Non-League and Academy football writer

This Middlesex County Football League Premier Division fixture between Stonewall FC and Kodak (Harrow) was played in Islington on a sunny Saturday afternoon, on one of the pitches at Market Road. The home side for this fixture (Stonewall) started this match in sixth place in the league, with the away side Kodak (Harrow) starting the match in seventh place in the league. This was a really good game of football, which finished in a 4-4 draw, and on another day there could easily have been more goals, as it was a very open game of football at times. Kodak would start the game better than Stonewall, to begin with. Kodak player Ralford Thorpe would hit an effort wide of the Stonewall goal from the edge of their penalty area, after cutting inside with the ball from the left flank. A couple of minutes later Kodak midfielder Kieran Ali hit a free-kick effort on the Stonewall goal (around 20 yards out from goal) which was held by Stonewall goalkeeper Dennis Aware. From their first real chance of the game, Stonewall would take the lead soon after that free-kick for Kodak. Yusuf Isaiq managed to latch onto the ball inside the Kodak penalty area, before hitting a low effort on goal which was parried by Kodak goalkeeper Warren McCreeth, with Danny Shaw tapping the ball into the goal on the follow-up, 1-0. 

After Stonewall player Danny Shaw had hit a free-kick effort from the edge of the Kodak penalty area over their goal, Kodak managed another goal attempt. Following a pass from Samuel Brake to Ralford Thorpe, the Kodak winger impressed with some good skill on the ball before hitting an effort from 20 yards out from goal, wide of the target. Stonewall would double their lead in the match soon after, however, as a good forward pass found Yusuf Isaiq on the edge of the Kodak box, and the Stonewall forward would then surge forward with the ball into the penalty area, before finishing low into the goal with a clever finish, 2-0. Kodak managed to regain some composure as they tried to get back into the game before half-time. Ralford Thorpe hit an effort from the left-hand side of the Stonewall penalty area wide of their goal, before Kodak managed to get a goal back in the game. Bliss Simpson managed to latch onto a through-ball pass inside the Stonewall box, but his effort was saved by Dennis Aware, before the ball came to Kieran Ali on the edge of the penalty area. He would assess his options, before taking the ball into the penalty area and then finding the bottom right-hand corner of the goal, 2-1.

That goal for Kodak would do them good, and they were soon able to create some more good chances. Zachary Goddard would hit an effort over on the bounce, from the edge of the Stonewall box, and then a couple of minutes later the same player managed to find Aiman Hamdan inside the home team’s penalty area, but his low effort was well saved by Dennis Aware, and then cleared away. However, soon after, a Kodak free-kick from the right flank managed to pick out the unmarked Zachary Goddard at the back post inside the penalty area, from where he was able to head the ball into the goal, 2-2. Kodak captain Tony Michaelides did well to deflect behind Yusuf Isaiq’s low effort on the Kodak goal from inside the penalty area, before Warren McCreeth saved and closed down Stonewall player Shane McCullough’s effort from just inside the Kodak box, following a long forward pass. The second half was started at a good pace by both teams, and shortly after George Volis had done really well to clear Ralford Thorpe’s effort from inside the Stonewall box, off the goal-line, Aiman Hamdan had a low effort on the goal from the edge of the Stonewall penalty area saved and gathered by Dennis Aware.

Neither side could really get a hold of the game with the scores level at 2-2, but these are two fine sides at step 7, and it was a very competitive match. Following a free-kick from 20 yards out from Ralford Thorpe, which went wide of the Stonewall goal. Stonewall would then go close to regaining the lead, with Dan Whitehouse volleying an effort wide of Warren McCreeth’s goal from the edge of the Kodak penalty area, moments after Charley Hobbs had an effort blocked inside the box. The referee would point to the Kodak penalty spot a couple of minutes later, after Stonewall player Cam McEwan had managed to get in behind the Kodak defence, to the ball inside their box, and it was there that he was brought down by Samuel Brake, with the lineman on the near side waving his flag immediately to signal for a penalty. Cam McEwan stepped up to take the penalty, and he found the bottom right-hand corner of the goal, 3-2. Not long after having conceded their third goal of the game, Kodak would draw level once again. With Kieran Ali making a good lofted pass to find Zachary Goddard in behind the Stonewall defence, and the impressive midfielder calmly finished low into the goal from inside the centre of their penalty area, 3-3.

It continued to be quite an open game of football, and after Kareem Campbell had found Able Kpogho from a cross inside the Stonewall penalty area, the Kodak substitute had a low first time effort on goal saved by Dennis Aware. And then a couple of minutes later, Stonewall player Mike Sholly curled an effort wide of the Kodak goal, from the edge of their penalty area. As the game came quite close to reaching the 90 minute mark, both teams looked for that all important winning goal. Kodak must have thought that they’d found it, after Able Kpogho had picked the ball up on the left-hand side of the pitch, close to the Stonewall penalty area. The Kodak substitute looked up before curling a great effort into the top right-hand corner of Dennis Aware’s goal, 3-4. Stonewall didn’t give up, however, and shortly after the impressive Yusuf Isaiq had hit an effort wide of the Kodak goal, a long forward pass would once again cause problems for the Kodak defence. This time Cam McEwan managed to get in behind the Kodak defence, inside their penalty area, before rounding goalkeeper Warren McCreeth and finishing low into the goal, 4-4.

Stonewall definitely looked the more likely side to win the game late on. After a Stonewall corner kick had found Shane McCullough, the number ten would have a good effort which was blocked behind. And then in the final moments of the game, Stonewall came close to winning the game, after Yusuf Isaiq had sent a good cross, at pace into the Kodak penalty area, where he managed to pick out Callum Alexander in a bit of space inside the box, but his diving header went over the goal. This was a really good game of football between two sides who will meet again next month in the final of the 2023/24 season’s Alec Smith Premier Division Cup. However, this league game in Islington on Saturday was a game that had a lot of goalscoring chances in it, but it was also a game which I thought that Stonewall certainly didn’t deserve to lose, with a draw perhaps being a fair result on the day. I watched Kodak (Harrow) in mid-week in a league game against Larkspur Rovers, in a 0-0 draw in which they dominated. They were unable to match that level of performance in this fine game of football, earlier today. 

Kodak (Harrow) number ten Zachary Goddard was my player of the match on Saturday afternoon. The player who scored a brace on Saturday was involved in a lot of the good things about Kodak’s game, particularly in the Stonewall half of the pitch. However, I could also have easily given this player of the match award to Stonewall player Cam McEwan, for his second half performance. Also, I was impressed with the performances and influence of both Yusuf Isaiq, and also that of Kodak player Kieran Ali, on the game.