Richard Salmon and Laurence Judah were among the scorers as FC Team claimed victory in their first outing of 2010 with a 3-1 success over Kentish Town in the Middlesex County League Division One.
Playing on an excellent surface at John Lyon School in Harrow, Team started the match brightly with Irvine Howson and Salmon going close.
Team piled on the pressure in the first half and Kentish Town were having difficulties dealing with some excellent set-pieces from Jon Breger and Neil Weyman. They should have forged ahead but somehow, Paul Kent headed over from underneath the cross bar.
The goal finally came from a Breger corner that the in-form Salmon blasted home The lead was nothing more than what team deserved.
With Dan Silverman and Kent looking in commanding form at the back, Team were confident in the knowledge that they could press on.
However, the second half started with the youthful midfield of Kentish Town seemingly having the legs on the Team midfield and 10 minutes in they equalised. A Town midfielder run was not tracked and he was able to finish off the move of the match.
With the teams deadlocked, Team manager Mitch Young made changes, bringing on debutant winger Savage for Jules Noti and reverting to 4-4-2.
The move paid dividends as just two minutes later, Team restored the advantage. A good lofted through ball form Judah found Salmon who broke the offside trap. One-on-one with the keeper, Salmon tried a cheeky chip but the keeper blocked his shot. Supersub Neil Weyman was quickest to react and he smashed the rebound into the top corner.
The game was as good as over five minutes later, with Town now pushing forward, Breger played an excellent crossfield ball to Howson whose blistering pace saw him beat the defender into the box only to be chopped down. Up stepped Laurence Judah to side foot his penalty into the bottom corner.
3-1 was how it finished as Team moved closer to their promotion rivals with three games in hand on the teams above them.
Manager Mitch Young said: “Today was about getting the three points after eight weeks off and we did that. However I was unhappy with the fitness of certain players, especially in midfield and this has to improve.
“Nonetheless it was a good win and a good start to 2010 and now we can focus next weekend on our quarter-final of the London Cup. Credit to the opposition who played the game in the right way.”
FC Team: Paul Mendelsohn, Ollie Segal, Dan Silverman, Paul Kent, Adam Rones, Neil Weyman (sub: Mitch Young 75) Laurence Judah, Jules Noti (sub: Tom Savage 65), Jon Breger, Irvine Howson, Richard Salmon. Sub not used: Jake Weiner