The Non League Journey V2
Aveley 3–2 Whitehawk
The games have come thick and fast but I, for however many reasons, havent kept up with this. I really should be posting twice a week but honestly, i’ve forgotten to. We change that today!
The Hawks finally found their shooting boots away to Aveley but couldn’t hold on to the win in a thrilling 3–2 game.
Aveley, who finished second in the Isthmian Premier Division last season, started the game strongly. Within the first five minutes they had created two very attractive chances, and held the majority of the possession.
Whitehawk, who hadn’t found the back of the net in the first two games of the season, also found it tough to get out of their own half in the first 15 minutes. Aveley were pressing hard and hemming us in. From a Whitehawk perspective, the game was crying out for a moment of individual brilliance.
Thankfully, that moment came. Kamarni Ryan picked the ball up on the right about twenty five yards out, chopped and changed direction a couple of times to throw his defender off and slotted it in.
For a moment, it looked as though he had done too much. This reporter was screaming for him to shoot so loudly I gave my position behind enemy lines away. But after seeing the ball hit the bottom left corner, I didn’t care where I was. I was glad to have done.
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Our first league goal of the season opened the door for a good 15/20 minute spell for the Hawks, Rhys Murphy went one on one with the keeper but couldn’t convert, and from there we sat comfortably in Aveley’s half.
We had settled into a fantastic work rate and press, from which we grabbed our second. Liam Moore, who had an excellent game and was my standout Hawks player, intercepted a loose pass, found Rhys Murphy in acres of space who made a bit of a mess of the first shot, but no mistake with the second. So two — nil to the good, what could go wrong?
Well apparently a fair amount. We couldn’t extend our lead when our confidence was high. Ryan and Murphy linked up fantastically well to float in a cross for Moore, but he just couldn’t generate enough power on the header. Lee also had another lovely chance go straight down the keeper’s throat.
Three minutes later, a mistake from Klevis Muca led to a penalty, and Aveley’s Ollie Peters made no mistake from the spot. We went in to the break with a one goal lead, but evidently starting to lose control of the game.
It couldn’t have been a worse start to the second half as well. Malachi Napa, who caused us no end of trouble, brought the scores level and set the tone for the majority of the second half.
A spell of successive whipped in crosses and corners for Aveley were dealt with quite well, especially in the sixty-first minute when Muca produced a sublime low diving save to stop Napa from getting his second of the game.
Around the seventy-first minute mark, a rare raid into the Aveley half led to two brilliant back to back chances for Whitehawk, Lee Seok-jae and Grant Hall coming close to stealing all 3 points.
This proved to be the last chance for the Hawks. Aveley kept pushing and, on the eighty-second minute mark, a lovely first time touch and volley from Matt Robinson gave them the lead, and a few minutes later, the three points. On the balance of play it was most likely deserved, but painful nonetheless.
So, just like Alex our Head of Media getting lost and going round the same roundabout three times on our way out, we go again. We look forward to seeing you all down at the Enclosed Ground next Saturday for our game against Chatham Town.
