On an unusually warm evening it was the team from SE16 that proved South London was a Rotherhithe tinted Black and White.

After their penalty shoot out victory over Tooting and Mitcham a few weeks ago Fisher went in search of a revenge mission after last seasons trip to the Mayfield was abandoned by the matchday referee.

As the self proclaimed ‘Fishwhackers’ assembled behind the goal just before kick off immediately breaking into song, it was clear they were intent on heading home with 3 points after Saturdays defeat to Tunbridge Wells.

They didn’t have to wait long, as the deadlock was broken with just 196 seconds gone. After some questionable defending from the home side. The ball slammed into the back of a defender before a clever flick by Luke Thomas released Tarik Ibrahim to give the visitors the lead, much to the delight of the 35 visiting supporters.

The visitors could sense The Rams defence were struggling with the pace of the forward line as time and time again The fish attacked. The hosts only saved by some scrambling tackles on the difficult looking Mayfield pitch.

With Jamie Yila, Christian Udo and Tarik Ibrahim all baring down on goal it looked like The Fish were ready to slay The Rams in their own back yard.
It was Udo who found himself with the clearest opportunity to extand the lead but with the goal at his mercy he found himself on the receiving end of a push in the back, as he tumbled to the floor the referee waved away the vocal calls for a penalty and allowed play to continue.

With Yila clearly enjoying his evening on the left of the attacking three it was Julio da Mata who was next to come close after a dangerous cross was only parried by the home keeper, Da Mata unfortunate to miscue the attempt at the clearance leaving AFC Croydon breathing a huge sigh of relief.

With the arrival of half time giving The Rams a chance to regroup, but the early exchanges left Carpanini in the visitors go untroubled as the visitors continued to nullify the attacking threat of the hosts.

But with 20 minutes to go the game decided it was time to liven itself up, the tricky surface looking to play its part as it seemed every challenge would be deemed a foul of some description. AFC Croydon number 8 made a comment to the referee and appeared to be heading for the showers, after receiving an booking earlier a second yellow was shown. As the player made his way from the field before a red was shown he was called back and directed to the bench for a 10 minute sin bin penalty.

With both benches and supporters cleary confused by the referees decisions and questions being asked a yellow card was flashed towards the home bench before a comment from Fisher substitute keeper Charlie Payne earned a straight red and departure from the bench.

With the game at 10 vs 11 Fisher again attempted to put the game to bed, once again Da Mata finding the chance to shoot from distance but another scrambling save denying him a goal.

Fisher added a second in the 79th minute when Jamie Yila fired a free kick over the wall, the ball arrow involved into the top left corner with the keeper rooted to the spot , only able to watch as the Fish supporters burst into song again.

With the game seemingly more or less over with 7 minutes to play Murphy was allowed to re enter play from the sin bin after appearing to serve slightly less than the 10 minutes allocated for the offence.

With 84 minutes gone AFC Croydon won a free kick on the left of the box and it was Murphy who flicked the ball over the wall and past Carpanini to give the home side a lifeline and set up a frantic final five for the visitors.
A minute later and the game was turned upside down, a Rams attack from the restart released the ball to Murphy who looking to make up for his sin binning fired past Carpanini for the second time in a minute to level the scores at 2-2.

It was now The Rams who had the momentum, and with The Fish starting to wobble The visiting manager pulled what now looks like a tactical albeit very painful master stroke. With 88 minutes on the clock Ajay Ashanike threw that proverbial final dice, introducing Harry Main up front to inject a final burst of speed on the home defence. 

As the match entered added time Fisher lauched a final attack on the tiring Croydon defence, with Main spinning his marker and bursting into the box Only to find the home keeper flying through the air with knees raised.
Main sent crashing to the floor by the collision and in need of treatment, the crowd expecting a red for the flying keeper who only received a yellow as the referee said he did not believe there was clear intent despite both the keepers knees colliding with Mains chest.

The referee did however point to the spot and it was left to Fisher all time top scorer Rob Brown to convert from the spot, causing mixed celebrations from the Fisher faithful, cheering the win but clearly concerned about young Main who managed to finish the match but was taken to hospital shortly after the final whistle.

The win lifting The fish to 11th in the SCEFL Premier while AFC Croydon find themselves in 16th place.

AFC CROYDON – Jacucha, Oduncu, Kallon, Mengi, Travers, Santos, Boateng, Murphy, Eghaghe, J Green, N, Green
subs – Ashburn, Oshin, Lika ( for Eghaghe 70) Greenwood, Coates 
Goals Murphy 85,86
Fisher – Carpanini, Thomas, Sarpong, Da Mata, Songolo, Fitzgerald, Ibrahim, Folkes, Udo, Katonia, Yila
Subs – Pauw, Brown ( for Katonia 82) Main ( for Ibrahim 87) Biddlecombe ( for Udo 85 )
Goals – Ibrahim 4, Yila 78, Brown 90+4
Attendance 109