Those days between Christmas and New Year are usually rather soporific, with leftover Turkey to be eaten and nobody really sure what day it is - well anyone at Honeycroft on Saturday will have been awoken from their slumber by a rousing display from Uxbridge as they saw off 2nd place Kingstonian with a late late winner from talismanic forward George Moore.
With both teams in good form, and one place separating the sides, this was always going to be a tight affair, but it was the home side who made the early running. On 2 mins George Moore found himself in the box chasing a through ball, only for Liam Allen to clumsily take the ball and man - however the referee waved play on with Moore left prone on the ground. 4 minutes later the impressive CJ Fearn came up from the back at a corner and the ball fell to him 8 yards out, but he fizzed his shot just wide of the far post. K’s were passing the ball nicely now, and having plenty of possession, they broke on 10 minutes and a fine cross was met by Eddie Simon on the stretch, but the prolific marksman this time was unable to keep the ball down - but the warning signs were there. Uxbridge though also looked dangerous and on 27 minutes Josh Addae broke into the box and fed Moore to have a shot that cannoned off the defenders arm -to earn the home side a penalty. However Liam Allen produced a fine save at full stretch to his left to keep out Addae’s effort. Within 2 minutes the miss was compounded as Eddie Simon was played in, and he made no mistake to calmly slot the ball past George Legg to give K’s the lead. The reds didn’t let their heads drop though, and shortly after Allen had denied Addae with a low save, they did level things up on 36 minutes as a fine low cross from Moore found Ada Okorogheye in space at the far post to slide in the equaliser with the defence beaten. Late on a coming together between Luke Paris at full stretch and Joe Pratley Jones - saw the K’s defender leave the field injured - a fate that would also befall Paris over the interval.
HT 1-1
The second half began slowly, with neither side really able to exert themselves on the game - Uxbridge’s defence was being well marshalled by Fearn, but the captain had to be on his toes on 56 minutes to get back well to block a goalbound effort with Legg beaten. Two minutes later it looked as though the Reds had taken the lead, but a cross from Okorogheye was adjudged to have gone out before Fabio Sole’s header went in - and so 1-1 it stayed. The final twenty five minutes saw Uxbridge take control of the game and they produced a string of chances -only to be met by an inspired performance from Allen in the K’s goal. On 65 minutes it was Moore who did superbly to break a couple of tackles, but Allen was out smartly to block the shot, minutes later it was Massimo Giamattei who saw his shot saved, Toby Nnadozie would also be denied as he stung the keepers hands with a shot from the edge of the box. Allen was finally beaten on 73 minutes, but Moore’s superb turn and shot cannoned back off the bar, and was tidied up by the defender. Chances were now coming thick and fast, on 76 minutes Fearn’s header from a corner looked destined to go in, but went agonisingly past the post. As the game entered the final ten minutes the home side continued to create chances, Leo Decabo went close on 2 occasions, but again Allen was more than up to the task. As the game ticked into stoppage time, it looked like the points would be shared - however Moore had other ideas and a ball into the box was superbly taken down by Okorogheye, he laid the ball off to Moore on the edge of the 18 yard box and he smashed the ball on the half volley past the despairing dive of Liam Allen, to send the home players and fans delirious.
The win cements Uxbridge’s place in the playoffs, and they can look forward to 2025 with some optimism - starting with the visit of Harrow Borough on New Year's Day
FT 2-1
Att 287
Photo Gallery Here (courtesy Michael Bodman)
Video Highlights Here (courtesy Radio Gantry)
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