Left-back Elliott Legg lashed home a magnificent late goal to earn Binfield a 2-1 win over Flackwell Heath in their Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division clash at Hill Farm Lane on Tuesday.
Even his mum could not recall ever seeing her son strike the ball so sweetly.
His winner sealed a tremendous fight-back by the Moles, as they had been outplayed for the first half-hour by the Heathens who came into the game top of the table with a 100-per-cent record after three games.
There was a confident swagger about the men in yellow, playing with great confidence and looking sharper than their opponents on and off the ball.
They were also given an extra boost of a goal inside four minutes. Winger Khalid Simmo, whose speed caused Binfield problems, saw his effort pushed away by keeper Chris Grace, but the ball fell kindly for Ashley Howell, who wasted no time in blasting it into the net.
Howell and Simmo both got in further attempts and Binfield had to thank Grace for keeping their deficit down to just the one goal.
The hosts were strangely lacking spark despite being driven on by midfielder dynamo Jamie McClurg, while there was often a lack of cohesion between midfield and attack.
However, as half-time approached there were signs of an improvement with defenders Legg and Calam Gallimore having the confidence to move further upfield in a bid to support their forwards with Elliott not far off from finding the net as he looked to follow up his goal at Longlevens last Saturday.
Stern words must have been said during the interval – “I think there would have been a few expletives” remarked chairman Bob Bacon – as the Moles looked a different team right from the start of the second half and it took them less than four minutes to get on level terms.
Ollie Harris unleashed a 25-yard screamer from out on the right that curled in the air on its way around keeper Aaron Watkins and inside the far post.
The equaliser spurred Binfield on and they took charge of the game, only being denied by two clearances close to the Flackwell goal-line.
Heathens manager Marcus Richardson tried to stem the tide by making a double substitution, but Moles joint-manager Carl Withers responded by replacing Adam Cornell with Jemel Johnson to add fresh legs to his side’s attack.
The hosts were also forced to make a change with injured right-back Dave Hancock giving way to Jack Thomson-Wheeler.
Binfield were throwing more men forward and the pressure paid off on 80 minutes. Flackwell managed to head clear a right-wing cross, but only as far as Legg, close to the edge of the area on the Binfield left, and without any hesitation, he thundered home a shot which took a bounce on its way last Watkins.
Binfield, however, still could not relax as the Heathens fought hard for a late equaliser and they would have got it had not Thomson-Wheeler been well placed in the goalmouth to clear his lines.
It was an excellent game between two competitive sides and played in a very good spirit without any nasty challenges.
Without doubt, it was a great advertisement for the Hellenic League with Binfield officials deserving credit for hosting a game under difficult circumstances with social distancing being largely respected by the crowd of more than 160.
Injuries are piling up for Binfield as on Tuesday they were missing centre-back Tom Willment, who had cracked a bone in his foot during the cup tie at Whyteleafe a week earlier, Asa Povey and Josh Helmore, in addition to being without the suspended Jack Broome.
Skipper Sean Moore was able to face Flackwell despite being forced off with a hamstring injury early in last Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Longlevens. I understand new club sponsors Winback Therapy can take the credit for that.
All the scores and scorers in our full Tuesday night round up are here. The latest Hellenic League Premier Division table is here.
