Men's 1's win at home

Looking to build on a vital win at Wisbech the week before and with the possibility of other teams putting on points whilst Havering are due to miss a game the coming weekend due to rearrangement, the 1st XI hosted Dereham at Campion desperate to secure their 5th win of the season.

As the feature for the past several weeks, Havering started brightly, pressing the Dereham defence high up the pitch and making some good leads on the right hand side of the pitch.

Dereham did manage to break the Havering defensive line however and almost took the lead were it not for a smart diving save by keeper Lee Bennett at the Dereham forward’s feet.

The first short corner was won by the home side around the 10 minute mark and after a suspect injection, Aaron Cornish found Captain Harry Jenkins on the right of the D who fizzed across an inviting ball towards the far post which a Dereham defender could only deflect into his own net.

Havering continued to press their advantage and dominated midfield possession through the work of Harry Andrews, Alex Defroand, Verinder Channa and Paul Dover. Unfortunately, Dover could only contribute for 10 or so minutes due to the aggravation of a hamstring injury received last week.

Havering were rewarded with another short corner shortly before the half-time break which Andrews duly dispatched down the centre of the goal with a strong hit. Perhaps the Havering practice at corners during the week were finally starting to pay off…

After the interval, Havering continued as they had left off with Dereham seemingly having no reply. The home side won another corner around the 50 minute mark and this time Andrews passed it left for a Defroand deflection. The ball fell kindly to the far post where forward Alex Lee was on hand to finish from close range.

The game was not without controversy however and after some dubious calls from the umpires, cards were shown to Alistair Lewis and Lewis Smith. With Havering playing a numerical disadvantage for a period, Dereham worked a corner routine of their own with a straight strike into the far right corner of Bennett’s goal.

The last play of the game was also a Dereham short corner with the visiting side scoring a consolation effort to make it 3-2. Although disappointed to concede 2 goals in the second half, Havering will be glad to receive the 3 points and look forward to a week’s break before facing I-ES away from home on the 9th December.