has been unreal. He’s been a positive vibe in the whole squad so credit to him, he’s taken his goal well.”

Hudson added: “It’s an incredibly poor goal to concede in my opinion.  It was one long ball and one flick on and we switched off to let the winger get inside us, come inside and then it didn’t look like it was goal bound when it left his foot either, so to go in the back of the net, yes, again, it’s not a good goal to concede.”

Glebe were caught offside six times during the first half, four of those coming inside the opening 20 minutes as Glebe tried to probe Ratcliff and their weakest link in the back four, Beattie, as Ovenden often played sweeper-keeper to clear the danger.

“Their defensive line was incredibly high so there were a lot of offside calls in the first half and kicking down the slope it meant we had to be almost perfect to play a straighter ball. so we spoke at half-time about playing more passes on the angle, which took their goalkeeper out of the equation a little bit more and thankfully in the second half that paid off,” explained Hudson.

Banwait refused to blame his two centre-halves for letting in Glebe on way too many times for a game in the ninth-tier of English football.

“We’ve worked hard defensively. A lot of teams are looking at us now, know how solid we are at the back and even with two centre-half pairings missing, Diljit Boora and Fabrice Mbola are both out, we’ve had to adapt.

“Warren’s come in who’s a right-back normally. He’s come in at centre-back and done a great job, so alright, if the players who are playing in defensive units but we’ve not been out there with our full 11, that’s why we’ve come away by only losing by a goal in the 84^th minute.”

Punjab United produced a well-worked three-man move which should have resulted in a goal in the 22^nd minute.

Chandler Kasai impressed down the left during the first-half and he rolled the ball back to Okundalaiye, who swept a first-time cross towards the far post but Vines’ looped his header over the crossbar.

Banwait said: “You come away from home, they’re the chances that you’ve got to try to take.  I don’t think that’s the only one either, there were other chances that we did create that probably should’ve found the back of the net.”

The game was an even contest for around 15 minutes before Glebe upped their tempo and were to be twice denied by the outstanding Ovenden in the 37^th minute.

Antone Douglas fed the ball into central midfielder Ainsley Everett, who had time and space to split open Beattie and Ratcliff to release Philpot with a through ball along the deck.

Philpot charged into the box and with only the keeper to beat his right-footed chip was blocked by Ovenden, who stuck out a strong right hand to make the save.

Just 10 seconds later, Charlie Penny teed up King-Elliott, who drilled a first-time drive, which was tipped behind by Ovenden at his near post.

Hudson said: “I thought the second save, Kingy hit it really cleanly when it’s come to him. The way it left his foot I thought it was going to be goal-bound.

“Philpot, it might have been a different finish for him but the goalie’s pulled off two great saves.”

Banwait added: “When you get someone like the goalkeeper whose going to be the man-of-the-match, I think it normally kind of shows how the number of shots and how intense it is in their attacking play.”

Assistant referee Stephen Gorman struggled to make the right call in the 44^th minute when three Glebe players were clearly offside as Orome hit a long ball over the top to release Baugh in on goal.

Ovenden denied Baugh’s chipped attempt on goal and Philpot tapped the ball into the net and when referee Ryan Chantrill-Smith ruled the goal out for offside kind of summed up what he thought of his colleague.

“I thought the ref probably got it right,” admitted Hudson.

“From where I was, the lino didn’t give it, which is always very difficult if the referee hasn’t got it right. I’ll be very honest I thought it was (offside) then fair play to him for having the personality to overrule his lino.  I think it was probably the only one the lino got wrong out of all of them tonight but anyway that’s just life. That would’ve been a really important goal for us if it had gone in.”

Banwait wants a better standard of officiating.

He said: “I spoke to the ref about that immediately as we came up to half-time.  It was offside! The referee admitted to me he’s actually taken the onus away from the official. The official should’ve flagged. It should’ve been offside. Everyone in the whole stadium could see that.  What he’s done though, he’s undermined an official.  The referee’s come and stepped in and I’ve spoken to the referee at half-time. He’s been quite good to me to respond and he’ll address that with the linesman, which was the correct decision. It was offside and everyone could see that.

“But I think the officiating at that level on that side (of the pitch) has to be better and that’s something they’ll have to look at themselves. That’s all the officials that come to any game and that’s not a dig at anyone. It’s got to be a high standard.”

Both were asked their thoughts at the interval.

Hudson said: “We just worked on a couple of bits tactically about where the space was going to be and being a bit braver with our defensive line but it was about learning from (our 3-2 FA Cup defeat to Abbey Rangers last Saturday).  When it’s not going right we can’t lose faith in our structure, that we have to keep probing and keep doing what we believe in and that was the key message.”

Banwait added: “Stay as you are! We had nothing to change. We didn’t want to change in the game. We understood their back players were coming out and they were hitting that diagonal long. We thought ‘let’s just try to frustrate them,’  and I think our game plan worked. It was positive.”

Glebe upped their tempo at the start of the second half and deservedly took the lead just 97 seconds in.

Once again, Beattie was at fault as he failed to cut out Penny’s sublime through ball along the deck to put Philpot through on goal and his left-footed angled drive flashed across the keeper and nestled inside the bottom far corner.

Hudson said: “We worked on it, Charlie coming in the pocket. I thought Charlie was exceptional tonight. A great weight of pass, a great timing of pass, a great run from Philpot. We got all of those bits right, which wasn’t easy against a really high line and he’s finished it with aplomb, so it’s in the form he is in at the moment.”

Banwait added: “The way they play, they have little deft touches.  Penny made a turn, he took Opeyemi Aromona and William Johnson-Cole or Warren Beattie, who were squeezing up. It was a great ball for their second goal.

“I’ve got to be honest out midfield has to be a bit more compact and tighter in that middle third and stop that ball being played out.  Credit to their player, that’s all we can say. We’ve got to be better and we’ve got to be analysing that and saying when that happens again how do we get better at it and we’ve got to be better because credit to their players for putting their chances away but credit to our boys for getting back into the game.”

Okundalaiye launched a deep free-kick from his right-back position and Glebe failed to clear their lines and the ball ran loose for Vines, whose shot was tipped around the post by Ceesay, low to his left.  Somehow the referee awarded a goal-kick.

Douglas clipped a ball over the top to put Philpot through on goal and he chipped the ball over Ovenden but this time Ratcliff got back to clear his lines.

Ratcliff produced some acrobatics to thwart Glebe again just 30 seconds later with an amazing goal-line clearance to prevent King-Elliott from drilling a first-time shot into the right-hand corner of the net.

Banwait said: “Excellent, excellent. We’ve got massive amounts of desire this season. It’s something that we’ve always worked on but credit to him. He’s come in from left-back last year to centre-half this season. He’s vice-captain, definitely a captain's performance today while George Goodwin is injured. That was a neigh on goal. If that was 3-1 the game could quite easily slipped away from us but that’s the attitude, the Punjab attitude is showing. Anything that’s not in the net you stick your body on the line for it.”

Hudson added: “Kingy beat the goalie and it was the best goalline clearance that I’ve ever seen!”

Wilson cut a corner back from the left and King-Elliott’s low angled drive was comfortably held by Ovenden.

Parsons got in behind Okundalaiye and put it on a plate for Penny at the far post but his first-time drive was drilled over the crossbar when he was left in oceans of space in the eighth minute.

Glebe kept knocking on the door and it was only a matter of time that they would increase their lead.

However, Philpot dropped deep and split open Beattie and Ratcliff again to put Penny in and after rounding the keeper his shot clipped the outside of the near post.

“We probably had 15 real clear-cut goalscoring opportunities tonight, which have either come from us not finishing them, bad luck and also an outstanding goalkeeping performance,” said Hudson.

Banwait said: “In possession, Glebe are a good side. We’ve not seen them play but we’ve read the reports and we know how they work with the players that have come down from Whyteleafe with the management staff. These guys are Step Four and it’s not like Whyteleafe were struggling in the Isthmian League.

“I’ve got to give us credit to match them. We’ve done well but in possession, yes, they move the ball fast, they know where their feet are, so it’s a learning curve for us. When we have them back at our ground we know what the game plan is.  We know we need to be tighter and we know we’ve got to stop that ball coming out as it does from the back from their centre-halves.”

If this was a boxing fight then the referee would have stopped the fight as Punjab United couldn’t stop the waves of attack from this impressive Glebe side.

Baugh played in Parsons down the left and his drilled shot was palmed over by the outstanding Ovenden.

Despite all of those Glebe chances, Punjab United grabbed an equaliser in the 68^th minute.

Left-back Jordan Campbell threw the ball to central midfielder William Johnson-Cole, who reached the by-line before whipping in a quality cross from the left towards the near post for Vines to bury his towering brave header past Ceesay into the left-hand corner from six-yards.

Banwait said: “That’s what he’s done all of his life! I’ve got to give credit to William Johnson-Cole there. A nice little Cruyff turn in between two players left them for dead.  A great ball into the box and Vinsey’s there, that’s why he’s there. That’s why he’s come to the club for. We know he’s not got the legs but we’ve got the younger bodies around him, but it’s his knowledge of the game playing as a nine. He could hold players up and he can take two centre-halves out of the game. We have to take those chances.”

Hudson added: “I honestly didn’t see it! That wasn’t me being horrible, I was trying to make a substitution.

“Should we allow someone to get a cross into the box from a throw-in? No! But if you put the ball in good areas Vinsey is going to score.  Fair play. He was feeding off scraps tonight and he still turned up when he needed to.”

Olorunnisomo’s long throw into the Punjab United box was met on the half-volley by Philpot, which only just flashed past the foot of the near post.

Ovenden pulled off another great save to frustrate Glebe again in the final 17 minutes.

Douglas pinged another diagonal long ball out of defence and Parsons whipped in a low cross from the left and Ovenden went to ground but stuck out a big toe to ensure Philpot’s first-time drive clipped the outside of the foot of the far post.

Hudson said: “He didn’t get good contact but even the toe of the goalie falling, nine times out of 10 he doesn’t reach out to that and it nestles in the corner.  When you go through it, it just highlights how many we had.

“Sometimes you have to question if its your night because of the amount we missed but I’ve got faith in them and we did believe and we kept creating the chances.”

Punjab United got it tactically wrong when they lost their left-back Campbell to cramp and manager Sian stepped over the white line to cuddle Kasai and ask him to slot in Campbell’s place.

“I definitely think the key was when Jordan Campbell coming off, unfortunately,” admitted Banwait.

“That changes the whole dynamic. We had to play a younger forward into the game. It’s going to be a tough game for him to come in, a normal attacking player (Kasai) had to play at left-back, un-natural to him, so I do believe if Jordan stayed on we would’ve walked away with a point, I’m quite confident with that.”

Glebe substitute Aaron Watson and Olorunnisomo linked up down the right and Olorunnisomo whipped in a cross and Baugh’s left-footed shot was blocked by Ovenden’s legs.

However, Punjab United’s hearts were broken as Glebe notched a deserved winner with 38:59 on the clock.

Wilson played a free-kick into Philpot’s feet on the corner of the penalty area and he held the ball up before turning his man to lay the ball off to Penny, who flashed a teasing cross across the face of goal towards the far post where Kasai opened the door to let in Baugh, who ghosted in unmarked to tap the ball into the back of an empty goal from six-yards.

Hudson said: “It is what we deserved. It was massive relief when it went in because sometimes you start thinking is it going to be your night? But I fully believed and everyone would agree we did deserve the three points today. That was one of many opportunities – we finally took one, thankfully.”

Banwait added: “I’m disappointed with how the ball came in from source. It was a good ball in, that’s what a striker dreams off but I think we had ample opportunities to clear it. It’s just a bit of naivety from our young player (substitute Tejan Noah), who had the ball in that area. We try and play out, we give a foul away in a very tough area.”

Glebe have started the season on fire, scoring 12 goals in three league games and Hudson’s side are next in action at Fisher on Tuesday 24 August.

“I actually think some of the stuff we played today was some of the best we’ve played in the league this year,” warned Hudson.

“We beat Erith Town 4-0 here and we probably created more chances tonight.  On another night, even though Punjab scored two, we’d probably would have scored seven or eight and I don’t think that would’ve been unfair.

“We’ll just take it one game at a time and keep our momentum going.  We’re in a good place. We’ve learned from our FA Cup defeat last Saturday, probably learned more from the game than if we’d have won the game so we’ve just got to keep delivering as a group and try to keep that momentum up.

“Fisher will be a tough one.  It’s going to be a tough place. They’ve got some really good attacking players and it’s a great surface, one that we’ll kind of look forward to playing on, so we’ve just got to keep momentum and see where it takes us.”

Punjab United are at home to Sheppey United next Tuesday, 17 August, before travelling to Isthmian League South East Division side Phoenix Sports in The FA Cup Preliminary Round four days later.

Glebe: Sheikh Ceesay, Dami Olorunnisomo, Matthew Parsons, Bradley Wilson (Tom Jackson 87), Helge Orome, Antone Douglas, Solomon Baugh (Sam Johnson 90), Ainsley Everett (Aaron Watson 71), Jamie Philpot, Ryan King-Elliott, Charlie Penny.
Subs: Malachi Simpson, Lauris Chin

Goals: Matthew Parsons 12, Jamie Philpot 47, Solomon Baugh 84

Booked: Ainsley Everett 48, Jamie Philpot 90

Punjab United: Max Ovenden, Marvin Okundalaiye, Jordan Campbell (Sarven Mahey 82), Opeyemi Aromona, Stephen Ratcliff, Warren Beattie, Harry Main (Tejan Noah 65), William Johnson-Cole, Paul Vines, Rohan Badbhagi (Jaydn Gildea 46), Chandler Kasai.
Sub: Shoaib Ashraf

Goals: Harry Main 14, Paul Vines 68

Booked: Opeyemi Aromona 45, Chandler Kasai 90

Attendance: 182
Referee: Mr Ryan Chantrill-Smith
Assistants: Mr Thomas Marshall & Mr Stephen Gorman