Soham Town Rangers 2-3 Waltham Forest
Forest returned from a hostile Cambridgeshire to record a win in their first match of the season.
You have to look back to the 2009-10 season since Forest took all three points in a season opener, but their attacking play today will be able rival anything the Ryman Division 1 North has to offer this season.
Despite suffering an injury while on holiday, Stags captain Gaz Dauti started, along with several familiar faces.
Soham held the upper hand as the game opened up, and it was a sign of thing to come. Soham would have much of the possession in the first half, but rarely threatened.
Despite Soham’s control of the ball, it did not take long for Forest to show that their game plan was to clear their lines early, and attack with skill and pace.
This strategy paid off as early as the 15th minute. Some tricky wing-play from new signing Tashan Nicholas was too much for the Soham defence to handle, and when he tried to cut inside, his run was blocked and the referee had no choice but to award the penalty.
Josh Bonnett stepped up to take the penalty, and despite the referee interrupting his run up, and the Soham ‘keeper getting two hands to his kick, the power behind his shot was too much and it found the back of the net.
It was soon 2-0 to Forest. A good Bonnett corner was laid back to Dauti by Richard Shittu, and Dauti’s low, bobbling shot somehow nestled inside the goal keeper’s near post from fully 25 yards.
Despite Forest’s defensive frailties, their attacking was on another level, and a forward line of Dagher, Shittu, Hammond and Bonnett was causing the sluggish Soham defence a whole world of problems.
However, Soham did threaten a few times in the first half, Forest ‘keeper Omand did well to palm a free-kick wide, and full-backs Sackey and Nicholas were forced into several good clearances.
Glen Kendall, a midfielder previously with Tilbury went close twice for Forest, both times from corners: volleying against the outside of the post in the first instance, and heading just wide with his second chance.
Chances in the second half were less frequent for Forest, and in the opening 20 minutes they were limited to set-pieces. Joel Palmer and Bonnett both had chances from close-range free-kicks, but both fired wide.
Liberian international Manu Dagher had a solid game on the left wing, and had a chance to score when a loose ball in the area fell to him, however, the Soham ‘keeper was up to the challenge and kept Dagher’s shot out well with his feet.
As the second half progressed, Soham began to get into the game more and more. On around the hour mark, a Soham corner was expertly volleyed at the back post, but the finish could only find the outside of the back post.
As the rain began to fall, Forest realized that they had a chance to put the game out of reach of the home side. A long pass out of defence by Antone Douglas found Dagher on the left wing, who brought the ball forward, cut back and sent a deep cross into the box. Dagher’s cross was tipped away from second half substitute Palmer by the home ‘keeper, but it was only tipped into the path of Josh Bonnett, who brought the ball down and fired a high shot into the top of the net from the tightest of angles.
Forest did have further chances to increase their lead, with Hammond, Palmer and Nicholas all going close, but Allen in the Soham goal was equal to their attempts.
On 75, Soham pulled their first goal back. A long ball out of the back found Andy Furnell who took his chance first time and headed high into the corner of the net. Forest ‘keeper Omand will be disappointed that he did not claim the ball, but it was a excellent header none the less.
After being booked earlier in the half, Dauti was lucky not to be shown a second yellow card on around 77 minutes. Many referees would have booked the Forest captain for going in for a 50-50 ball on the Soham ‘keeper, but the referee kept his cards in his pocket.
If Dauti was somewhat fortunate to stay on the pitch, there was no debate about Josh Bonnett’s depature. Bonnett was barged off the ball by Soham’s Martin Bromwich, who then proceeded to stamp on Bonnett. Bonnett’s kicked out at Bromwich, and was quite rightly shown the red card. However, Bromwich got away scott free, despite Bonnett needing attention from the physio after being stamped on.
The numerical advantage encouraged the home side, and with well over 90 minutes played, they scored their second goal of the match. The Forest defence did well to clear a deep corner, but only so far as David Cobb who unleashed an unstoppable long-range effort into the roof of the net.
Soham continued to pressure well into the 8th minute of added time, but the Forest defence held strong, and kept Soham at bay to earn an excellent three points.
Watham Forest: Omand, Sackey, Nicholas, Kendall, Green, Douglas, Dagher (Healey), Dauti, Shittu (Palmer), Hammond (Melton), Bonnett-Johnson.
Unused subs: Imbert, Campbell.
Forest now play Grays Athletic at home on Wednesday, who beat Ware 4-0 today.
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