From 3-0 down, the Rustics demonstrated their refusal to give up, tactical nous, and unfailing passion for the club, to score four goals in eight minutes to triumph 4-3 over a dogged but ultimately devastated Punjab team.

With captain and defensive stalwart, Robbie Bissett, missing through illness, it was a relatively unfamiliar Rusthall back line despite featuring players with a combined near 350 appearances for the club. Louis Anderson, celebrating his 150th game in green and white, lined up alongside ever-present Daniel Blunn at centre half, with Abdullah Khalil and Jack Lyons in the full back slots. This allowed Frank Griffin and Jeffrey Njuguna to line up in midfield, behind the attacking foursome of Yassin Fares, Jack Kirby, Kalani Barton, and Charlie Clover- he would prove to be the only one to return home to Gravesend with a smile on his face come the end of the game.

The first chance of the game fell to Clover when he was played in by Jack Kirby who was clearly in the mood to show off his impressive passing range despite a difficult surface which was hard for all the players to judge. It was also hard for them to maintain an upright position, as Clover made clear when he lost his footing trying to get on the end of the pass. As is often the case, Rusthall had a very different approach to how to play the game to their opposition- despite the surface, Rusthall tried to play their usual brand of quality passing football, while Punjab were content to lump the ball long and try to win set pieces. In fairness, the industrial, ugly-but-effective approach worked well for them and the lead was taken in the 7th minute when a long-throw from Chris Edwards fell to Roman Campbell who managed to dodge the attentions of Blunn and Khalil to smash the ball home. Jack Kirby attempted to get the home side back into the game by playing another delightful ball through to Yassin Fares who was unceremoniously taken out by Owen Bushell who had charged from his line. In deciding the goalkeeper had not denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity, the referee clearly doesn’t know what Rusthall’s number 99 is capable of from any range- a yellow was given and a freekick awarded. The ball was played back to Jack Lyons on the edge of the area butit was only down to his talent that he managed to get a shot away at all after the ball had bounced up on him- playing the good stuff was proving a challenge.

Punjab managed to create one chance that didn’t start with a static ball when a through-ball was missed by Khalil and an excellent one-on-one chance was the result. Serine Sanneh stood up and made a fantastic save which was only bettered by his next when the corner came in and he somehow kept out a close-range shot with incredible reflexes. A quick ball out from this situation led to another quality pass from Kirby to Fares whose touch was, for once, not perfect and the keeper was able to collect. It wasn’t long after when Punjab doubled their lead- from a corner this time which was swung in brilliantly by Ratcliffe. Serine Sanneh was furious as he felt he was impeded as the ball sailed over his head and into the net- whether someone got a touch was unclear but the referee was unmoved by Sanneh’s angry complaints and the goal stood. Rusthall went close from a Jack Lyons freekick which was shovelled wide by Bushell but any hopes of getting back into the game before the break were dashed when Punjab made it three on 38 minutes. Another corner resulted in yet another fantastic save from Sanneh, a shot which was blocked on the line, and a firm finish on the follow-up from Roman Campbell who couldn’t really miss. Things seemed as bleak as the weather as the teams went in for half time and the terrace chat featured reflections of how a six-game winning streak had to come to an end sometime.
Something happened at half time though. Serine Sanneh came out with his usual smile replacing his fury of the first half and it was as if the mood in the crowd changed, the players visibly more confident.

Whatever it was, Rusthall were immediately on the front foot. A ball was played down the right for Fares whose touch was superb- his cross was top-drawer and Kalani Barton had a chance to score which was blocked by Bushell. While that chance came down the right, it was becoming clear it would be the left where Rusthall would get most joy with an already tiring defence on the Punjab right. Chances were mounting- Louis Anderson played a pass up to Charlie Clover who cleverly backheeled the ball into the path of Jack Kirby whose shot was deflected wide. Kirby then went close after a one-two exchange with Clover but couldn’t direct the ball goalwards on the stretch. Dan Blunn was next having ventured further forward causing havoc amongst the Punjab backline- his shot on the turn went narrowly over the bar. By this point, Punjab were content to camp in their half as evidenced by one of their forward players who received the ball on halfway with every opportunity to drive forward but elected to take a shot which Sanneh controlled comfortably with his foot on the edge of his box.

On 70 minutes, Jimmy Anderson made a triple change with Khalil, Njuguna and Kirby replaced by Callender, Hashemi and the returning Tommy Lawrence who immediately grabbed hold of the game in central midfield. While Rusthall were clearly on top, they were, once again, grateful to Sanneh who saved brilliantly when Punjab found themselves in with a great chance to seal the game. From the loopy corner which resulted, Ratcliffe hit the post with a well-taken header- not for the first time, Rusthall were slightly fortunate they weren’t further behind.

A remarkable eight minutes which totally changed the game began on 80 minutes with Sanneh on the halfway line- not a usual place for a goalkeeper but Sanneh is anything but usual- one of the many reasons he is so loved by the Rusthall faithful. He played the ball to Hashemi and Punjab found themselves in a position no one wants to find themselves in- Yassin Fares, ball at his feet, in the box, driving at a hapless defender. Lessons had clearly not been learned from the previous fixture between the teams and a penalty was the inevitable outcome when Fares was felled. Fares himself stepped up to strike it home but even at this point, it seemed unlikely anything could be salvaged, given the lateness of the goal. However, it was only two minutes later when Fares won a corner- sheer persistence from him, and perhaps a lazy choice from the defender forced the set-piece which was blocked but when the ball was played in again, it hit a defender on the leg and dropped perfectly for Charlie Cloverwho toe-poked it into the top corner from close range.
Punjab were rattled and again, just two minutes later, Rusthall scored again to equalise. Still playing their game, the home side got the dangerous Jack Lyons in on the left from a great pass from the always-impressive Frank Griffin. Lyons may have been half the age of his fullback but he skipped past Edwards as if he wasn’t there- his cross was blocked but when it came back to him, he showed strength and desire to hold on to the ball before rolling it back to Fares. His cross was not as he intended but the Punjab backline panicked and could only clear to Kalani Barton whose firm strike from 9 yards flew beyond the keeper into the roof of the net.

Jockey Farm went wild but with two minutes plus added time remaining, it was clear Rusthall didn’t want to settle for a point. It felt inevitable that a winner would come and you could sense that Punjab felt that way too.
Having said that, were it not for Tommy Lawrence’s brave clearing header, it may have been Punjab celebrating a late winner as a cross came in destined for the head of a Punjab attacker who would have had a simple finish to grab the points. Lawrence, however, like all of his teammates, was not in the mood to give this one up and his intervention would prove crucial as minutes later, Rusthall won a corner which was cleared to Jack Lyons. He relinquished crossing duties to Yassin Fares who clipped the ball in to Kalani Barton who flicked a clever header into the corner of the net. Jockey Farm erupted again- an incredible moment to add to the growing collection of truly memorable games. The final minutes were played out in relative comfort- Punjab were a beaten side and the three points were confirmed when the whistle blew to end the game.

A great day all round for the Anderson family with Louis putting in a great performance on his 150th game, and manager, Jimmy, celebrating the birth of his second child. Another great day for the club as a whole, as the winning run now extends to seven matches, and the climb up the table continues. This game will live long in the memory for all who were there but Jimmy Anderson and his management team will no doubt be looking ahead to the next game, at home on Saturday against Snodland Town.

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