Non-League and Academy football writer

On Saturday afternoon I traveled to Hertfordshire, and to the home ground of Ware FC, to watch top of the table FC Baresi face Lymore Gardens in an Essex Alliance League fixture (in the 11th tier of English football). It was a game in which FC Baresi showed why they are top of the Essex Alliance League, with their fast, free flowing football helping them to win 4-0 against Lymore Gardens, on Saturday. The game started with FC Baresi seeing a lot more of the ball during the opening stages of the match, as they looked to create chances. A long pass from Lewis Jones found Raymond Poku on the right side of the pitch. Raymond Poku was through on goal and into the Lymore Gardens box, but the Lymore Gardens goalkeeper came out quickly, and he was able to clear the ball away. However, shortly afterwards FC Baresi took a deserved lead. It was a well worked move, which resulted in the ball being cleverly delivered across the face of the Lymore Gardens goal, from the left side of the pitch by Lewis Jones, and from close range Murat Karagul was able to finish past the goalkeeper. At the opposite end of the pitch, and after the game was started again, the Lymore Gardens number 17 had an effort from inside the FC Baresi penalty area, well blocked behind for a corner-kick.

Raymond Poku was really impressing during the early stages of the game. After FC Baresi captain Edson Lami found Raymond Poku with a good pass, the skilful and fast FC Baresi winger found himself through on the Lymore Gardens goal. He took the ball around the Lymore Gardens goalkeeper, but the goalkeeper did well to recover to get a hand on the ball, with the Lymore Gardens number four, then clearing the ball off the line. Shortly after that chance, Raymond Poku hit a low effort (it could well have been a possible pass to a teammate at the back post) just wide of the Lymore Gardens goal. A couple of minutes later, the Lymore Gardens number seven hit an effort over the FC Baresi goal from distance, before a good pass from the impressive FC Baresi goalkeeper Eric Andoh, found Marvin Hamilton, who headed the ball on to Murat Karagul on the left side of the Lymore Gardens box. However, his resulting effort hit the side-netting of the goal.

Eric Andoh made his first save of the game, following a free-kick which found it’s way to the Lymore Gardens 22 inside the FC Baresi penalty area, but Eric Andoh made a fine save from close range, to stop his effort from going into the goal. A lofted pass from Murat Karagul to Raymond Poku inside the Lymore Gardens box resulted in the FC Baresi youngster hitting an effort wide of the goal. And then a couple of minutes later, the Lymore Gardens goalkeeper saved a volleyed effort from inside the penalty area by Murat Karagul, after excellently being found by Marvin Hamilton. The Lymore Gardens number ten then volleyed an effort wide from inside the FC Baresi penalty area, as the game continued to be played at a great pace. However, shortly after Edson Lami had hit an effort over the Lymore Gardens goal, FC Baresi doubled their advantage in the game. A long and good ball forward from FC Baresi goalkeeper Eric Andoh, managed to find Raymond Poku, who sprinted forward with the ball, skilfully taking it around the Lymore Gardens goalkeeper inside the penalty area, before calmly slotting the ball into the empty goal.

After Marvin Hamilton had hit a low free-kick effort wide of the Lymore Gardens goal, FC Baresi extended their lead just before half-time. Marvin Hamilton showed good skill with the ball, before passing it to Raymond Poku on the right side of the Lymore Gardens penalty area. He then picked out Noyan Tajbakhsh, who cut inside with the ball onto his right foot, before finishing off of the Lymore Gardens goalkeeper’s left hand post. The second half of the match started with the visiting side having a couple of efforts on goal, with the most notable effort (from Lymore Gardens’ number 21) being saved by Eric Andoh. Then, a couple of minutes after that chance, Eric Andoh made a good double save, following a Lymore Gardens corner-kick. The second effort that he saved, was from a header by the Lymore Gardens number nine, but their number ten then had a decent effort on goal saved by Eric Andoh, before FC Baresi substitute Junior Appiah and Noyan Tajbakhsh hit efforts wide of the goal. Following a lay off inside the FC Baresi box, Lymore Gardens number 20 hit an effort over the crossbar. Another good FC Baresi move, resulted in them scoring their fourth goal of the game, not long after that chance for Lymore Gardens.

A classy through-ball pass from Marvin Hamilton, found Erol Hassan down the right side of the Lymore Gardens penalty area, and he then found Junior Appiah at the back post, as he scored from close range to make it 4-0. Eric Andoh did well to tip over a good free-kick effort on goal, before both Lymore Gardens’ number 23 hit an effort wide of the FC Baresi goal, with number 20 also unable to find the target shortly after, this time from distance. In the final moments of the game, FC Baresi came close to making it 5-0. A good back-heeled pass to Marvin Hamilton inside the Lymore Gardens penalty area, saw the experienced player through on goal, but his low effort was well saved by the goalkeeper. It was a really good game of football on Saturday with top of the league table FC Baresi really showing their quality with their fast passing game, but Lymore Gardens are also a good side, and they did play the game at a good intensity. However, FC Baresi, as has so often been the case in the Essex Alliance League this season, were just too good, and they have a really good balance to their side, of youth and experience.

My player of the match was skilful FC Baresi winger Raymond Poku, with the youngster getting a goal and an assist, making a really good impression on the game during his time on the pitch. Also, the experienced and very talented Marvin Hamilton, had some really good moments in the game, showing his class on the ball throughout. And the FC Baresi goalkeeper Eric Andoh was excellent with his distribution, and he made some fine saves on the day. This was a really good game of football, and I look forward to getting to another FC Baresi game before the end of the season. Also, look out for a piece that I will be writing on the club in the near future.