Second half come back sees MVP through to the next round

Meridian VP 4 (Hayes 47’ 90’ Skelly 80’ Richardson 83’)

Lewisham Borough 2

Meridian VP avenged the 2-0 league defeat to their South London rivals Lewisham Borough in this exciting London Senior Trophy game, played under the lights on a Friday night.

There was a buzz of excitement around this game with Meridian VP unveiling their new signing Paul Hayes, who had played over 500 professional games for Clubs including Charlton Athletic, Scunthorpe United and Wycombe Wanderers to name a few. There were also two more debutants in Elan at centre half and Smith Tiesse on the left wing.

The first half was dominated by Lewisham Borough who played some excellent passing football, moving the ball quickly from back to front. The visitors scored 2 goals to put themselves in the driving seat at the half, looking as though they would go on to a comfortable victory with the home side not at the races at all.
HT 0-2
Meridian VP came out in the second half with a renewed vigour and a slight change of shape to combat the acres of space that the Lewisham midfield enjoyed in the first half. The next goal was to be vital, and two minutes into the half, Meridian gave themselves a lifeline. Aaron Clarke’s corner saw Jacob Skelly rise to head powerfully against the bar and down for Paul Hayes to react quickly to nod over the line for his first goal for his new Club.

Meridian began to smell blood and started to close down their opponents more aggressively than the first half which led to a lot of turnovers in possession and the home side picking up a lot of second balls. From the back to the front every player in Meridian colours worked their socks off, notably centre half Elan, Jacob Skelly and Joe Richardson in centre midfield.

Paul Hayes and youngster Jason Kaate took the fight to the visitors and posed a constant threat going forward. The constant pressure around the park took it’s toll and Meridian got the equalising goal. A very good move involving Abbas Oduncu, Jason Kaate and Paul Hayes saw the latter have a shot parried into the path of the arriving Jacob Skelly who drove into the back of the net in the 80th minute.

Meridian turned the tables and took the lead three minutes later when Joe Richardson chested then crashed home a volley inside the box as the ball popped out to him. This knocked the young Lewisham side for six, but to their credit they maintained their philosophy and continued to play out from the back to the final whistle.

Meridian VP made two substitutions with firstly Brima Daramy coming on for Smith Tiesse then Alfie Collins replacing Elan who had pulled up with cramp. Meridian still went on to grab another goal in added time when a long throw from Alfie Collins on the right found Paul Hayes in the near post area, where he managed to pivot and shoot from an acute angle which the keeper could not keep out.

It was a particularly satisfying victory with so many players being unavailable through Injury, suspension and work commitments. Next round sees us face Lewisham’s tenants Forest Hill Park in another South London Derby.

MoTM: Paul Hayes

1. Ben Ashton 2. Abbas Oduncu 3. Gideon Acheampong 4. Alfie Leach 5. Elan 6. Jacob Skelly 7. Joe Richardson 8. Aaron Clarke 9. Paul Hayes 10. Jason Kaate 11. Smith Tiesse Subs: 12. Brima Daramy (on for Smith) 14. Alfie Collins (on for Elan) 15. Harvey Brinkley
16. Nick Chan 17. Derrick Akpofure