'Our finishing was the difference,' says Rank

RJC knew they were in a game , and to keep in order to maintain their momentum for a title push, they knew they needed to up there performance level. And that's exactly what they did.

The hosts drew level five minute later, with stunning a free-kick. Man of moment Nate Kashket whipped his shot from 25 yards into the net, with pace, accuracy and precision.

'Nese responded and it took a moment of denied goalkeeping from Matt Kemp to keep the scores level, as he produced a top-class save.

As the half drew to a close, Jewdinese were had enjoyed the lionsshare of possion, without creating too many clear-cut chances, while RJC looked dangerous on the counter-attack, with Dickson brothers and Kashket.

The message from the RJC A management at the break was to be braver in possession and to push workrate levels to the maximum.

Both teams knew the second goal in this contest would be key. RJC A started slowly and were lucky not to fall behind for a second time after 'Nese missed a gilt-edged header from two yards out. This proved to be the turning point.

RJC forged ahead on the hour mark when great interchange between Calvin and Kier Dickson saw the latter played through and he showed great composure by outfoxing two defenders and the keeper and he created the time and space to leave himself with an empty net to tuck away the his shot home.

The home side were now pushing the for third goal, and with 'Nese down to 10 men, this came when a long throw by Calvin Dickson was headed in by the influential captain Dan Andrews to send the RJC A boys into raptures.

'Nese's frustrations boiled over at this point and an incident involving their goalkeeper saw them reduced to nine men. This of caused a few heated discussions, but this was defused and handle very well by referee David Lazarus.

Once the game restarted, 'Nese showed great character and didn't let their heads drop, despite their numerical disadvantage, and they scored a second goal via a good header from a corner with three minutes to go from Brandon Sassoon.

However, Redbridge ended any hopes of a comeback when more great play between the Dickson brothers ended with Kier Dickson smash the ball past ex-RJC player Aaron Goldberg, who had taken the gloves to complete an impressive victory for Redbridge.

RJC joint-manager Sam Rank told JC Sport: "I asked every single player to give me everything they had, and not to leave anything out there. They did this and more. This made a very happy management team.

"Today, we knew we were in for a game. Jewdinese played very well, and in the first half had a lot of the play. But we know goals change games going 2-1 up was the big killer punch for today's victory. Our clinical finishing was the difference."

Praising their opponents, Rank went on to say: "Darren and his boys are a very good, young side. Jewdienese had their chances to go in front, and these chances will come back to bite them. We hope Darren and his boys can do the business in there return fixture against Fairlop.

"It was also very nice to see the game finishing in the right way, with both team showing each other and the MGBFSL respect that should go with all football after a heated game.

"Scott Oldstein small celebration for scoring his free-kick, was very much frowned upon by his dad, but 'Skind' apologising at end was a nice touch.

"After today game, my phone was going non-stop, with the win today with Fairlop messages. The game on November 18 has been labelled one of the biggest games in MGBFSL football in the last five years.

"Once again, with no game for Fairlop today, they came again with the notepads, and they wished they came with Apple Macs. Their hands will be very tired from writing all those notes!"

'Nese boss Darren Lawrence told JC Sport: "It was a very entertaining and tightly contested game in which tempers flared, but I don’t want to go into that.

"One quality free kick by Scott was matched by them and we went into half-time level. We came out the blocks very fast in the second half and had four or five golden chances which really should have been taken. Ultimately these missed chances came back to bite us as they took a two-goal lead, and with us having nine men, the game was gone.

"In terms of the title, this game was make or break for us. It’s now out of our hands and we are hoping Redbridge can beat Fairlop to aid us in our quest for second place. We won’t stop fighting until the last game."

Commenting on the red card incidents, which saw 'Nese duo Sim Cohen and Zach Collins dismissed, Lawrence added: "Although there were ugly scenes on the pitch on Sunday, myself and Sam have since spoken and are on good terms. We wish them the best of luck for the rest of the season."