Wingate beat Brentwood to end winless streak
Wingate and Finchley ended a run of seven games without a win when as they comfortably beat Brentwood Town 1-0 at The Arena on Tuesday night, writes Andy Gerlis.
Ryman League Premier Division:
Brentwood Town 0 Wingate & Finchley 1
Tuesday, 22 March, 2016
Leon Fisher, who began this season playing for the home side before moving to Harlow Town and eventually resigning for Wingate in February, scored the only goal of the game just minutes before half-time.
Wingate’s draw against Leatherhead on Saturday means Keith Rowland’s men are unbeaten in two games and this upturn in form was foreshadowed by strong performances in the games preceding. The win sees Wingate climb to 11th in the league, just two points below 10th placed Grays Athletic.
Brentwood Town, who currently sit two places from bottom, were on the back foot from the outset and Marc Weatherstone could have put the visitors ahead inside two minutes, but his back post volley was blocked on the line. Goalkeeper Ollie Bowles was bailed out by his defence once again ten minutes later when Karl Oliyide’s chip was hacked away from the goal line by debutant Simon Glover.
Despite Wingate’s dominance the score remained in the balance and stand-in goalkeeper Charlie Crowley had to be alert to block Shad Ngandu’s shot at his near post. Ola Sogbanmu and Rob Laney both threatened the Brentwood goal, but neither could properly test Bowles.
Town had their best chance of the game with half an hour gone when Ngandu was played through by Alex Teniola, but Crowley narrowed the angle and the striker could only fire over the bar. Oliyide saw a volley from the edge of the area blocked as it looked to be creeping in, but Wingate’s pressure was about to pay off. nTommy Cummings’ inch-perfect cross was knocked back across goal for Fisher to head past Bowles and put the Blues 1-0 up four minutes from half time. Ryan O’Rawe headed just over the bar for the hosts and Fisher came close with a free-kick, but the Blues took a slender lead into the break.
And the excitement levels of the second half were all used up within the first two minutes. Weatherstone’s header was excellently flicked off the line by Bowles who recovered to save a volley from the resulting corner as the Blues picked up where they left off.
But with three points being vital at this stage of the season the visitors were happy to slow the game down and search for a way through a tough Brentwood defence. Robbie Rees spun away from Oliyide and fired a pass across the six-yard box, but with a Brentwood attack coming as such a rarity nobody was there to anticipate it.
Jack Read, on as a substitute, nearly got his name on the scoresheet in the last ten minutes but was just a step behind Alfie Bartram’s low cross. Wingate held their nerve, however, riding out as 1-0 winners from a game in which Crowley’s goal was never seriously threatened. The Blues will now look to carry this winning mentality into Saturday’s game at bottom-placed Lewes, ahead of a crunch tie at home to rivals Hendon on Monday.
Brentwood Town:
Bowles, Gordon, Cross, Glover, O’Rawe, Witherspoon (Milner 79), Ngandu, Hahn, Teniola, Rees (C), Freeman
Unused Substitutes: Elbi, Banton, Nobbs, Watson
Wingate and Finchley: Crowley, Goodman, Cummings, Rifat, Weatherstone (C), Fisher, Addai (Stevenson 82), Sogbanmu (Bartram 61) Healey (Read 64)
Unused Substitutes: Laney, Oliyide
Attendance:
107
Referee:
Stephen Bates
Man-of-the-Match:
Leon Fisher
WingateTV: Tommy Cummings & Rob Laney Post Brentwood Town:
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
