Hanwell Town returned to winning ways with an excellent 1-0 over 2nd placed AFC Totton on Saturday (22 March).
In an action-packed game at The Powerday Stadium, debutant Giovanni McGregor scored with six minutes to go to seal the three points for The Geordies.
Hanwell entered the game fresh off the disappointment of losing the Middlesex Senior Cup final to Rayners Lane in midweek.
Coming into the game, the hosts had failed to score in three matches and faced the dauting task of trying to net past the league’s best defence.
A thunderstorm greeted the start of the match, and both teams struggled to create much in difficult first-half conditions.
In the 14th minute, Craig Tanner’s cross found Tony Lee. However, the Totton player’s header didn’t trouble Sam Beasant.
Three minutes later, former QPR striker Charlie Austin finished off a Totton attack. However, the assistant raised his flag and the goal was disallowed.
The best chance of the first half came in the 39th minute, when some good work from Ryan Cole on the right of the penalty saw the youngsters left footed shot curl wide.
After half-time, Joe Wilson created a similar chance for himself but overhit his shot from the right of the box.
Alfie Pendlebury held up the ball brilliantly for The Geordies throughout the afternoon and was unlucky to see an acrobatic shot drift wide.
In the 75th minute Austin had the ball in the back of the net, but his effort was once again ruled out for offside.
After coming on one minute earlier, McGregor latched on to a brilliant through ball from Alfie Pendlebury and found the bottom right corner to seal give Hanwell a surprising lead in the 84th minute.
The Geordies remained solid at the back and pulled off an important win Infront of a season-high crowd of 502.
The win moves Hanwell up to 11th in the table and keeps them clear of an entertaining relegation battle. Next week, The Geordies welcome Tooting & Mitcham United to The Powerday Stadium before travelling to Sholing.
