Ryman League North
Aveley 2 v 1 Haringey Borough
Report by Scott Lanza
AVELEY moved up to third after securing all the points at a Mill Field that was enshrined with a murky fog that swirled around the ground for the complete duration of the game. There was a certain gothic feel at Mill Field however Aveley made sure there were no horror shows as they put in a hardworking shift that resulted in a routine home victory.
The poor visibility meant that it took both teams time to settle down with Aveley winning two corners in the opening quarter of an hour that didn’t cause too much panic in the Haringey defence. Gaz Dauti put in a solid tackle to halt Adrian Markus while Joseph Clark had to deal with a couple of balls in the Millers box.
The visitors had the game’s first clear cut chance in the 16th minute when former Miller Dean Fenton, who had turned out in the Aveley blue twelve years ago, delivered a peach of a cross from the right wing that was met by the head of Adrian Markus. The resulting header was only inches away from breaking the deadlock.
The Millers took this warning in their stride and took the lead three minutes later. The ball was played out of defence to Michael Toner who chipped the Borough defence, setting Mason Bloomfield free. The Aveley forward showed a clean pair of heels to leave his marker standing and then slotted the ball past Harry Palmer.
Toner almost doubled Aveley’s lead in the next attack with a rasping drive. That near miss then stirred the visitors with Fenton starting to deliver balls into the Aveley box. One of them caused Lamar Joseph-Johnson all sorts of problems. The normally reliable keeper may have had restricted vision as the fog at this point had thickened since the game had started. What looked like a routine catch suddenly became a mad scramble as Joseph-Johnson fumbled the initial long ball from Fenton dangerously across his own six yard box. Chris Benjamin was well placed to pounce on the loose ball, but the Aveley keeper made immediate amends for his earlier mishap, diving at the feet of the Borough striker and claiming the ball. There was no such panic when Benjamin whipped in a cross from the right wing as this time Joseph-Johnson claimed the ball with ease.
Toner set up Daniel Odamo in the 34th minute having tried in vain to get a shot off but found himself crowded out by the Borough defence. He laid the ball to his left where Odamo was waiting and his shot was initially blocked by Aaron Scott before he smashed the ball to safety. The Borough defence were also tested by an Aveley move that resulted in Danny McCullock knocking over a long ball over the top that was aimed towards Bloomfield. Scott again put his body on the line to halt Bloomfield’s progress with Ramil Sheriff then hitting the ball away from the Borough penalty area.
Aveley had kept Haringey’s frontline quiet but the closing stages of the opening period did see the visitors carve out a couple of chances. Benjamin just failed to connect to a cross at the far post and then on the stroke of half-time volleyed inches wide.
If the visitors were hoping to start the second half with the momentum that closed the first then those hopes were dashed with five minutes of the restart. Jordan Peart raced down the left wing and then centred to McCullock who rammed the ball past the Borough keeper. The Millers almost added a third minutes later after Scott was caught in two minds as to what to do with the loose ball in the Borough penalty box. While he tarried Toner pounced and flashed the ball across the Borough goalmouth which McCullock could only steer into the side netting.
It took until the 65th minute before Joseph-Johnson was called into action. A ball was knocked into the Aveley six yard box and Benjamin turned and hit a low shot that Joseph-Johnson blocked. The visitors then made a triple substitution as they attempted to try and get back into the game. Anton Blackwood was one of those that came from the bench and his first action was to take a free-kick that Gleed knocked away.
Aveley appeared to be coasting to victory until Haringey Borough pulled one back in the 74th minute. Fenton dinked the ball over the Millers defence straight in the path of Kwabena Asamoah. He sped past the Aveley defence, drew Joseph-Johnson out of his six yard box and then rolled the ball towards Adrian Markus who side-footed the ball into the empty net. All of a sudden Aveley were on the backfoot and Borough almost grabbed an equaliser when Ali Setirekli directed a shot towards the top right corner. Joseph-Johnson pulled off an equally as impressive save to maintain the Millers lead.
Having weathered a few Borough attacks the Millers almost made sure of the victory in stoppage time when a Toner run and cross beat Palmer and his defence but also Bloomfield whose outstretched foot agonisingly failed to connect with the ball. It soon proved to be academic anyway as the game ended soon after. Aveley start 2017 with a home game against Thamesmead Town. The visitors cannot expect Terry Spillane’s team to be in an over generous mood as they look to start the New Year with a win.
Aveley: Lamar Joseph-Johnson (Capt), Harry Gibbs, Joseph Clark, Daniel Odamo, Tommy Spillane, Ross Gleed, Danny McCullock (James Pugsley 71), Gaz Dauti, Mason Bloomfield, Michael Toner, Jordan Peart (Jack Edwards 80)
Scorers – Mason Bloomfield (18′), Danny McCullock (50)
Haringey Borough: Harry Palmer, Rakim Richards, David Olufemi, Scott Durojaiye, Aaron Scott, Ramil Sheriff (Ben Adams 71), Dean Fenton (Capt), Joshua Willer (Kwabena Asamoah 71), Chris Benjamin(Anton Blackwood 71) , Adrian Markus, Ali Setirekli
