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A late Mo Takaloo penalty rescued
a deserved point for the Stones after a close game at
Bayliss Avenue.
With both sides keen to preserve their unbeaten records,
it was always going to be a tight affair and so it proved
with neither team creating many chances. The Stones
perhaps had the best opportunities to have won the game
but a draw was a fair result as Thamesmead worked incredibly
hard and were a very difficult side to break down.
United had a couple of chances early on with an Aaron
Lacy throw causing problems for the Mead defence and
Lyndon Rowland headed over before Ryan Royston forced
Chris Arnold into a good save with a header from a Gary
Kimble free-kick.
Then a good move at the other end saw Curtis Williams
shoot from the edge of the box. Pat Mullin managed to
parry the ball off the line and then reacted well to
touch the ball out as Chris Arnold looked to pounce.
But from the resultant corner, the Stones defence fell
asleep and Curtis Williams knocked in Scott Saunders’
cross.
With half time seconds away, the Stones should have
equalised when Lyndon Rowland found himself with just
Chris Arnold to beat but he shot early from a tight
angle and his shot went wide of the far post.
The second half saw hardly any goalmouth action and
the Stones became increasingly desperate, pushing Nathan
Paul and Mario Celaire forward. Mo Takaloo had a shot
hit the side netting before Thamesmead should have sealed
the victory when Marc Merridan raced through the Stones
defence but put the ball wide.
Thamesmead were then made to pay for this wastefulness
in front of goal when Lloyd Hume and Alan Walker’s
gamble of putting Celaire up front paid off as the Stones
defender was felled in the box by Dean Kearley who was
dismissed for a second bookable offence. Mo Takaloo
calmly put the ball in the net to ensure the Stones
remain unbeaten with a just over a quarter of the season
gone.
Speaking after the game Alan Walker said: “ We’ve
got to be delighted that we’ve kept going and got
the point. I think it would have been a travesty if
we had come away from here with nothing because I thought
we had by far the lion’s share of possession but
we didn’t really convert it into too many great
chances.”
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