PECK THE HALLS, IT’S HONOURS EVEN

With the Menace Arena still waterlogged from the unusually wet "spring", today’s game was switched across the road to Pynners Close Playing Fields. Both Bryan Hall and manager Mary Phillip spent eight hours the day before readying a very heavy pitch for today’s game. Both teams would be in for an extremely tough game, and what a game it turned out to be.

With all three Peckham goalkeepers unavailable, it was down to the versatile Peter Tarrant to wear the number one shirt once again. Raymond Agyemang started at right back with Joe Thomas deputising at left back, Jeremiah Duah Danso returned from injury to partner Fareid Yassein in the centre of defence. The returning defender took the captain’s armband as Nicky Meta was a very late withdrawal, his ankle injury against Minster last week flaring up during the warmup. Michael Agyemang and Jacob Kemp were the midfield two with Tidi Barry just behind the front three of Camilo Andres Nieva, Chris Weber and Rashane Wilson. On the bench were Ofori Sampson, Mohamed Bah and Jimoh Gbolahan.

The visitors won the toss and opted to swap ends allowing Peckham to kick downhill with the wind behind them which they took advantage of showing dominance in the early stages. With eight minutes on the clock Michael Agyemang did well to win the ball in the centre of the park before Jacob Kemp played a defence splitting pass towards Rashane Wilson. As the Peckham striker ran onto the ball, the assistant on the far side had already raised his flag as the Halls' keeper gathered at the strikers feet.

Five minutes later and it was Peter Tarrant to the rescue saving well at the feet of the Halls number 4. The return of Camilo Andres Nieva to the starting line up gave Peckham that extra something in attack, the winger doing well in the 14th minute, only see his cut back hit high and wide by Rashane Wilson.

Peckham continued to put the pressure on the visitors and when the Halls defence failed to clear a Joe Thomas throw in from the far side, Chris Weber should have hit the target on 19 minutes. The Peckham striker collected the ball before he took a touch then hit it on the turn only to watch it blaze over from 18 yards. So far this was a much improved Peckham compared to last week but they had still yet to defend any serious attack from the league leaders.

That changed in the 26th minute as the Halls number 7 found some space down the right wing and upon crossing the ball into the Peckham area, their number 4 chested the ball down before hitting it goal wards. Thankfully Raymond Agyemang was on hand to stop it creeping in at the far post but the danger wasn’t over just yet. The ball fell to the Halls number 9 on the penalty spot and with the goal at his mercy his effort was saved by the legs of the Peckham keeper as he scrambled to get back into position.

Both teams were trying to play a decent passing game, but it was evident that the playing surface was making that difficult. The visitors struck first and had the ball in the back of the net just after the half hour mark, however the assistant on the near side raised his flag to rule it out for offside. By now the two Peckham wide men had switched wings and it had an immediate effect as it was Camilo Andres Nieva’s cross from the left that lead to the opening goal in a move that started from inside the Peckham area.

Jeremiah Duah Danso won the ball just outside the six yard box and played it short to Joe Thomas who then shrugged off two challenges before he passed it into the middle to Michael Agyemang. The midfielder ran forward skipping over two more challenges before playing a short pass to Jacob Kemp. He then took a couple of touches before playing it out to left to the feet of Camilo Andres Nieva who took a touch before heading towards the goal line. Just as it looked like the winger was running out of pitch he crossed the ball into the area with no real immediate danger to the visitors. However it then took deflection off the Halls number 10 towards the near post and with their keeper already committed to the cross, he could only palm the it into his own net to make it one-nil to the Menace.

With 38 minutes played Peckham had taken a deserved lead and began to pile the pressure on the visitors every time they went forward. Defending a corner well, Peckham countered on 40 minutes, again down the left with Camilo Andres Nieva, only this time his cross was deflected out for a corner over on the far side. As the game entered added time, Michael Agyemang was dispossessed in the centre of the park after a Peckham corner was easily cleared. The Halls number 7 played it forward towards their number 9, Jeremiah Duah Danso made the challenge and looked like he won the ball fairly, but the Halls man went down with a loud scream. The match official surprisingly opted to give a free kick to the visitors and yellow card to the Menace captain. The resulting free kick didn’t cause Peckham any problems and after an additional two minutes the match official blew for half time.

So far this had been a decent performance from Peckham and Mary Phillip’s half time team talk would have had many positives for sure. One negative was the withdrawal of Raymond Agyemang due to illness, so there was an enforced change for Peckham before the restart. Mohamed Bah was the replacement, he moved into the right wing position with Rashane Wilson dropping to right back. The visitors got the second half underway and would be hoping that the slope and wind would now be to their advantage.

Peckham had other ideas and continued to defend well, as they had in the first half and continued to threaten every time they pushed forward. Michael Agyemang saw his long range effort go over the bar after Camilo Andres Nieva took a short free kick over on the far side on 57 minutes. As the game reached the hour mark Chris Weber held the ball up really well before finding Jacob Kemp 25 yards from goal, but the midfielder never hit the ball with any conviction and it was an easy take for the Halls keeper.

The turning point of the game came as the Peckham keeper was preparing to take a free kick just outside his own area. Suddenly the Halls number 10 went down following an off the ball incident with Tidi Barry, who was immediately confronted by their captain. Once the match official had regained control of the game, and after he had consulted his assistant, Tidi Barry was shown a straight red on 63 minutes and left the field with a bloody lip for his troubles with the Halls skipper also going into the book for his role in the melee. It's not the first time that Barry has been sent off this season, and the team would now need to work doubly hard to make up for his indiscretion.

So Peckham were now a man down and it was surely advantage to the visitors as they searched for an equaliser. Four minutes later Mary Phillip made her second change with Chris Weber making way for Jimoh Gbolahan adding an extra man in the midfield. As the game approached the final fifteen minutes the visitors finally made the breakthrough after the official deemed Michael Agyemang's challenge on the Halls number 11 a foul despite him clearly winning the ball on 75 minutes.

The free kick was in a dangerous position right on the edge of the area so it was important the wall was set up correctly. All looked well as the Halls number 9 stepped up to take the set piece but the Peckham wall split and he hit it right through the gap and in. It was harsh on Peckham as they had really been the better team so far but it wasn’t going to get any better for them as the game progressed. With ten minutes of normal time remaining Mary Phillip made her final change as Rashane Wilson was replaced by Ofori Sampson. This was still anyone’s game and either team were capable of nicking a late winner but with two minutes of normal time remaining Peckham found themselves down to nine men.

Jeremiah Duah Danso was clearly fouled over on the far side but as he went down his trailing leg caught the Halls player. Once again the Halls player went down dramatically allowing the assistant to frantically wave his flag to get the attention of the official. Despite his protests the stand in skipper was shown a second yellow, for an exact replica that a Halls player had gone unpunished for minutes earlier. Now with a two man advantage Halls began to throw everything forward but Peckham stood firm and continued to frustrate the league leaders. The game entered added time and it was in the first added minute that Halls went down to ten men, their number six getting a second yellow for a late challenge. With nine added minutes played the official brought the game to a close, and despite the squabbling after the game between the two teams it was the right result in the end.

This was a much improved performance from Peckham against a well organised strong opponent that are one win away from winning the league. The two dismissals didn’t justify the shift put in by every player and it was pleasant to see them all playing as a team again. Once again Peter Tarrant put in another great performance between the sticks, one that earned him King of the Match, and rightly so. Next week we face another tough match as we welcome 3rd placed Ide Hill, hopefully back at the Menace Arena, although looking at the weather forecast ahead, it could be played at Pynners. Keep an eye on our socials during the week for further information.

Peckham Town FC (4-3-3): Peter Tarrant; Raymond Agyemang, Fareid Yassein, Jeremiah Duah Danso (c), Joe Thomas; Michael Agyemang, Tidi Barry, Jacob Kemp; Camilo Andres Nieva, Chris Weber, Rashane Wilson. Subs: Mohamed Bah (on for Raymond Agyemang), Jimoh Gbolahan (on for Chris Weber) & Ofori Sampson (on for Rashane Wilson). Sent off; Tidi Barry 63’, Jeremiah Duah Danso (2nd Yellow) 88’.