New Salamis 1-3 Stow
After ten days without a game, Stow returned to winning ways thanks to two late Jay Rolfe headers at a sodden Coles Park. The two sides had met a few weeks ago in the Isthmian League Cup, and while both teams were much-changed from then, the game was another exciting end-to-end encounter.
Nicky Ironton rejigged his side, with Emmanuel Dasho returning to the club after five years, and going straight in at centre back, while J’Ardell Stirling moved to right back. There was a first league start for Luke Foster at left back and Te Wihongi was pushed into a defensive midfield berth.
Stow started brightly, and a quarter of an hour in were rewarded for their positivity. Foster clipped a cross-field ball to Demaray Anyadike who drove a low cross from the by-line which bounced off former Stow midfielder Panny Boxer, now playing at the heart of the Salamis defence. The ball only traveled as far as Adalberto Pinto who was lurking on the penalty spot, who opened his body and gleefully drilled the ball home.
But Salamis always looked dangerous on the counter, and ten minutes later could have been level if not for a superb last-ditch block from Dasho to deny Asamoah who was about to pull the trigger, six yards out.
Salmis did get their reward ten minutes before the break as Nathan Mandla capitalised on misplaced pass and cut inside before hooking the ball into the bottom corner.
The rest of the half descended into farce. Wihongi was booked for a late challenge, which saw some feeble attempts at handbags from both sides. Yet it took ten minutes for the man in the middle to restore order after twice booking the wrong players for their part in the scenes. Albert Adu was the Salamis player given a yellow card and it would soon come back to bite him.
The second half continued much in the same way as the first; Stow having most of the ball but Salamis looking more dangerous on the counter.
Duncan Culley could have done better when through on goal five mintues into the half, but couldn’t quite bring the ball under control. He did play a lovely through pass to Pinto on the hour mark though, but Stow’s goalscorer couldn’t add to his tally, being forced wide by Reuben Rabstein.
Stow then had two huge penalty shouts turned down. The first on Pinto, when he was pushed in the back when going for a header in the box, then the next when Culley was pulled down in the box. Between the two shouts, Matt Nolan had to be alert to deny the ageless Derek Asamoah one-on-one.
With 20 minutes to go the course of the game changed in Stow’s favour. Adu went in high and late on Pinto, and was given his marching orders by virtue of a second yellow rather than a straight red. A minute later Salamis should have been down to nine when player/manager Tommy Boxer – who had a horrid evening – bundled over Anyadike, but somehow stayed on the pitch.
Time was running out, but Stow continued to press and were rewarded on 87 minutes when Callum Ibe swung in a perfect ball for Jay Rolfe to nod home. Salamis were outraged, appealing for a hand ball in the box, but not realising that the hand was that of Panny Boxer.
Two minutes later Rolfe sealed the points with his second of the game, finding the bottom corner of the goal with a glancing header from an Anyadike corner.
