Rusthall claimed a vital 3 points against a Fisher team made to look distinctly average by a home side determined to put a poor run of form behind them with a display of effort and quality which overcame both their visitors, and the referee, who made several baffling calls throughout an entertaining match.

With the weather relenting to the extent that even local rivals Tunbridge Wells were able to get a game on at The Culverden, it was a long-awaited return to action at Jockey Farm, and the home fans went home happy with a fully deserved win.

Rahman Kareem returned to the starting line up and it was as if he had never been away- he immediately set about rampaging up his side, giving Lorenzo Duncan a headache from the off. Robbie Bissett came back in after missing Saturday’s rather forgettable trip to Phoenix through suspension, and demonstrated what a key cog he is in Jimmy Anderson’s team with his usual power, control and leadership.

Ayodeji Owoeye was quite rightly rewarded for his fine recent form off the bench with a starting place, and he fully justified it with confident probing, running, and movement which caused Fisher no end of grief.

Rusthall controlled a first half in which not much of note happened- Charlie Clover went closest with a deflected effort following a fine turn in the box, but neither goalkeeper was under much pressure. Rusthall put some good moves together but were perhaps lacking in the last ball, with the Fisher defence able to remain relatively untroubled.

0-0 it was at the break but it always felt like goals would come. This was a very different Rusthall team to the one that faced Fisher back in December- with several players missing, Fisher came away deserved winners that day, but they were finding it difficult to get into this game thanks to Frank Griffin in the middle of the park who was doing everything he could to stop them getting through. The game turned on 53 minutes however, as a ball was played behind the Rusthall defence and it seemed the Fisher attacker would have an effort on goal. Robbie Bissett was in no mood to allow a shot however, and he made a perfect sliding tackle which diverted the ball away. No one in the ground, no Fisher player or member of staff, thought there was a sniff of a penalty, but the referee, standing on the halfway line, decided it was a penalty. Cue absolute disbelief from all involved and a spot-kick despatched despite a fine attempt at stopping it from Reece Hobbs. The feeling of unfairness was palpable and it galvanised a Rusthall team already playing well to do even more to right the wrong that had been done against them.

Fisher all but stopped trying to move the ball forward and it was Rusthall doing all the running. Effort levels which carried them to victory over Larkfield and New Hythe in last week’s semi-final win were once again on show but the Rustics were made to wait until near the end of the game to get back into it. This time it was Rusthall who were awarded a penalty in slightly controversial fashion- as the ball was played into Louie Clarke, he was judged to have been held and the penalty was awarded. Robbie Bissett took responsibility and smashed it past an oddly-positioned Isaac Ogunseri in goal.

Just as it seemed a draw would do for both sides, Rusthall found a winner through a fairly unlikely source. A freekick was won on the left-hand side and Frank Griffin stepped up to deliver a perfectly weighted ball which wasn’t cleared- Thompson Adeyemi was on hand to acrobatically shift his near seven foot frame into a bicycle kick which couldn’t be stopped- bedlam ensued as physios flew, coaches and substitutes tore down the touchline to join the celebrations, and fans celebrated a fully deserved winner.

There was still time for the referee to heap more attention on himself by sending off an unfortunate Kelvin Boampong who put in an ill-judged tackle on Jack Gibbons- a poor tackle, yes, but a yellow would have sufficed. Down to ten men, Rusthall held on with Jaevon Dyer filling in at left-back, a wayward attempt at copying Adeyemi’s acrobatics the best Fisher could muster in the dying minutes of the game.

This was a massive 3 points for Rusthall against a good team who will no doubt be amongst the playoff contenders come the end of April.

The objective for Rusthall now is surely to put together a run of positive performances and results to push their way up the table, starting with a game against Corinthian which has been switched to an away game, with Corinthian visiting Jockey Farm to replay the game which was abandoned in December, on Saturday 28th March.

For regular updates including news, photos & lots more from around the club, follow us on social media: Facebook, Instagram & Twitter