A point apiece for the two teams which will probably satisfy Meridian far more than City – given the two side’s respective places in the current league table, but City may well view it as two points dropped because they had some really good chances to win what was a very tight encounter played for the first half-hour in horrible, driving rain.
There wasn’t too much to report early doors as both teams strived to deal with the very wet conditions and the soft ground, but visiting keeper Dan Edwards was the first to be called into action sprinting out to clear as Tyler Lee was on the chase having been put through by Arron Barker’s clever ball over the top of the Meridian defence.
Daniel Ikem did well to make some space before seeing a firm effort well blocked, but on fifteen minutes he really should have given City the lead. Mafany Makoge saw a fierce shot blocked and it deflected out to Ikem, but with the keeper stranded and most of the goal to aim at, he could only steer the ball wide of the far post!
Meridian were busy but not particularly dangerous at this stage although Oscar Peglar down the right seemed to be their biggest threat going forward. City were largely on top though and Ikem was almost sent through by a great defence splitting charge but he was superbly defended away by visiting skipper Jess Samba. Farid Salifou then had Edwards scrambling as his cross came in from the left while Dan Haswell saw a long shot blocked.
City keeper Fin Lumpkin was largely a bystander but had to be alert on thirty-three minutes when Luca Chitanva broke through the middle for Meridian only to see the keeper do well to push the striker’s effort over his own bar at the expense of a corner – which City managed to scramble away. An exchange of further corners followed, before Meridian went close when a well worked move near the corner of the home box ended with Alfie Buckley’s shot brilliantly blocked by City’s Ronnie Gawler. Buckley was suddenly in a bit of a purple patch and soon after, he weaved his way down the left before firing comfortably over the City bar before then cutting in from the same side and rifling in a firm shot that flew wide of the goal.
Now, just before the break, Edwards had to sprint out again to clear the ball off Ikem’s toes while City then couldn’t prosper from a Barker attacking free-kick, so when the half-time whistle blew, the teams were deadlocked at nil-nil with the visitor’s later-in-the-half rally probably just evening up the game a little at that point, but perhaps more importantly for all of us, thankfully the rain had now stopped!
The second-half had barely got going before City were handed the lead on a plate when, from a fairly innocuous moment of play, a wayward back-pass from a Meridian defender rolled past the completely wrong-footed keeper and trundled gently into the empty net for 1-0.
City couldn’t believe their luck and really should have quickly pressed home a further advantage. Farid’s ball forward saw Camron Haswell well shepherded away by Edwards but it was City’s next attack that should have seen them increase their lead. Haswell was slipped through as Meridian appealed in vain for an offside, only to see his low shot well saved by Edwards diving down to his right, but he couldn’t hold onto the ball and it spilled from his grasp. It landed straight at the feet of Ikem following in, but the forward couldn’t get any accuracy or strength at all in his hurried effort and Edwards was somehow able to make a scrambling blocking save despite still laying prostrate on the ground!
Meridian responded well to going behind and Lenny Rye struck a sweet shot over the City bar from around twenty-five yards, while Lumpkin then made a smart stop to deny Germaine Jeannoel. On sixty-five minutes however, they equalised when a free-kick was launched in from the right and Buckley, at what was the far post, somehow managed to squeeze the ball in from close range but a tight angle for 1-1.
Camron Haswell then saw a free-kick fly straight through to Edwards for an easy save before in the next attack he turned well in the box but was seemingly trodden on the back of the heel as he prepared to shoot. Strangely, there wasn’t any sort of an appeal from the City players but it looked highly suspicious from our view point with Hawswell also seeming to think he had a justifiable complaint when he eventually got to his feet and spoke to the referee.
From there the game started to stretch a bit and became far more open and end-to-end than it had been. Samba saw a shot well blocked by Gawler, while at the other end, City’s Charlie Keyte fired well over the Meridian bar from distance. Camron Haswell then broke down the left but fired into the side netting before Lumpkin made an excellent spreading save to deny Jeannoel who looked certain to score and was then alert enough to grab the rebound as it was pinged straight back at him.
The keeper then charged out at great pace to clear the ball as Jeannoel sprang through, before Ade Kunlee and Barker both saw good chances just inside the Meridian box well blocked. As the ninety minutes were ticking by, City almost snatched a winner when a ball forward seemed to cause some hesitancy in the away defence with Kunlee the first to react and after chasing the loose ball, he and Edwards pretty much both got to it at the same time, the City man unable to force the ball home as the two players came together with Edwards needing some time to recover from the clash.
City then had another chance to seal the points when a free-kick was sent in but agonisingly just bounced away from Harry Baptiste and straight though to Edwards before, with ninety-six minutes on the watch, Baptiste had a great effort very well saved by the keeper with the ball rolling loose to Kunlee but as a goal beckoned, it was brilliantly dealt with by Tom Graham with a last-ditch clearing tackle. There was still time for a further effort each as Makoge saw his shot pouched by Edwards before Buckley, with the last play of the game, skied a shot well clear of the City angle.
A fair result? Possibly, but City will look at the chances they couldn’t take and will know that a much needed win was there for the taking!
Final score: Canterbury City 1 Meridian VP 1