Minds were drawn to the corresponding fixture from last season where Punjab found themselves coasting at 3-0 as the clock ticked over to 80 minutes. Ten minutes later, Rusthall had staged a monumental comeback to claim a 4-3 win in a game Rusthall will forever remember, and a game Punjab will have wanted to forget, and indeed seemed to have put behind them with a strong opening to this one. They were ahead within two minutes- a throw-in deep in defensive territory for Rusthall led to the ball being given away, a shot came in which was blocked by Daniel Blunn, and the rebound fell kindly to the Punjab attacker who finished low past Serine Sanneh who had little chance.

Rusthall rallied from their poor start, and their willingness to keep going in the face of adversity was perhaps demonstrated best by Thompson Adeyemi who trooped on despite clearly being in pain from a hamstring injury. Adeyemi and Frank Griffin began to impose themselves on the game, while Ayodeji Owoeye and Jaevon Dyer were finding inroads in support of the usual attacking pair of Louie Clarke and Charlie Clover. The equaliser arrived after 23 minutes and was teed up by a somewhat unexpected source- Serine Sanneh has been busy impressing not only in the SCEFL Premier Division, but also for John Terry’s 26ers in the Baller League, and he was able to readjust to a full-size pitch to pick out Louie Clarke. Rusthall’s leading goal scorer found himself some way from goal, but with the surprisingly close attention of Punjab goalkeeper, Owen Bushell. Clarke remained calm, and simply rolled the ball home from outside the box with the Punjab defence as at sea as they were at the reverse fixture in September when Bushell had kicked the ball straight to Jack Kirby who took advantage of that error with as much class as Clarke had shown in putting this one in.

Punjab regained the lead after Rusthall once again rather sloppily conceded possession in the middle- Joe Bingham finished well in fairness, and it began to look like Rusthall’sgood work had been undone. However, the aforementioned Jack Kirby arrived on the scene and took the place of Adeyemi who had bravely given all he could. Kirby immediately made a difference, running the game from slightly deeper and causing no end of trouble to the Punjab midfield and defence. On the left, Josh Reid found himself up against a formidable opponent in Chris Edwards and wasn’t getting much change out of him- his time would come, however. While Punjab are famous for their goals from set-pieces, it was a corner which indirectly led to Rusthall drawing level for the second time- Louie Clarke went to take the in-swinging delivery but failed to beat the first man. The Punjab clearance was retrieved by the hard-working Jaevon Dyer and the ball was eventually fed into the dangerous feet of Jack Kirby. As Clarke had cleverly remained in position from the corner, entirely abandoned by a distracted Punjab backline, he had time to control Kirby’s excellent pass, briefly consider using his trusty left foot, before deciding to risk his much less-used right boot to roll the ball past Bushell with ease.

Rusthall were on top at the end of the half and will have been frustrated to not have the chance to build on their fine efforts in drawing level. However, they only had to wait six minutesafter the break to take the lead for the first time and this time, Clarke was the provider. A much better corner was again cleared, but only back to Clarke, who looked up and delivered a fine cross which was cleverly headed backwards into the goal by Robbie Bissett. Punjab failed to get back into the game in any meaningful sense, despite the assistance offered by a referee seemingly in the mood to give the home side nothing at all. Serine Sanneh made a couple of fine saves and was grateful to see the ball bounce back off his crossbar during a five-minute flurry when Punjab tried to find an equaliser, however, much like in last season’s game, tiredness began to set in amongst the Punjab players and they struggled to threaten. Josh Reid was able to run riot, at one point turning Edwards inside out and sprinting away before the Punjab right-back had even realised what had happened.

Youngsters, Ant Mepham and Oscar Oguli came on and both looked comfortable immediately- in fact both were able to get decent shots away before Louie Clarke sealed his hat trick and the win in the dying minutes of the game. Frank Griffin found himself in space on the edge of the box and he picked out the well-timed run of Clarke with a superb chipped pass. Clarke allowed the ball to bounce briefly before poking the ball past the despairing lurch of Bushell.

This was an impressive win considering the players who were missing and the fact that Rusthall trailed twice against a team who know how to sit in and do the ugly side of football. Not for the first time, Jimmy Anderson’s brand of football his players’ desire prospered, and Punjab returned to Gravesend empty handed once again. Next up for Rusthall, another trip to Kennington where they will have the chance to avenge the defeat suffered at the beginning of November. The heart, effort, and willingness to work for each other on show today will surely give them a great chance of claiming victory and progressing to the next round of the Kent Senior Trophy.

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