A very pleasant evening in Hertfordshire saw AFC come away with their first league win of the season in a very evenly fought contest after an unusual stoppage in the second half – read on for the details!

As seems to be the way recently, AFC started pretty sluggish and took their time getting in to the game. The home side were definitely on top for the first 15 minutes and created a few half chances, but then the ODs started to come in to the game. Having said that, the first chance of the game came from Tali with barely a minute gone. A free kick about 25 yards out was well struck at the stand in keeper who normally plies his trade as a centre half (the normal keeper pulled a hamstring in the warm up) but it was straight at him and the save was relatively straightforward.

We were definitely aware of the stand in keeper as there were a number of shots from distance to test him out – Tali and Sean both tried their luck but their shots were straight at the keeper – he fumbled them both but was able to recover to gather the ball at the second attempt on both occasions. Sean had a very decent breakaway opportunity on 39 as he burst through midfield but he hit a poor effort in the end resulting in an easy save. With a minute of the half to go WGC had a glorious chance when their striker had a free shot at goal but he somehow hit it wide. He definitely should have scored from the best chance of the goal less first half. It has to be said that overall a very scrappy game so far.

The home side had the first decent opportunity of the second half with two minutes gone but the shot went just over the bar following an impressive build up. AFCs turn next with a Kyle Brooks free kick but again straight at the very grateful keeper. Very shortly after that Tali played the ball in to Maks but he couldn’t quite get the ball under control and the keeper came out and smothered well. Tali next with a long shot which required a full length diving save from the keeper. AFC enjoying a very decent spell of possession and creating chances but no breakthrough. It was not all AFC though – Matt was being kept busy in goal and pulled off a number of decent saves. A great double save on 65 minutes kept us in the game.

After 73 minutes, we were plunged in to darkness with a floodlight failure. The DJ tried his best to keep everyone entertained during the stoppage with his choice of music (our vice chairman was particularly impressed with the heavy metal tunes – I preferred the ska medley before the game!) and it was quite a relief when the lights slowly but surely came back on – an unexpected break of 14 minutes.

Four minutes after the restart Kyle played a lovely chipped ball in to the box but no one could quite get on to it, quickly followed by a long shot from George that went just past the post. AFC were definitely in the ascendency at this stage and on 78 minutes we finally made the breakthrough. Thomas (on as sub) burst in to the box and let go a shot that was beaten away by the keeper straight back to Thomas who smacked the ball home at the second attempt. 1-0 to the ODs.

The last 10 minutes or so was a bit of a battle as WGC went looking for the equaliser but we stood firm and were very relieved when the referee finally blew the whistle just before 10 o’clock!    

Man of the match (as decided by the AFC committee) was goalkeeper Matt Bonsu.

Team line up (subs in brackets) ; Matt Bonsu, Joshua Clark-Anderson, Carmichael Uchenna (Patrik Horvath 91), Maks Jarzabek (Thomas Feyisitan 68), Shawn Joseph, Mwita Mgoyo, Abel Damoah-Kyeremeh (Akhsiashvili Avtandil 68), George Joyce, Sean Duodu (Aaron Addy 91), Tali Jallow (Eric Frunza 82), Kyle Brooks.