Uxbridge headed into Saturday afternoons game at home to relegation threatened South Park (Reigate), having been unbeaten in the last 6 at home and only 1 defeat in the last 10 outings on home soil. Conversely, South Park headed into the game having lost 11 of their 15 away games this season, although one of their 2 wins came in their last away game against Ashford with the other against second place Kingstonian! With the sun shining, there was further good news for the Uxbridge faithful as striker George Moore - who has already scored 20 goals this season - was named on the bench and later came on to make his first outing from injury since his goal helped secure a 1-1 draw against Harrow Borough on New Year's Day. The match kicked off 45 minutes late due to the officials being delayed on the M25, however this did not affect their performance as I believe they were the best officials we have seen at Honeycroft this season.
The delay did not deter Uxbridge who again had an electric start and in the first minute a cross from our right hand side found Ada Okorogheye but his free header was blocked before the ball could nestle in the net. With Uxbridge dominating the early proceedings 5 minutes later, Fabio Sole had a shot from the edge of the box after another cross from Kai Hobbs on the right but again this was blocked. South Park hadn't seen the ball barring Danny Bracken goal kicks in the South Park goal, but in the 8th minute South Park came closest to breaking the deadlock when the ball was collected by Steve Gody and his shot grazed the outside of the post from the edge of the area. 10 minutes into the game and with Andrio Brandao in the middle of the park for Uxbridge having a huge influence in the encounter, he won the ball on the half way line, then played a delightful 30 yard pass to Josh Addae on the right wing and Addae then tried to feed Brandao with a pass in the area but it was well read by the Sparks defence. With Uxbridge still having most of possession but not testing the keeper, 21 minutes elapsed when Fabio Sole rattled the bar from the edge of the box after Okorogheye stole the ball from Sparks centre half Jamal Abubakari on the right hand side edge of his area. Was it going to be one of those days?
Possession is nine tenths of the game as the Reds were to find as as South Park launched a long ball forward in the 22nd minute to Shamal Edwards willing run, he beat centre half Hobbs to the ball, rounded George Legg in goal for the visitors to take a one nil lead with their first and only shot on target all game! Uxbridge didn’t let their heads drop - why would they - and they nearly got back on level terms immediately after a Kai Hobbs header was expertly guided to Morrison Hashii (making his first start for the reds) but his shot was deflected wide for the first corner of the game. 28 minutes had passed when a long throw on the left by Massimo Giamattei caused havoc in the Sparks area, the ball was only partially cleared to the waiting Harry Rush on the edge of the area and his half volley gave Danny Bracken in the South Park goal no chance as it nestled in the corner of the net for his first goal for the club! It was no less than Uxbridge deserved. The home side now had the upper hand and from the kick off Okorogheye should have put Uxbridge ahead but Bracken spread himself well when the striker couldn’t decide whether to shoot or take it round the keeper and in the end the keeper smothered the ball well. It was a shame as Ada's performance merited a goal.
With the Uxbridge faithful fully aware that the other scores in our league were ‘going our way' due to our late kick off we were hoping for for another goal and it duly came in the 40th minute when Fabio Sole was inexplicably shoved in the corner of the box heading away from goal and Matt Rowling pointing to the spot without hesitation. Josh Addae stepped up to hit his penalty in the top corner giving the keeper no chance. This was the last meaningful action of the half - barring a yellow card for the impressive Massimo Giamattei - and Uxbridge dominance deserved their half time lead. The corner count at half time was 4 to Uxbridge to 1 of South Park with Uxbridge scoring 2 of their 3 shots on target with South Park scoring from their only shot.
South Park made changes at half time with Callum Corbin and Zac Jervis replacing Gody and Tom Smith. Uxbridge didn't rest on their lead and a couple of minutes into the second half Hobbs nearly doubled the hosts lead following a right wing cross after a well worked corner but his header went just over the crossbar. Uxbridge should have put the game to bed by now and in the 50th minute, from Legg's goal kick, Hashii collected the ball who in turn passed to Okorogheye and his pass to Rush on the edge of the area was a good one but unfortunately Rush' shot went just wide of the upright. Uxbridge were piling on the pressure and a minute later the immense Josh Addae on the right wing put in a delightful ball along the floor to the unmarked Hashii 8 yards out but his shot when sliding in went wide which was a shame as his performance deserved a goal.
Okorogheye found himself in the referee's notebook after pulling back a South Park defender and halting an attack in the 55th minute. This was only to spur him on and his excellent hold up play a minute late ensured that he laid off the ball to the marauding Addae who cut inside but his shot - with only the keeper to beat - was straight at Bracken. Were all these chances going to haunt Uxbridge?
Nearly, as on the hour, lax play in the middle of the park by Uxbridge meant that South Park picked up the pall and they should have tested Legg in goal from the resulting shot from the edge of the area but it went high over the bar and the stand! Fabio Sole was next in the referee's notepad when he picked up a card in the 61st minute stopping a breakaway by South Park in the middle of the pitch. Uxbridge made their first changes in the encounter with both front men Okorogheye and Hashii being replaced in the 65th minute by Moore and Jonathan Hippolyte. Both were excellent but a deserved goal eluded their performances. The substitutes didn't take long to get to the pace of the game and 3 minutes after entering the field, Hippolyte passed to Moore in space on the edge of the area but his effort was straight at the keeper. Dernell Wynter replaced man of the match Brandao with 15 minutes left, hoping that his goal scoring prowess would put the game beyond the Sparks.
South Park then made changes of their own with Olugbodi replacing George Vincent up top and Murphy-McVey replacing Clarke-Salter. The changes were not to end there as in the 80th minute Casey Bocarro replaced Giamattei at left wing back. Uxbridge were nearly made to pay for their missed chances and with 4 minutes to go South Park (Reigate) nearly got an equaliser but luckily Legg watched the effort just go over the crossbar. Four minutes of injury time were signalled and Uxbridge were not sitting on their lead and in the third minute of it, Hippolyte made a chance for himself after a fantastic run but the shot didn't match the run and the score remained 2-1 to the Reds until the full time whistle. It wasn't an electric performance but it was one that merited a win and kept the Reds firmly in the playoffs with 12 games to go.
Up next for the Red Army are two tough away fixtures against runaway leaders Farnham Town next Saturday - although they only drew to Horndean at the weekend - followed by a short trip to fellow playoff hopefuls Hayes & Yeading. We look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible. There are also still spaces on the supporter's coach for the trip to Horndean on the 15th March.
FT 2-1
Att 185
With thanks to David Mallam for the match report
Full match gallery here (courtesy Michael Bodman)
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