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First Team
Matches
Sat 04 Jan 2025  ·  Premier Division
Rusthall Football Club
First Team
2
1
Hollands & Blair
THREE POINTS TO BEGIN THE NEW YEAR!

THREE POINTS TO BEGIN THE NEW YEAR!

Club Admin5 Jan - 17:34

The New Year began as the previous one ended, with Rusthall picking up another valuable three points with a 2-1 victory over Hollands and Blair.

Simon Howe reports…

The two teams last met on 28th September when, despite playing with only 9 men for a portion of the game, Hollands and Blair came out on top. Since then however, it has been a different Rusthall, winning 8 of the last 11 league games and that good form was on show once again in a game they could easily have won by more.

With a couple of games in the SCEFL called off for frost, it seemed this game might have gone the same way when the officials began to prod the pitch under some pressure from Hollands and Blair captain, Dan Ellis, who clearly didn’t really fancy it.

Ultimately, common sense prevailed and the game was on- the same line up again took to the field in the continued absence of Jack Lyons and Yassin Fares, both of whom have been flying the flag for Rusthall in various other footballing activities recently. It was clear from the off which side wanted this game and it wasn’t long before the deadlock was broken. When the ball was cleared to halfway, the Hollands and Blair defence will have been forgiven for thinking it was job done but they hadn’t accounted for the composure of Robbie Bissett in central defence who moved the ball forward confidently before spraying an inch-perfect pass out to Steadman Callender whose control was instant. The shot which followed demonstrated the class of Callender, as the ball arrowed low into the far corner leaving Ellis, for once, speechless, and entirely motionless. How great to see Steadman Callender on the score sheet once more, one of the deadliest marksmen to grace this division in recent years.

Man of the Match, Frank Griffin, was next to try his luck- the ball was held up well by Callender and Griffin saw his speculative effort sail over but it was clear Rusthall were looking to build more pressure and extend their lead which they did on the quarter hour. Mustafa Hashemi played the ball across the field and found Louis Anderson who, like Bissett before him, moved forward with consummate ease. His through ball to Charlie Clover was judged to perfection, as was the way Clover skipped around the despairing Ellis before rolling the ball home for his 20th goal of the season so far. Hollands and Blair looked rocked and very short of ideas- any chances that did come their way came through the excellent Joe Thomas in midfield but ultimately resulted in wayward shots from the Hollands and Blair attack. The best chances were coming the way of the home side but they were unable to add to their tally- first Steadman Callender blitzed down the right but his excellent cross only just eluded the run of Jack Kirby and then, following more good work from Callender, the ball was cleared to Frank Griffin who lined up another shot from the edge of the area. His deflected strike was well saved by Ellis who had to adjust his feet before diving to good effect. Going into the break, it felt like Rusthall should have been further ahead but on the other hand, Serine Sanneh had spent most of the half keeping himself warm and danger felt far from imminent.

The second half saw the away side muster some improvement but Rusthall always looked comfortable and were still creating chances at will. Kalani Barton found Clover with an excellent pass but again, Ellis was there to repel him. Jeffrey Njuguna’s follow up was blocked, Jack Kirby’s resulting attempt was fired over the bar. Barton and Kirby both had further chances to extend the lead but it felt like neither quite trusted the now bobbly pitch and those chances came and went. Jesse Hammond, back from adventures in Australia, replaced the excellent Steadman Callender and immediately looked a threat with his driving running and top-class delivery. Serine Sanneh, now slightly warmer than he was in the opening period, was on hand when needed, keeping out a shot which was inadvertently made more difficult by Dan Blunn sticking out a leg which changed the direction of the ball entirely- Sanneh, though, was able to wriggle effectively to keep the ball out.

Theo Hayford came on for Clover, looking to build on a positive performance from the bench last week at Bearsted but within a minute, Rusthall found themselves pegged back following a goal from a freekick which was cleverly flicked on by Joe Thomas before being bundled home from close range. With Clover and Callender now sitting on the bench, it was down to the likes of Kalani Barton, Theo Hayford and Jesse Hammond to hold the ball up and try to create which they all did fantastically, Barton going close with a late effort. Hollands and Blair simply had no answer to the conundrum of Blunn and Bissett and further attempts to get back into the game were in vain. An inexplicable head loss from Dan Ellis brought further joy for the home crowd at full time and the warm embrace of the bustling clubhouse had rarely felt so appealing as players and fans once again celebrated an important win together.

A pleasing three points which moves the Rustics up to 9th place in the table but Jimmy Anderson and his players will know the game could have been even more comfortable than it was. With a good share of home games coming up, it is hoped that the healthy crowd of 254 will be back for more in the coming weeks, starting next Saturday with a tough fixture against Glebe who, like the Rustics, are closing in on the playoff places.

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Match details

Match date

Sat 04 Jan 2025

Kickoff

15:00

Attendance

254

Competition

Premier Division

League position

9
Rusthall
18
Hollands & Blair
Further reading