East Manchester Stun Central with Late Winner

A lacklustre Central performance on Saturday afternoon saw them suffer a stunning 3-2 home defeat to East Manchester at Seashell Trust. A last gasp winner for East Manchester meant Central’s winless run of league games extended to five.

Following Central’s brilliant Semi Final win the weekend prior, all the expectations were for Central to continue in the same fashion with supposed newfound confidence for them to take into their return to Division One football.

It could not have gone any differently in the opening half of action, which saw East Manchester begin the livelier of the two sides. Central lacked the sharpness and energy that we had seen the previous week and were shortly punished by the away side.

The opening ten minutes saw little action from either side, with both goalkeepers forced to make a comfortable save each. It was in the 15th minute where Central were punished for a slow start, where East Manchester were awarded a penalty after their forward was brought down following a clumsy challenge.

Their number nine stepped up and converted coolly into the bottom left corner despite a strong hand by Dan Whiting that almost kept it out. It was the worst possible start for the home side, who were unable to build on their brilliant performance in the Semi Final.

It was just two minutes later when Central were punished for a second time. Sloppy defending from Central saw East Manchester play the ball out to the left, where the ball was fizzed into the box allowing the striker to deflect it into the far corner.

East Manchester deserved nothing less from the opening 20 minutes, not allowing Central to play their football and forcing the home side to go long and direct without any accuracy or success.

The away side continued to mount on the pressure, just a few moments later forcing another save out of Whiting in the Central goal. But luckily the forward's strike was too close to Whiting to cause any real problems.

It was half an hour into the game where we saw Central’s first real opportunity, when Dennis Raposo and Gabriel Wiwoloku linked up well which found Wiwoloku in on goal, but his heavy first touch meant the striker was stretching for the ball and his dinked effort was blocked comfortably by the East Manchester goalkeeper.

Central began to find a bit of rhythm, seeing a free kick in a good position hit straight at the goalkeeper. Five minutes later Wiwoloku yet again had another chance to pull one back, turning well and firing a shot inside the box but a crucial deflection saw his effort bounce agonisingly wide of the far post.

But it was the away side who finished the half strongly, when their right back found himself in acres of space 25 yards out and he struck a vicious effort towards the bottom corner but fortunately for Central his strike bounced off the foot of the post.

That concluded an abysmal first half for Central which saw a sluggish and slow performance from the home side. It left Chris Tomkinson which much to ponder ahead of the second half and left him questioning the staggering difference in performance from their previous outing.

The interval saw a reshuffle in personnel for Chris Tomkinson’s side. Gabriel Wiwoloku, Zak Bell, Damani Hall, and Sultan Kasali were replaced by Ruben Lawal, Emmanuel Sholabi, Joaquin Pinto, and Ruben Abreu.

It also saw a system change for Central, who switched to a back four from their favoured back five. Lawal, Raposo and Abreu formed a flat front three and Sholabi and Pinto slotted into the back four alongside Daniel Dolling and Aria Asqari.

Tomkinson clearly saw a need for drastic change in the second period and hoped for a reaction from his side when the whistle blew. However, it was East Manchester who continued their impressive performance immediately.

The number nine almost added to his tally, finding himself in a dangerous position inside the box and managing to spin onto his right foot, but his effort smashed into the side netting from close range.

However, the changes at the break did see a reaction from Central, as a few minutes later the home side did pull a goal back. Ruben Abreu made an instant impact off the bench, smartly turning inside onto his left and producing a cool finish past the keeper.

And just like East Manchester, Central struck twice in quick succession. Abreu again making the difference, producing a silky bit of skill to beat his man on the right, and squaring unselfishly to Kaine Martin who couldn’t miss the open goal.

On the hour mark, Central really should have gone ahead, when that man again Abreu showing blistering pace down the right and once again unselfishly setting up Junior Silva whose shot seemed destined to hit the net, only to be denied by a brilliant defensive block to keep the score at level pegging.

Central continued to pile on the pressure just a few minutes later, as Pinto finally found a chance to make an impact on the game going forward, whipping a delicious ball into the box from the left, which was knocked down superbly by Lawal, only for Abreu to blast over from close range.

Raposo had his first real effort in the game with just under 20 minutes to go, getting on the end of a deep free kick by Dolling, but his looping headed effort was too strong and sailed over the bar.

With just over ten minutes of the game left, Central boss Tomkinson was forced into his final change when midfielder Nell Noupoue went down with an injury and was replaced by Kyle Odell in the middle of the park.

Chances were few and far between for either side in the final minutes of the game, with the ball constantly going end to end and both teams looking to snatch a winner in the final minutes of the game, and unfortunately for Central it was the away side who had the final chance of the game.

East Manchester sieged forward on a counterattack down the right handside, with Central outnumbered at the back. The ball was played across the six-yard box which found the full back who finished like a seasoned striker past Whiting into the near post to crush Central hearts.

It was a hugely disappointing end to a poor overall performance from Central who had hoped to push on from last week's high. But ultimately the home side were far from their best and had the game took to them by East Manchester.

Chris Tomkinson voiced his concerns in the post-match team talk and must search for answers as to why his side seem to struggle to string performances together that will see them get back to the form that we saw them produce at the start of the season.

This result sees Central drop to eighth in the table and lose more ground to those at the top of the standings, whilst this victory for East Manchester sees them up to eleventh.

Central will continue their search for a win in Division One next weekend, when they welcome fourth placed side Avenue, where a win for Central seems to hold more importance each week in Division One.