Fisher FC 2, Grays Athletic 3

GRAYS Athletic travelled to Fisher FC on the banks of the Thames in south east London on Saturday (18 July) to compete for this year's Brian Lomax Cup.

The competition is an annual challenge match, organised by the Football Supporters Association, to celebrate the supporter ownership of community football clubs.

Brian was a founding father of the movement who sadly passed away in 2015. This annual fixture keeps his memory alive and the two clubs were honoured to be chosen as this year's participants.

Fisher have a fine set up in Rotherhithe - this incarnation of the club being a Phoenix of the one that was very successful in the non-league pyramid during the early 2000s. Now as a support-owned club, they just missed out on promotion last season back to the Isthmian League and will surely be looking to go one better this time round.

The game was a lively one from the start, played on Fisher's excellent 3G surface. Blues manager Mitch Hahn put out a strong starting XI for the first half in which they dominated possession. Playing with two men out wide, Blues were creating plenty of chances but too often the cross or the pullback just failed to find its intended target.

There was a bizarre incident midway through the first half when Fisher cleared long downfield. Everyone had given up on the chase, when the ball rolled against the corner flag and rebounded back into play. Fisher picked up the loose ball and only a smart save from Danny Sambridge prevented them from taking the lead.

At the other end, Gabriel Chapps almost opened the scoring for Grays with an audacious attempt from close to the half way line. The home keeper back-peddled furiously but saw the ball just clear the crossbar.

As the half progressed Blues built pressure but the home defence stood firm. And it took a moment of fine skill, five minutes before the halftime whistle, to break the deadlock. Grays "Triallist A" picked up the ball in midfield and went on a mazy run, beating off several challenges and then somehow came out with the ball from a cluster of defenders inside the penalty area - then still had the coolness to find a finish to make it 1-0.

That temporarily opened the floodgates. Gabriel Chapps doubled the lead soon after, pouncing at close range on a fumble by the home keeper. And he then added a third just before the break from the penalty spot after Rob Harvey had been felled.

Fisher came out, looking to make amends for their collapse at the end of the first half and they were soon back in the contest when Jake Lovell finished smartly from an angle, at the end of a good passing move, to make it 1-3.

Both sides rang the changes from the bench, which made for a rather disjointed second half. But upfront for Blues Ramiah Mills and "Triallist B" both brought good saves from the home keeper.

And with fifteen minutes left on the clock, Fisher had the sense that it was "game on" when they pulled a second goal back. A long punt downfield was finished well by Temi Alaka.

But Grays kept pushing forward and Mills let fly an absolute thunderbolt of a shot that caught the replacement keeper square in the chest (for those old enough to remember the Wile E Coyote cartoons, I was expecting the keeper to stand up with a perfect circle cut right through his midriff !)

In the end, Grays held out for the win, taking home the Brian Lomax Cup - their second piece of pre-season silverware. But the real winner was the celebration of supporter-ownership of football clubs.

Grays Ath is a proud member of this growing movement - keeping the beautiful game in the hands of those of us in the local community who cherish it and out of the grasp of those who see it only as a vanity project or the chance to make a few quid on the side.

Grays return to the field on Wednesday (22 July) when Sporting Bengal visit Chadfields. An next weekend brings the annual Stan Vennes clash against Tilbury.