TMUFC_SeasonReport

NEW YEAR SIGNINGS
AND DEPARTURES
Despite Hanwell pulling one back to only
trail 1-2 at the break, Danny Bassett’s volley
from distance re-established our two goal
lead. Another Hanwell goal threatened a
nervy last ten minutes, but late strikes from
Williams again and another new arrival,
Klajdi Cani put the seal on the points.
In an effort to shake things up ahead of the
end of season run-in, several players were
brought in and a few had departed. Omari
Hibbert and Nebay Haile had both left earlier
in the campaign after failing to claim regular
places in our attack. Antonio Simeone had
returned from his hiatus at Merstham via
Staines, but departed again early in the new
year to Chertsey. David Castanho left to link
up with Northwood and Hady Ghandour
was rewarded for his impressive form
with a trial at Charlton. Razzaq Coleman’s
game-to-game improvement had not gone
unnoticed and Hampton & Richmond
Borough gave him the opportunity to show
his talents two levels higher.
Meanwhile, Stefan Illic returned from Lewes
(and scored in his first game back at Ware);
defenders Ermis Mezini and Antone Douglas
stiffened up the back line and prolific strikers
Duncan Culley and Daniel Williams bolstered
the attack. With Dominic Odusanya coming
into midfield, and identical twins Abdel and
Abdelah Sahnoun stepping up from the
U23s to provide competition at wing-back
the squad looked in good shape for the
crunch games ahead.
We stopped the rot of defeats with a battling
point at third placed Westfield; an early goal
threatened to undermine us again, but the
team knuckled down and Daniel Williams’
late equaliser was the least we deserved.
We followed this up with another testing
encounter at Hanwell Town.
Hanwell were second in the table, and
were vying with Ware as the only realistic
championship contenders. Their previous
home game had seen them put six past
play-off hopefuls Waltham Abbey and they
had, of course, wrecked our unbeaten
record four months earlier. Truly, this was a
major test of our play-off credentials. In the
event, we gave perhaps our most complete
display of the season, with several of the
new signings showing up particularly well.
Ermis Mezini won everything in the air, the
Sahnoun twins were causing havoc on the
flanks and the Culley-Williams partnership
was starting to gel up front. 90 minutes
later, the team trooped off the field having
run out 5-2 winners; Williams had opened
the scoring with his third in four matches,
Daryl Coleman had smashed in a longrange
special to double our advantage.
LEAGUE ON THE EDGE
And that, as it turned out, was that. Our So we look back at what might have been
scheduled Tuesday night outing to South with a few regrets; the poor run of form
Park was curtailed by the weather and in February had left us outside the play-offs
by the following Saturday, all sporting for the first time in the season, but with
events were under threat from impending fixtures scheduled against fellow contenders
lockdown. Despite fixtures going ahead Westfield, Uxbridge and Bracknell Town
in south London at Dulwich, Fisher and (home and away) along with a comfortable
Sutton United, the Isthmian league showed run-in (on paper), we had every hope of
commendable foresight and placed our extending our season into the lottery of the
league on temporary suspension, which was play-offs with, potentially, the chance of
to become permanent a few weeks later. elevation back to the premier division.