Ruislip started the game well, very well. The passing was shorter and sharper than of late and the movement was more fluid. Lennox Kedman was having a major influence down the left and would’ve expected a greater reward for some fantastic early deliveries into the box. Ruislip did however take the lead on 15 minutes as Luke Massingham latched onto a Chalfont clearance, strode forward a few yards and unleashed a tracer bullet from 25 yards that flew into the bottom corner. A goal that their football merited. However, Chalfont were also playing well but it was still a surprise when they equalised 5 minutes later as Ruislip failed to deal with a long throw from the right and then a near post flick on. Finn Edwards nearly responded on 26 minutes but his drive was deflected just wide but a couple of minutes later, Ruislip again came up short defending a set piece, this time a corner from the left, and found themselves 2-1 down. Worse was to follow with the last kick of the half, a mishit daisy cutter from the edge of the box which inexplicably squirmed through Harry Sandiford’s grasp and crossed the line almost apologetically. Hero to zero for Sandiford, whose penalty saving heroics in recent weeks were instrumental in Ruislip’s League Cup and County Cup triumphs. So 15 minutes of uncharacteristic sloppiness meant Ruislip had it all to do in the 2nd half and although they ultimately came up just short, their response was worthy of a team on the brink of a title. Chalfont were penned back for virtually the whole half as Ruislip added a greater intensity to their fluent play. Harrison Deas had an early effort saved and then Sandiford redeemed himself with a smart stop from what proved to be a rare 2nd half Chalfont chance. Then on 47 minutes, Jack Neill who had been quiet up to this point latched onto Massingham’s clever lofted through ball to finish clinically with his left foot. Ruislip scented blood and, with their fangs showing, went for the jugular. Ben Higgins and Charlie Coshall both narrowly headed over terrific Ryan Morgan crosses. Then Morgan who was having a storming 2nd half firstly saw his cleverly controlled effort well saved before only finding the side netting when well placed with 9 minutes left. For a time it looked like an equaliser was inevitable but Chalfont defended manfully and in truth, Ruislip probably just lacked a real cutting edge up front. The final whistle signalled Ruislip’s 1st defeat since the end of September and their 1st in 22 games. But there was no disgrace in defeat here as Ruislip produced arguably their finest footballing performance of the season against a fine side who will be title challengers themselves next year and Ruislip knew that they still had 2 more games to get the extra 2 points they need to claim the league title. MoM shared this week between Lennox Kedman for an excellent 1st half and Ryan Morgan for an equally excellent 2nd half.
