Ryman League Division One South
Merstham 4 Faversham Town 1
HAYDEN Bird was pleased to see Merstham triumph over a robust Faversham Town team despite finishing the game with nine men.
Both Michael Abnett and Taurean Roberts received their marching orders, while Faversham had forward Brendon Cass dismissed.
And Merstham boss Bird was unhappy with the decision to send off his players.
"This was another excellent result," Bird said.
"Faversham are very direct and unless you defend well against them, they will cause all sorts of problems. They are uncompromising and very physical.
"However, we knew that and other than the first ten minutes, coped with it very well.
"Fabio [Saraiva] will obviously get the plaudits and needless to say, I'm delighted for him. However, the performances of Brannon [Daly] and Gerry [Gonnella] were the real catalyst to our victory.
"My only disappointments were the dismissals of Taurean Roberts and Michael Abnett. Neither deserved to be sent off, my view, the referee didn't control the game as well as he should have. Having only 19 players on the pitch at the final whistle was so avoidable."
Faversham deservedly took the lead in the fourth minute when they caught the Moatsider's napping and Matthew Bourne scored from close range at the second attempt.
The visitors were looking to impose themselves on their hosts and had further chances in the first 10 minutes to put the game to bed.
First, Brendon Cass glanced a header onto the crossbar and then Luke Harvey's goal-bound shot was blocked by Merstham keeper Brannon Daly. It took the home team 22 minutes to wake from their slumber when Tommy Hutchings' corner found Fabio Saraiva in the penalty area. His spectacular over-head kick found the net and Merstham had equalised against the run of play.
With the Moatsider's knowing that they had to continue their unbeaten run to have any chance of making the play-offs, they started to turn the screw. Saraiva scored again in the 30th minute when another expertly whipped-in corner from Hutchings was headed home.
Things went from bad to worse for the visitors when Cass deservedly received a straight red card in the 36th minute for grabbing the Merstham keeper by the throat, following a mass brawl in Merstham's penalty area.
This dismissal seemed to have an adverse effect on both Faversham Town's football team and supporters as their temperatures and ire began to rise.
After the restart Merstham looked to press home their one man advantage and Faversham goalkeeper Simon Overland was being kept busy. He saved from both Hutchings and Saraiva before Aaron Rhule put the game to bed in the 66th minute.
Substitute Gerry Gonella fed an intricate pass through to the winger who sprinted onto it and slid the ball into the bottom corner. As the match went on, it became obvious that referee Sheldrake was struggling to impose any authority onto either team and incidents were breaking out all over the pitch. It was only a matter of time until another player was going to see red and in the 70th minute Sheldrake evened up the numbers by sending off Michael Abnett for the home team. The full-back reacted petulantly to a robust tackle by Ashley Brown and kicked out at the Faversham Town full-back.
The red card did little to quell the quality of Merstham's performance and they sealed the win in the 71st minute when Saraiva completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot.
Even with a three goal cushion, the excitement still wasn't over and with 11 minutes remaining; Merstham went down to nine men when Taurean Roberts received a second yellow card for an alleged dive in the penalty area.
With this win the Moatsider's moved up to seventh in the league, level on points with their visitors.
Merstham Men of the Match: Brannon Daly & Fabio Saraiva
Merstham: Brannon Daly, Michael Maynard-Abnett, Dean Gunner, Simon Cooper, Liam Harwood (C), Elliot Thompson (Gerry Gonnella), Taurean Roberts, Tutu Henriques, Tommy Hutchings, Fabio Saraiva (Shane Stroud), Aaron Rhule (Jordan Johnson)
Unused Subs: Omar Folkes, George Craddock
