Non-League and Academy football writer

I reported on this Combined Counties Football League Premier Division North fixture between Hilltop FC and Rayners Lane FC, on Monday night at Uxbridge’s Honeycroft ground. Hilltop started this match in 18th place in the league, with the visiting side, Rayners Lane, starting the match in second place in the league, still in with a chance of winning the league title. This step 5 match of non-League football was a great and very competitive game, which Rayners Lane won 3-1. However, it was a game in which Hilltop played some fantastic football in, and who I thought were very unlucky not to get a point from the game. During the opening stages of the game, the Rayners Lane number ten (I wasn’t able to get a team-sheet for the away side, yesterday) would turn with the ball inside the Hilltop penalty area after meeting a cross, before having an effort deflected behind for a corner kick, in what was the first real chance of the match. Soon after that chance for Rayners Lane, Hilltop would have a couple of efforts blocked inside the away team’s penalty area, following a corner kick of their own. There was a good early pace to the match, with both sides playing some good football on the floor.

After the Rayners Lane player Hussein Jalloh had hit a low free-kick from the edge of the Hilltop penalty area wide of their goal, less than a couple of minutes later Hilltop were awarded a penalty following a corner kick, after their captain Mohamed Hussein had been fouled inside the Rayners Lane penalty area. The referee wasn’t interested in the protests from the Rayners Lane players, and so up stepped Hilltop forward Jordy Mumbiny to take the penalty. The Hilltop player would calmly find the middle of the goal, with the Rayners Lane goalkeeper diving to his right, 1-0. Hilltop almost made it 2-0 in the resulting minutes, after their opening goal of the game, after Hussein Mahdi hit a powerful effort across the face of the Rayners Lane goal from the right side of their penalty area. Rayners Lane would respond by creating a number of chances. Their number seven would hit an effort just wide of the Hilltop goal following a corner kick delivery into their box, before the Rayners Lane number ten had a low effort on goal following another corner kick, which was deflected just wide of the goal.

Rayners Lane were getting closer to scoring an equalising goal, such was their dominance at this stage of the first half. The Rayners Lane number nine would challenge Hilltop goalkeeper Victor Miranda to a cross inside the Hilltop penalty area, only just nodding the ball over the goal. And then a couple of minutes later the impressive Rayners Lane player Hassan Jalloh managed to get to the ball in behind the Hilltop defence, before rounding their goalkeeper and putting the ball just over the crossbar. However, a matter of minutes later Rayners Lane got that all important equalising goal. It came after some good buildup play from the away side, before Troy Perez-Duah hit a brilliant and unstoppable effort on the Hilltop goal from over 25 yards out, which moved as it went past Victor Miranda and into his goal, 1-1. There were two chances (one for either side) during the final minutes of the first half. The Rayners Lane number ten would nod a cross into the Hilltop box wide of their goal, before at the opposite end of the pitch, a good Hilltop move resulted in the Rayners Lane goalkeeper doing well to get down and push away a low volleyed effort on his goal.

The beginning of the second half continued to see the game being played at a great pace. Following Hussein Mahdi’s dipping free-kick from some 25 yards out from the Rayners Lane goal, which went over the crossbar, Hassan Jalloh had two really good chances in quick succession from inside the Hilltop penalty area, well saved by Victor Miranda. Hassan Jalloh was looking like the most likely player to score the next goal of the game, and after getting onto a pass in behind the Hilltop defence he took the ball into their penalty area, before calmly finishing low past the goalkeeper, 1-2. This was proving to be a really good game of step 5 football. And after Hilltop player Hussein Mahdi had the ball taken off him by a Rayners Lane defender inside their penalty area, the ball came to Jibril Mahdi, whose effort went just over the goal. Hilltop had now taken control of the game, playing some really good and fast passing football in the process. Hilltop player Qusey Yislam would have a volleyed effort on the Rayners Lane goal (following a free-kick into the Rayners Lane box) well saved but their goalkeeper, just before Jordy Mumbiny had an effort saved by the impressive Rayners Lane goalkeeper.

After Hussein Mahdi’s free-kick effort from the edge of the Rayners Lane box was well pushed away by their goalkeeper, Hilltop would miss another good chance soon after. However, just as it looked as if the home side would get that equalising goal, Rayners Lane managed to extend their lead against the run of play. Rayners Lane player Rio Connell was able to finish off the right-hand post of Victor Miranda’s goal from inside the centre of the Hilltop penalty area, following a good passing move, 1-3. Shortly before the end of the match the Rayners Lane number seven had a low effort from the right-hand side of the Hilltop penalty area saved by Victor Miranda, before the referee sounded his whistle for full-time. This was a very good game of football, and it was a game in which I thought that the home team (Hilltop) did themselves proud in, playing some fantastic football, particularly in the second half, where despite conceding two goals, I thought that they were the better team during the second half. There were several contenders for my players of the match award on Monday, with the Rayners Lane goalkeeper and also Hussein Jalloh impressing me during the match. However, for Hilltop I thought that they also played really well as a team for good parts of the game, and they were unlucky not to get a point from the game, in my opinion.

My player of the match on Monday was Hilltop player Bruno Dos Santos, particularly for his second half performance, when the Hilltop number 10 linked the play really well, and also carried the ball forward well, with both skill and pace. Bruno Dos Santos had some impressive moments in the game, but I also thought that the Hilltop captain Mohamed Hussein had a really fine game in central midfield for the home team, during his time on the pitch.