Cheshunt secured the Hertfordshire bragging rights with a last minute goal against local rivals Potters Bar Town, despite playing most of the second half with only nine men.

Mel Gwinnett made changes from the previous week, switching to a 3-5-2 formation with Dequane Wilson Braithwaite & Kieran Gauthier either side of Raul Da Silva as Darion Furlong starts a three match suspension. Full backs Bradley Roberts & Lordon Akolbire advanced wide and captain Jack Thomas was joined by Jack Munns & top scorer Vas Vasiliou in midfield. With Tommy Wood moving to Hornchurch, Tobias Braney was joined by new signing Kenny Coker. In the early exchanges Brandon Adams lifted a chance over the bar from close range for Potters Bar, but for Cheshunt it wasn’t a great start for debutant Coker, picking up a yellow card early on when he turned into his marker & referee Spain felt he hadn’t challenged for the ball, this decision was going to be critical moments later, but not before Potters Bar striker & former Amber Brandon Adams secured his usual goal against his former club. Khale Da Costa was proving difficult on the Bar right, and his low cross was dummied by Cawley with Adams following him in to score from 8 yards out.  Cheshunt equalised when Lordon Akolbire was bundled off the ball just as he built up speed to attack the Bar area, Vas Vasiliou swung in the free kick to the edge of the area, with the Bar defence loading the back post to block the Cheshunt Centre Halves, striker Tobias Braney rose highest in advance of them to loop a header goal wards, the unfortunate home keeper Laurie Shala misjudged the flight and reacting late and leaning back off balance, the ball and keeper ended up in the back of the net via the cross bar.

1-1 and all to play for midway through the first half, now, back to that Kenny Coker yellow card, the debutant striker won the ball inside the Bar half and drove towards the penalty area, once in the area he checked inside & went down as the covering defender ran past him with slight contact made at speed, alas the referee’s whistle was not for a penalty, but for a second yellow & Coker had to depart.  Manager Gwinnett made immediate changes and the unfortunate Kieran Gauthier gave way as Cheshunt reverted to a back four and Sam Granville came on to bolster midfield.  With the extra man Potters Bar sought to take advantage as Cheshunt settled into their new formation, Khale Da Costa was keeping Bradley Roberts busy, but was perhaps lucky not to be punished at all when he first pushed the defender to concede a foul in front of the assistant, and then flicked out with a loose boot with the Cheshunt man on the floor.

Half Time 1-1

The second half started with Cheshunt settled and getting their passing game going, Munns, Granville, & Vasiliou linking well with Jack Thomas breaking up Potters Bar play, enjoying a good battle with former Amber Joe Re. Right back Lordon Akolbire was continuing to advance well to join Cheshunt attacks but picked up a yellow card for an innocuous challenge in the middle of the park, Bar manager & another former Amber Max Mitchell leapt at the chance to put the right back under pressure , switching the dangerous Da Costa to their left, Akolbire duly obliged with a rush of blood, bundling the wide man clean off the pitch to pick up a second yellow & follow Coker into the dressing room.  Once again manager Gwinnett & the coaching staff reacted quickly, MJ Muyembe replaced Jack Thomas and slotted in at right back, and Oku Oji replaced the hard working Braney.

MJ Muyembe sets off on another run down the right

With a two man advantage Potters Bar enjoyed the majority of possession with Cheshunt relying on quick breaks forward, they had some joy , with Jack Munns calmly picking passes to advance the Ambers and get the defence some relief, Oji beat two and had the opportunity to shoot and chose a pass instead, MJ Muyembe got up and down the right hand side with great effect and was a threat on the right, and late in the match, the pace and quick feet of  substitute Jeremy Bisau meant the home defence couldn’t relax.  Bar slid the ball left and right trying to disrupt the Cheshunt defensive shape, but great communication from keeper/coach Preston Edwards, and calm reading of the situation by Dequane Wilson Braithwaite kept the home side at arms length, running out of ideas and limited to a few shots over the bar , they made changes to liven things up, but failed to trouble Edwards until the last few minutes, when a shot from Doherty forced a flying save to palm the ball clear of the top corner.  moments later Potters Bar keeper Shala matched his counterpart to tip a Vasiliou shot over the bar as the match entered the five additional minutes added.  As most in the ground thought Cheshunt had done well to hang on, Bar failed to clear a Cheshunt corner effectively,  the Ambers swung the ball away from the keeper, and with Joe Re subbed, the experience wasn’t there and Sam Granville gleefully struck a low shot from the edge of the box, into the corner through a crowd of players, to score the winner with only a minute left.

90+3 Sam Granville strikes the winner into the bottom left corner.

More fantastic photos by Amy Eve available in a gallery here