THREE GOALS, THREE POINTS & IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE AWAY FROM HOME!

The bulk of the 365 fans who made it along to the opening game of the season must have stayed home to cool off- the 85 in attendance for this one were treated to a superb display of attacking football, resolute defending, and a supremely dominant performance from the men in green and white.

Heat was expected and, from the off, Rusthall were on fire, adding to the 33 degrees on the thermometer.

The Erith Town defence were on the back foot from kick-off, pushed back by relentless, dangerous runs from Reuel Powell-Downey. They didn’t want to- and indeed couldn’t- get near him. The opening goal arrived after just 9 minutes- it was actually from the opposite flank the attack came, but when Conor Johnson expertly pulled the ball back, it was to Powell-Downey that it fell. He controlled the ball, shifted it to his left foot, and powered home a rasping drive.

Rusthall’s tails were up and, in total contrast, Erith seemed to be wilting- former Rustic, Charlie Clover their only real threat. Rusthall were knocking the ball about with absolute confidence- a cross-field ball from Calvin Gitiba was left by Powell-Downey to land at the feet of left-back Abdullah Khalil, whose fine cross was well-cleared with Johnson ready to pounce. A minute later, it was nearly two as Powell-Downey shot well but saw his effort rebound off the post. Soon after, it was 2-0. Luke Miller, up against two defenders, returned the ball to Jack Smith who had continued a fine run into the box- he rounded the keeper with ease and rolled the ball into the empty net. Rusthall nearly made it three when James White spread the ball to Louis Anderson who crossed for Conor Johnson- his attempted flicked finish was saved low down by the keeper.

Erith Town began to get some sort of grip on the game- Charlie Clover moved over to the right-hand side and the corner count began to rise for the home side. However, White and Gitiba were in no mood to allow chances, and cleared everything that came their way. Jack Smith and the tenacious Jamie Miller controlled the middle of the park with powerful tackling, sensible passing and determination to not only snuff out attacks, but to move the ball forward with precision. At half-time, Erith looked a beaten side- the Rustics, full of confidence and swagger.
It wasn’t long before the scoring continued for the away side. On 50 minutes, a corner was awarded and when the ball arrived at the feet of Calvin Gatiba, he had a choice. Play the ball back to a teammate? Ping the ball back across the goalkeeper into the top corner of the net? It was the second option the impressive centre-back took and what a fine goal it was. Injury to Callum Taylor on the opening day was disappointing of course, but Gitiba has stepped into the team and is doing a fantastic job alongside James White who talked the team through the whole game from the back.

Chances kept coming- this was a superb attacking performance and should probably have resulted in more goals for Rusthall. Dwan Archer turned quickly away from his marker and played in Reuel Powell-Downey whose shot went wide. A poor goal kick fell to Powell-Downey who should probably have fed the waiting Louie Clarke and another opportunity had gone. Yassin Fares, making his long-awaited debut from the bench, was immediately involved to good effect. He tormented the fullback on more than one occasion- even when he was pulled back, he just got up and kept going. By this time, Addo Amankwah had joined him on the pitch, stationed on the other wing. He also wanted to attack his fullback and saw one goal-bound effort well-saved. There was more- Louie Clarke should have played in Fares when in on goal, Fares went close with another shot, and a ball inside to Tommy Lawrence from Fares was played across but just out of reach for Clarke. It really could have been five or six.

Unfortunately, the game ended with two slight negatives- firstly, Erith pulled a goal back when a long throw wasn’t cleared and the ball was hammered home. Even more disappointingly, Rusthall lost Louie Clarke to a late red card after an altercation on the touchline- he’ll miss some crucial games which is certainly a blow given the goals he brings.

Despite the poor end to the game, this was a top-class performance from a side who are really showing what they are capable of. Following relatively comfortable wins at home against Welling Town and Loxwood, coming away to Erith, who finished last season in 7th place, was always going to be more of a test and this was a test passed with flying colours, even more impressive given the heat in which the game was played.

Next up, is a home game against Punjab United on Wednesday evening.

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