On a roll!

After the slip week, one could argue that much like the international break, the timing wasn't ideal as the boys seeked to maintain their momentum

Captain Leo Yang challenged the team to hit the ground running as often the 3s have only kicked into gear halfway through the first half. Taking the words on board, the home team found themselves opening the scoring in just 3 minutes, with James Downey mesmerising the away defence and skipping past 2 players before laying a simple ball across the face of the goal for a tap in by James Willcocks for his nth goal of the season

Waltham Forest tried to find a foothold in the game but struggled as debutant Will Tang and veteran Richard Cast cut out their midfield high up the pitch. Some more excellent play from Downey almost set up a carbon copy goal for James Willcocks yet again, however the deflection was just wide on this instance.

Despite a number of short corners won and not converted by the home team, Waltham Forest hung on with some solid defending and managed a few attacking moves due to the all too familiar nerves and complacency from the Havering 3s. The captain stepped up to the mark however to alleviate this, providing an assist through a direct push at the top of the D to Eli Cook at the far post after some great movement in losing his marker and deflecting in. A simple shrug of the shoulders and a slow walk back to the halfway lined summed up his feelings towards the play; ice cold

The half time regroup for Havering was a chance to ensure that heads stayed on despite the scoreline. The 3s could smell blood and wanted more from the game as they knew they hadn't hit top gear yet

The visitors came out the stronger side however, with some find passing play as they found rhythm in the game. Whilst home keeper Lonnie Yang was rarely tested in goal, he produced a fine save at the near post to deflect a shot off the woodwork, with Waltham Forest unfortunate in not being able to find a follow up from the rebound. The visitors did also manage to find a few further short corners, but offered little threat as the keeper was able to save without much difficulty

Whilst Havering's play was not as fluid in the first half, their attack remained potent. John Binks proved to be a constant thorn on the right side, whilst James Downey provided the play of the season so far to go past 4 players and round the keeper, being unlucky to not get a goal after a brilliant save from the away keeper. A quick injected ball and deflection from Leo Yang also bobbled away agonisingly towards the latter stages of the match

With literal minutes remaining in the match and the away team committing too many players forwards, Havering were able to clear their lines out to Downey as a 3-on-1 formed with Toby John and Leo Yang in support. Despite this, Downey's shot past the keeper travelled just wide of the post, much to the dismay of John and Yang who were both staring at an open goal - queue daggers being sent at the left winger

Full-time drew to a close a strong 2-0 win for Havering after a relatively straightforward affair to make it 3 wins in a row! A real testament to the work ethic and improvement of the team over the last few months

FT Havering 3s 2-0 Waltham Forest 4s