Martin Brace Inspires Central Win in Thriller

Kaine Martin continued his excellent run of goalscoring form for Manchester Central when he notched two more in Central’s thrilling 3-2 win over Hindley Juniors.

That now makes it five in five for the midfielder who seems to be getting better and better at getting into those positions in the box late from midfield, and crucially he did just that to restore Central’s lead.

Central manager Chris Tomkinson perhaps felt inclined to stick with the same line-up as last week following their 2-0 win over Altrincham Hale. However, Tomkinson was without two starters from that line-up, Dennis Raposo and Dennis Jerome.

This week Tomkinson chose to stick with the system that worked so well last weekend, and kept the line-up relatively the same, seeing the back four remain mostly unchanged, with Aria Asqari returning to the line-up to replace Jerome.

The midfield three remained the same consisting of Nell Noupoue, Kaine Martin and Bamba Fall, whilst Luca Navarro and Junior Silva kept their places at the front end of the pitch, partnering with the returning Fuad Kasali who made his first Central appearance since the Quarter Final win in the Manchester Challenge Trophy.

The game did not take long to settle, as both sides took the opening five minutes to get on the ball and get into a rhythm. However, Central wanted to continue on from their impressive victory over Altrincham Hale and they started in rapid fashion.

Just five minutes in, Central struck first. A wide free kick was awarded out on the right for

Central, and captain Daniel Dolling whipped in a wicked delivery into a dangerous area, where Martin was on hand to provide a composed finish into the bottom corner to give Central an early lead.

Matters went from bad to worse for the visitors, who conceded a sloppy penalty just a few minutes later when Kasali showed a glimpse of his brilliant best when he raced past his man down the left and was brought down inside the box.

The skipper took on the responsibility from 12 yards and made no mistake. Dolling provided a confident penalty, sending the keeper the wrong way and gave Central a two-goal advantage inside ten minutes.

Tomkinson must have been delighted with his sides start to the game, and Dolling individually had an excellent start to the game, providing a goal and an assist from right back, helping the team race out to a healthy lead.

With just under 15 minutes gone, Hindley endured a relatively quiet start and had their first opportunity from a set piece, where it seemed most of their joy was going to come from.

A direct free kick in a good position for the visitors, the taker stepped up but produced a poor effort, blasting the attempt well over the bar.

Just ten minutes later, Kasali again a constant threat on his return, as a good ball in behind sent him through down the left. He had Silva in support to his right, and attempted a square ball to his strike partner, but the pass was too heavy and forced Silva wide.

This began a flurry of Central chances, next Sultan Kasali was found out wide on the left with acres of space. His initial cross was blocked but forced the ball through to Fuad Kasali, who quickly span and struck a crisp effort towards the far corner, forcing a smart save from the Hindley keeper who tipped it wide.

Just three minutes later, Central came again. Some wonderful football between Martin and Silva found the latter in space down the right who shifted it inside the box to Navarro, who helped it on to Kasali whose first-time effort rattled off the bar.

The home side were piling constant pressure onto Hindley, and once again wasted another glorious opportunity. Again, Dolling produced a stellar delivery into the box from the right which seemed to put it on a plate for Kasali in the box, but he skewed his effort past the post.

It must have left Tomkinson wondering how his side had not put the game to bed by half-time, and worrying if his side would be left to rue these chances later in the game.

And just a few minutes before half-time, Hindley found a lifeline. A corner from the right was whipped in deep into the box which Central failed to deal with, allowing Hindley to bundle the ball past Whiting, halving the deficit at a crucial point in the game.

Fuad Kasali remained a threat however and provided a final chance of the half when he spun his man brilliantly and drove towards the Hindley goal. He lined up an effort at goal but didn’t trouble the man between the sticks who saved comfortably.

That concluded an eventful 45 minutes of action in Division One, which saw Central race out to an early two-goal lead but concede a sloppy goal from a corner kept Hindley in the game heading into the second period of the game.

Central would have been disappointed to not have gone into the interval with a more comfortable cushion considering their dominance, and really should have had a larger advantage considering the quality of chances they created.

Fuad Kasali was not at his best on his return but was an ever-present threat for his side and perhaps should have had his name on the scoresheet.

The home side ultimately had the advantage going into the break, and Tomkinson would have surely demanded focus from his players heading into the final 45 minutes of action.

But much to Tomkinson’s dismay, his sides defences were breached just five minutes into the half. After a sloppy foul was cheaply given away by Noupoue out wide on the left, the Central defence were surely to expect another delivery into the box.

But the Hindley taker had other ideas, sweetly striking a special effort into the top corner to bring the score back to level pegging and completely cancelling out Central’s early advantage.

A tough pill to swallow for the home side considering their play throughout the game, but they were duly punished for their lack of concentration in important moments and ultimately did not put the game to bed when they had the chances to do so.

However, that goal kicked Central back into life and just six minutes later they restored their lead. An excellent bit of skill by Fuad Kasali out on the right managed to find him a few yards of space. He then delivered a sublime cross across the face of the box finding Martin right on cue to smash home into an empty net.

It was a moment of magic by Kasali that provided a critical moment in the game, and proved exactly the quality of player that Tomkinson now has back at his disposal.

It was also a fifth goal in five games for Martin, an excellent goalscoring record for a midfielder who across the season has picked up the knack for arriving late in the box from midfield, and he has reaped the rewards.

Just after the hour mark, Hindley looked to strike back as a wide ball from the left missed everyone in the centre of the box but found a Hindley man at the box post, who set and hit a vicious effort towards the top corner but was matched by an acrobatic save from Whiting.

With only 20 minutes left in the fixture, Tomkinson turned to his first substitutions. Seeing Luca Navarro and Nell Noupoue make way for Ruben Abreu and Kyle Odell.

Hindley continued to mount pressure on Central, as Whiting once again was forced to make a good save. The Hindley striker was slipped in down the right-hand side of the box, and poked an effort towards goal but was met by an onrushing Whiting who blocked the effort.

Once again Central made more changes in personnel, as Silva was replaced by Ruben Lawal, seeing the home side revert to a five-man midfield with Lawal out on the right, leaving Abreu as the lone striker.

Just a few minutes later, Hindley came again, and wasted a glorious chance. The ball was switched out to the right and was swiftly moved inside. The forward man had all the goal to aim at but was on his heels and his stretched effort was skewed wide.

With five minutes left, Tomkinson made his final round of substitutions, this time seeing brother Sultan and Fuad Kasali make way for Michael Taiwo and Gabriel Wiwoloku.

Late in stoppage time, Central had a wonderful opportunity to seal the game when Abreu was sent through on goal on the counter, he set himself but dragged his effort just wide of the far post.

That was the final action of a thrilling 90 minutes, which saw Central gain consecutive league wins since September and three points that saw them move to within four points of the promotion places.

Following the game, Central manager Chris Tomkinson gave us his thoughts on the game and what his side need to do to continue pushing on.

‘In the first half we should have been four or five nil up! The lads stuck at it; we conceded two sloppy goals from set pieces but that can happen within games. Hindley put it on us in the last 20 minutes which we expected them to do.’

‘I thought we defended well, having some great bits, some good bits and some not so good bits but we got the three points in the end and that’s all that matters.’

Touching on Martin’s goalscoring patch of form Tomkinson added ‘he seems to just have that knack for getting into those positions. He’s got loads of energy and seems to be able to go that extra yard.’

‘Fair play to him, he needed to add goals to his game, and he has done. He’s been consistent, even when we were in that bad run of form, and I’m delighted that he’s been able to add that dimension to his game.’

Tomkinson was happy to have Fuad Kasali back in his squad, saying ‘delighted to have Fuad back, we know what he’s about. We just need to help get him back to fitness. Fuad needs to just get his head back down and get playing games, getting fit and getting back into goalscoring form.’

‘He can for sure help us get back up the table because he’s a great player and a great lad, we’re delighted to have him back.’

On his sides rest of the season, Tomkinson added ‘we need consistency. The formation and set up we had was good again, we created plenty of chances and just need to keep playing as we have been in the last two.’

‘We have another difficult test next week against Avenue, but if we keep playing this way, making it hard for teams and creating chances, we know anything can happen.’