THREE VALUABLE POINTS ON A COLD EVENING AT FOXBURY AVENUE!

There will be bigger wins this season, there will be more impressive wins this season, there will be wins against more capable opponents, but few wins will be as important as this hard-fought victory over Stansfeld on Tuesday evening. Following a run of defeats which had seen Rusthall fall down the league standings, and with a tough home game against Glebe coming up, three points here was vital to kick-start the Rustics’ season, and Jimmy Anderson and his young squad delivered when needed.

Callum Taylor led the team out in perishingly cold conditions, closely followed by the familiar- if slightly unexpected- sight of Tommy Taylor, ready to take his place between the sticks. It was a cagey beginning to the game, typical of a clash between two teams both eager to claim the much-needed points.

Rusthall set up with a solid-looking back three of Dan Blunn, Lenny Styles and Callum Taylor in front of the returning Taylor, and they proved to be a solid back line throughout. The impressive Ben Branch lined up alongside Jeffrey Njuguna in midfield with Louis Anderson and Abdullah Khalil given license to attack from the flanks but trusted to cover when needed.

Man-of-the Match, Tarik Ibrahim, explored the space behind Luke Adams- all hustle and bustle with a touch of class when required- and Kalani Barton who troubled the slightly static Stansfeld defence right from the off. Tearing down the left, he cut in on two occasions- one shot failed to trouble the keeper and one pass failed to find Ibrahim when he perhaps should have taken a chance on goal but the threat was clear. Rusthall should have taken the lead when Adams found Barton with an incisive pass- the assistant referee’s flag was raised and while it was fairly clear Tarik Ibrahim was returning from an offside position, he wasn’t involved in the move and Barton was onside. His fine finish at the goalkeeper’s near post was in vain as the flag remained up and the goal didn’t count. By this point, Stansfeld had hit the post but struggled to create much more thanks to controlled play from the Rustics.

Luke Adams found himself through on goal but shot wide, perhaps a bit eager to re-open his Rusthall account. Just as it looked like it would be level at the break, Stansfeld won a corner which was whipped in and cleared. Unfortunately for the away side, it landed at the feet of a Stansfeld attacker whose shot cannoned back off the post, again, straight to a Stansfeld player who had the easy task of stroking the ball home. Rusthall found themselves behind, completely against the run of play.

If there was a question over whether Rusthall could drag themselves back into the game, it was comprehensively answered with a rip-roaringly fast start to the second half which led to two quick-fire goals. For the first, Callum Taylor found himself in an unusually advanced position on the left but when the ball was played for him to move onto, he stumbled. No matter, as Luke Adams is not one to give up easily and he collected the ball and immediately looked up. The Stansfeld goalkeeper decided to follow Callum Taylor’s example and fell to the ground which allowed Adams to pick out the run of Tarik Ibrahim. Despite the narrow angle, Ibrahim expertly found the opposite corner and parity was restored. Before they knew it, Stansfeld found themselves behind- Louis Anderson won the ball straight from kick off and moved it to Luke Adams who played a delightful pass into space for Ibrahim. He outpaced the defender easily and bore down on goal. When the ball came back to the edge of the box, there was Ben Branch to finish well, despite the bobbly pitch and multiple defenders on the line. The lead was no less than Rusthall deserved and Tarik Ibrahim and Luke Adams were at the heart of it all. Ibrahim particularly had a fine game- his ability to bring the ball under immediate control, to drive forward at pace, and to find the right shot or the right pass at the right time marked him out as the standout performer on the night.

The next question was would Rusthall hang on? In the end, it was a fairly comfortable affair in which Stansfeld rather took their cue from their irate bench and the handful of fans on the side lines- their heads dropping, their irritation with one another increasing. Some even seemed confused about the name of their team as they urged ‘Stansfield’ on to greater things- new signings, perhaps, but the name of your team seems a basic bit of information to have in mind. Rusthall, on the other hand, are a squad full of players who care about the club, who know how important it is to the fans who turn up in numbers each week, who want to perform for their manager and the coaching staff. Perhaps this can be a turning point in Rusthall’s season- next up that home game against Glebe, a cup game at Erith Town and then a grand day out at Kennington.

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