We played Redhill FC (The Lobsters) at their home ground, Kiln Brow, on Saturday 18th October.

It was a mild, autumnal afternoon, watched by Redhill’s lowest crowd of the season so far — just over 100, according to their Chairman.

We handed a debut to Shane Dunne, who joined us from Hanworth Villa. He slotted into midfield and delivered a very impressive first performance.

As the first half progressed, both teams created reasonable chances to open the scoring, the best of which fell to Luis Oliveira. He burst through on goal and only had the keeper to beat, but was denied by a fine save from the Redhill stopper.

The first half then turned dramatically in our favour in the 23rd and 27th minutes, when we secured a two-goal lead. The opener came from Brendan Murphy-McVey, who headed home from close range after an excellent ball from Emmanuel Limpo. Our second was scored by Ali Fofahan, who was put through by Jason Vincent and finished with a composed shot that went under the Redhill keeper. The remainder of the half passed without further incident.
Half-time: 0–2 

Redhill made three substitutions at the start of the second half, and we knew we would face an onslaught in the opening minutes — which proved to be the case. It looked as though we had weathered the storm, but we conceded a scrappy goal in the 55th minute after failing to clear a ball into our box. Despite two or three attempts to do so, the ball eventually ended up in the back of our net.

We made our first substitution in the 59th minute, with Callum Wilson — who had been ‘in the wars’ — coming off to be replaced by Ethan Nelson-Roberts. Redhill were very much in the ascendency at this point, and we were limited to the occasional foray forward.

A double substitution followed in the 70th minute, with Brendan Murphy-McVey and Ali Fofahan making way for Kionte Gillfillian-Waul and Jake Brown. The pressure continued to build as Redhill searched for an equaliser. Our final substitution came towards the end of the match, with Obasanjo Akinniranye introduced to help us see the game out. As we moved into injury time, it looked as though we might just hold on.

Unfortunately, in the 97th minute, we conceded from a right-wing cross and a header at the back post, which found the net. The referee blew for full time before the restart could be taken. The game ended 2–2 — a disappointing result, as we really should have seen the game out. We must improve our game management late on, particularly when protecting a lead.

There’s little time to reflect on this result, with another away fixture coming up at Alton FC on Tuesday 21st October. It would be great to see as many of you as possible there to support the team — the players will certainly appreciate it.