Southern Counties East Premier Play Off Semi Final, Tuesday 28th April
It's play off time as the football seasons come to a close, and my second one in a few days saw me over at St Pauls, home of Fisher, who were taking on a familiar foe in the shape of Punjab United from Gravesend to see who could reach the final at the weekend and be ninety minutes away from promotion to Step Four.
The hosts had finished a distant second in the league behind runaway champions Whitstable Town (nineteen points) but it did mean a guaranteed home route through the play offs, and they were taking on a Punjab side who had finished in the final play off spot in fifth, but only five points behind their opponents this evening, and this was to be their fourth meeting with Fisher since February, so to say they were familiar with each other was an understatement.
Their first meeting in February this campaign was a biggie in the FA Vase Fifth Round which saw Punjab win 2-0 in Gravesend, and the two subsequent meetings in the league saw a 5-1 win for Fisher at St Pauls (that was three days after the Vase contest) before Punjab beat them again in Gravesend 2-1 two weeks ago, so it currently sees Punjab with a 2-1 advantage.
Play off football is different though, and those previous games will mean nothing heading into this tie, both sides will know exactly what to look out for though and know each others strengths and weaknesses, so it certainly pointed to an interesting and intriguing contest to come, although Fishers home form has been immaculate, they had won their last eleven at home netting forty nine goals in the process, which included a 5-0 win over Tunbridge Wells in their final game of the regular season.
Since mid march though Punjab's league form has been decent as well, ten games and only one defeat, which was a narrow 1-0 loss at home to champions Whitstable Town, so they were coming into this one with plenty to shout about too, they did end their season with a 1-1 draw at Snodland Town, which proved enough for them to earn that final play off spot, although they would have to play well to win at St Pauls for sure.
Whether or not the pressure of a home semi final for Fisher was too much who knows, but they were not at the races in the first half as Punjab put in a brilliant showing in the opening forty five minutes, taking the lead after just nine minutes when a superb ball in from the right by Chris Edwards found Jack Hopkins in the box and he sent a looping header into the bottom corner, slow motion like almost, and the visitors had an early advantage.
Fisher tried to respond and saw visiting keeper Mitch Beeney make a good stop before the hosts eventually lashed the loose ball well off target, I think it was from Alex Kozak, but apart from this the hosts didn't really threaten their opponents as much as many thought they would, and in fact it was Punjab who looked the likelier to find another, and in first half stoppage time, they did.
It looked to me as if a wayward effort went well wide, but the next thing I knew was the ball was then fired home, I was standing at the other end of the pitch at this point so not entirely sure what happened, but Zak Byron was the man to find the net and send Punjab into the half time break with a very handy two goal cushion, and Fisher had it all to do.
The hosts knew they had to find the next goal, and early in the second period if they were to threaten any sort of comeback, and sure enough eight minutes after the break they had that goal to really stir up the majority of the 449 inside the ground, it came when a ball sent Festos Kamara in on goal as he outpaced the back line, he still had much to do but sent a wonderful looping finish beyond Beeney and into the net, and now Fisher believed they could go on and maybe rescue this tie.
Punjab for the first time in the contest were having to cling on and dig in to try and thwart the Fisher onslaught, but fair play to them they did just that and rode out the storm, they had defended really well throughout and limited their free scoring opponents at this ground very well indeed, and with just over fifteen minutes to go, they netted a third to really put a dagger in in the hopes of the hosts chances.
Substitute Will Johnson-Cole swivled and fired an effort at goal which didn't seem powerful enough to beat keeper Isaac Ogunseri, but again I was unsighted as to what happened but the ball ended up in the net, so assuming the keeper probably should have done better going on some of the comments around me in the stand, and it meant Punjab had a two goal cushion once again.
Did Fisher have anything left, not really, and it never looked likely they would find a way back after that, and Punjab comfortably saw it out to take their place in the final and give themselves a shot at promotion to step four, as for Fisher, there decent season ends in disappointing fashion this evening, not what many of them hoped coming into these post season play offs.
Full time Fisher 1 Punjab United 3
So, who will the winners take on in the final, well the other semi final took place on the same evening, let's see how that one panned out.....
Rusthall 0 Larkfield & New Hythe 0 (Rusthall won 5-4 on penalties)
These two sides had finished third and fourth in the division and were separated by just two points over thirty six games, so it was no surprise that this game was as tight and tense and it appeared, neither side could find the net in ninety minutes meaning a shoot out was required, and Rusthall kept their nerve to win the shoot out and set up a home play off final against Punjab United at the weekend.
So, will Rusthall make home advantage count at the weekend and win promotion, or can Punjab win on the road once again and earn promotion to Step Four for next season, we shall find out in a few days.....
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