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Saturday 11th January

Got over the line in the end

It has been said countless times that to be a team that can challenge for honours you need to win games even when a team is not playing at their fluent best. This was an example of just that, as an occasionally brilliant and sloppy performance demanded some real grit for Old Parmiterians to take all three points in the end. This was also a big result in a wider context as Lea Valley and Minchendenians both lost, meaning Parms returned to the top of the table with three games in hand on their Hackney rivals. It had all started so well, as the hosts looked comfortable in possession, with Sami Bekir looking threatening down the right, while Josep Mari and Andi Halili combined well down the left effectively. The opening goal came from one such move playing out from the back, as Yassine Yahia found Adam Newman beyond Salvatorians press, who in turn found Sami Bekir inside of him. Bekir's slide rule pass found Zach Harry running beyond the visitors' back line, with harry finishing calmly past the onrushing keeper. Harry could have doubled the lead shortly after as the rampaging Bekir's cut back was sent just wide, and Heath too had a shot that drifted just wide. Salvatorians had shown that they were not going to make proceedings easy for their hosts, and when a moment of sloppiness saw a risky pass into the middle intercepted they broke quickly to grab an equaliser. The goal seemed to knock Parms' confidence, as Salvatorians began to press them into mistakes and out of their passing rhythm for the next ten minutes. The hosts did regain their composure to start finding space again though, and another sweeping move found Harry with space in front of the visitors' defence allowing him to slide in Heath on the run. It looked as if he had been pushed too wide, but he managed to beat the keeper and find the net off the far post from a very acute angle to restore the lead. The second half began with the hosts in far more control, and the chances began to come more frequently until one was taken to extend the lead. With several players committing to the attack Henry Williams had two shots saved superbly by the Salvatorians keeper until the ball rebounded to Harry to smash home the ball in a goal that looked to have ended the visitors' resistance. More sloppy play followed as the defence again gave the ball away cheaply, which eventually resulted in a corner that saw the visitors grab a goal back. The equaliser followed shortly as Steve Kennedy-Clarke's attempt to sweep up behind his defence was closed down by a Salvatorians striker, eventually ending with a challenge from Yahia being judged to be worthy of a penalty, which was duly dispatched. The visitors then had a header just wide that would have turned the game around completely. With time running out, Sami Bekir played Heath in behind the defence to race clear and once again beat the keeper from an acute angle and in off the post to send the home team into wild celebrations.