It was a wet and wild affair at the Valley as promotion contenders Redditch United picked up a vital three points against relegation troubled Berkhamsted FC courtesy of a Johnny Johnston penalty.
The Comrades in yellow started the game bright after a couple chances from Raul Fernandes Da Silva and Matthew Bateman troubled Redditch keeper Adam Harrison in the first twenty minutes but the game remained level.
Against the run of play the Reds turned the tide as Morgan Owen went steaming into the box and was taken out by Da Silva to win a penalty, before Johnny Johnston joyfully placed one in from the spot giving the home side the lead.
In the second half the heavens opened and hell broke loose on the pitch as the sides descended into chaos during awful conditions.
Berkhamsted captain Alfie Matthews attempted to surge his players on in the lashing rain but as the game worsened his players got more and more angry leading to multiple stoppages accumulating five minutes of added time and several scuffles.
A late cross towards goal troubled Harrison who palmed it over the bar before a corner was cleared out and the whistle was blown, meaning Chris Devane’s men are still winless since December and Redditch will surge on towards promotion to the sixth tier.
Speaking on the tight game, Redditch manager Matt Clarke had this to say;
“There are no easy games, they’re bottom and they’re fighting for their lives and they gave a really good account of themselves. We were not at our best today.”
When looking at why his side may have struggled against lower opposition he had this to offer;
“When you have players like your captain out and Callum Flanagan out, plus Brad Burton out. We are missing a lot of players but we’ve found a way like today.”
This win means his side have only lost twice at home in seventeen home league games, and while it was scrappy Clarke seemed jubilant his side made it over the line as every point will matter in their promotion push.
The Reds are yet to have reached the sixth tier or higher in their history but today’s win puts them within two points of the Southern Division Premier League leaders, and eleven points safely into the playoffs.
As for Berkhamsted after battling for a result, they remain bottom of the league barring the disbanded Nuneaton Borough and sixteen points within the relegation zone, meaning it will take a gargantuan team effort from the Comrades to stay up.
