Isthmian Premier: Hornchurch 3 Haringey Borough 1
Hornchurch made it four unbeaten in the Isthmian Premier League to climb up to sixth with a 3-1 victory over Haringey Borough.
A brace from striker Chris Dickson and a late strike from Charlie Ruff secured the three points for Mark Stimson’s men at Bridge Avenue.
It was a cagey start with majority of the early play being confined to the middle of the pitch before the visitors Haringey linked up well through David Olufemi, Jorge Djassi-Sambu, and Alfred Bawling before it bounced out to left-back Michael O’Donoghue.
The former Concord Rangers man struck the ball from just inside the box but out came Urchins right-back Mickey Parcell to block his effort.
In the 15th minute Hornchurch opened the scoring through striker Chris Dickson as he raced down the right to fire home a cross along the box from winger Ellis Brown from the left following a long ball up the pitch from George Purcell.
Haringey pushed back at Hornchurch with right wing-back David Olufemi cutting inside and striking the ball, but goalkeeper Joe Wright tipped it away, before the hosts frontman Dickson had another shot which was denied by Jonathan Miles.
The visitors midfielder Djassu-Sambu cut in and fired a shot goalbound, but Wright got hold of it, this just after Dickson headed into the hands of Miles as he is picked out by a Purcell corner.
In the 37th minute Borough’s Alfred Bawling fired high and wide as he cut inside after a pass from Olufemi down the right flank.
Hornchurch went into the half-time break with a 1-0 lead and almost doubled their lead straight from the restart as Ellis Brown was played in behind the visitors backline but his shot back across himself went just wide of the right post.
Brown whipped a corner in shortly after that found defender Nathan Cooper at the back post who had his header cleared off the line in the 50th minute.
Former Charlton Athletic striker Dickson then grabbed his second goal of the match to double the Urchins lead in the 63rd minute.
A fantastic run from Charlie Ruff as he broke from a Haringey corner, the creative midfielder then laid the ball off to Brown on the right, who rounded the goalkeeper Miles but pushed it too far before playing back across for Dickson to tap home.
In the 79th minute Haringey pulled one back with an absolute stunner as Alfred Bawling curled a shot into the top corner from distance and give his side a lifeline.
The visitors ramped up some late pressure as they hunted down an equaliser in the dying stages of the contest at Bridge Avenue.
However, it was Hornchurch that found the net again with just one minute left to play as right-back Parcell played a ball down the channel, which was collected by Jordan Clark who played it across the box for Ruff.
The midfielder was denied with his first effort but he fired home his rebound to secure the win for the hosts.
Hornchurch: Wright, Parcell, Cooper, Hayles, Cummings (Sutton 45), Christou, Clark, Brown (Spence 69), Ruff, Purcell (Stimson 69), Dickson.
Unused subs: Thackway and Gibbs.
Haringey Borough: Miles, Olufemi, Vilcu (Dombaxe 54), Mitchell, O’Donoghue, Richards, Djassi-Sambu, Djamas, Bawling, Akindayini (Aresti 54), J.O’Donoghue (Bessadi 80).
Unuse subs: Bitsindou and Leblond.
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