Bearsted 2-0 Sutton Athletic - For a club like Bearsted to be within touching distance of potentially hitting play-offs is remarkable but there is no pressure on the boys to try to achieve it, says club advisor Danny Wakeling

Bearsted 2 – 0 Sutton Athletic
Location	Otham Sports Ground, Honey Lane, Otham, Maidstone, Kent ME15 8RG
Kickoff	16/04/2024 19:30

BEARSTED  2-0  SUTTON ATHLETIC
Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division
Tuesday 16 April 2024
Stephen McCartney reports from Honey Lane

BEARSTED club advisor Danny Wakeling says for the club to be within touching distance of the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division play-offs is remarkable.

The Bears leapfrogged over Whitstable Town into sixth-place in the table with a comfortable two-goal victory over a Sutton Athletic side that extended their winless run to 11 games and are five points clear of the relegation zone.

Bearsted manager Kevin Stevens saw his side extend their unbeaten run to seven games and have won their last four games, keeping four clean sheets in the process and heap pressure on Adam Woodward’s Erith Town going into their trip to Tunbridge Wells tomorrow night.

Deal Town claimed the league title following their 3-1 home win over Lydd Town on Saturday, while Tommy Warrilow’s Faversham Town reached second-place with their comfortable 2-0 win at Tunbridge Wells last night.

Steve King's champions (81 points from 36 games) are followed by Faversham Town (77 points from 38 games), Glebe (77 points from 38 games), Corinthian (76 points from 38 games) and Erith Town (71 points from 36 games).

Bearsted have now picked up a club record 68 points from their 37 games, followed by Whitstable Town with 67 points from their 38 league outings.

Bearsted opened the scoring – against the run of play – in the 21^st minute through impressive right-winger Dieko Falade’s clinical finish, before he played a part in their second goal with 20 minutes remaining, which was swept home by substitute striker Malachi Hudson, who opened his goalscoring account for the club following his switch from league rivals Snodland Town.

“Three points is three points.  If we had one micro-criticism it will be we’re capable of scoring more goals against Sutton tonight,” said Wakeling.

“We weren’t threatened at all in the game. I think perhaps in comparison to Saturday’s game, which was played at a higher tempo and a quicker rhythm, we came away with a 1-0 home win over Lordswood, when perhaps it should’ve been two or three.

“Tonight, we’ve probably gone down the gears but our possession based game nullifies any threats and it’s our fifth clean-sheet in six games, four wins on the bounce all with clean-sheets, so in terms of results, that’s spot on.

“The boys aren’t under any pressure. We were in a very strong position a month ago and now perhaps chasing a play-off spot, instead of being in control of our own destiny.”

Since taking over the hot-seat at Lower Road in Hextable, Sutton Athletic manager Ryan Huckle has claimed just the one win, drawn five and lost 12 of his 16 games in charge of the club.

Sutton Athletic will be expecting a fine as Huckle handed his team-sheet to referee Stephen Hughes out on the pitch (while the three match officials were warming up) just 13 minutes before the scheduled kick-off.  Team sheets should be exchanged with the referee and the other club 45 minutes before kick-off.

“Obviously a disappointing result, naturally we thought it was a game that we could come and get something out of but overall on reflection, I think we did well in spells,” said Huckle.

“We were tenacious, we looked like we really wanted it. Lacked the cutting edge, which has been a bit of an occurring theme for us, but I can’t fault the players’ endeavour. They gave everything, that’s all I can ask for at this point.”

Sutton Athletic created their first chance after only 66 seconds when right-back Lewis McIntyre looped a long throw into the box, the ball was cleared out to central midfielder Simon Walton, who lofted the ball high up in the air from 25-yards and the ball dropped down and Bearsted goalkeeper Frankie Leonard caught at the second attempt on his goal-line.

“We went out with a plan to start fast. I wanted the boys to leave absolutely everything out there. We knew we had five players on the bench, who were eager to get on. I said to them if you blow up after 60 (minutes), I can make my chances, so I was pleased with the start,” added Huckle.

“I think we put Bearsted under the cosh. I think we took them by surprise. Ultimately, you have got to sustain that to get anything out of the game, so it’s disappointing but there were good spells.”

Wakeling said: “I’m actually pleased with Frankie.  We were a little bit undercooked despite that chance you could tell by our players’ nature and the technical area’s nature that we weren’t concerned.

“We knew our boys had a bit more to give.  Our ball circulation was good but the ball speed should have been quicker and then the circulation turns into penetrative passes, penetrative runs. It turns into goalscoring opportunities, old school, we needed to raise it by 10%.

Bearsted’s centre-half Phillip Headley launched a long ball out of defence and striker Ollie Freeman’s pace took him past Sutton centre-half Sam Huckle and McIntyre before sweeping his left-footed shot across the keeper and deflecting just past the base of the far post from inside the six-yard box.

A nervous looking Bearsted side grabbed the lead, with 20 minutes and 50 seconds on the clock, following a well-worked three-man move and a clinical finish from Falade.

Right-back Marvin Okundalaiye fed a deep Freeman, who played a fine through ball to split open two centre-halves, Sam Huckle and Fraser Daniels and Falade cut onto his left-foot before drilling a left-footed shot into the far corner from an acute angle from 10-yards out.

“We ask our wide players to get towards the front post for cut-backs and I looked, is he going to cut this back? A quick shift of feet and he’s found the corner,” said Wakeling.

“That type of pattern is something that Elyon Marshall-Katung (coach) works on here religiously.

“The boys were told to move the ball quicker, sharper, cleaner and make sure we have penetrative runs off the ball and in behind and that was a perfect example of how we want to play, despite it being a bit sporadic tonight.

“That one run and acute finish was really good. Most of us wanted him to cut the ball back but a quick change of feet and it was a very good finish from the kid.”

Huckle, 24, added: “Dieko is a good player. I played with him in the past. I know he’s a good finisher and we wanted to limit his opportunities tonight, so we were disappointed with the slight lapse in concentration.

“Although I do agree with you, it was against-the-run-of-play but one goes in, it’s about how do we react? It was disappointing the way it did.”

Sutton resorted to trying to cheat their way to an equaliser from a set-piece with five minutes to go before the interval.

Winger England Kurti swung in a left-footed corner from the left, the ball was hooked on at the near-post by Sam Huckle and Walton punched the ball over the crossbar. 

Referee Stephen Hughes consulted assistant referee Simon Jackson and decided against showing any card to Walton.

Huckle said: “In fairness, from my angle because it’s quite difficult, it’s quite far away from this far goal. I thought the ball was kind of over the bar and he’s helped it on like a goalkeeper. I didn’t realise it was still on the pitch, but he didn’t mean anything by it.”

Wakeling simply added: “It’s an odd one that. I wouldn’t say anything inflammatory, so go and ask the official about that one.”

Bearsted linked-up well down the right with Adam Turton (who had replaced holding midfielder Jack Palmby who was forced off with a shoulder injury), Eniola Hassan and Falade before the ball was played into the box for Freeman, who swept his shot past the near post as he slipped over on a pristine playing surface.

Wakeling said: “He’s had quite a bit of time out Ollie but his link-up play was good tonight. He probably didn’t stretch in behind like he normally would. I think he can be allowed a pass to be looking a little bit leggy at times but he’s a trier and he works hard.”

Stevens, Wakeling and the management team demanded more from Bearsted during the half-time interval.

“Despite being 1-0 up and it was comfortable, there was an air of, I wouldn’t say lethargy, but we were under-cooked, so the boys got told in no uncertain terms they’ve got 10-15 minutes maximum to go out and assert themselves full bloodied to go out and get a second goal,” revealed Wakeling.

“It wasn’t a comfortable half-time team-talk. There was an amount of lashing, the boys responded to that well in the dressing room.

“If we were going to be really harsh, you could’ve made five changes at half-time because we weren’t impressed.  I’ll be honest, they got some barrels at half-time and that’s the truth.   They were put under, not pressure, but they were told in no uncertain terms, ‘make sure you get the second goal!’

“You have the ability.  The only way the ability comes out is if you show the attitude and application to bring your ability out,  Let’s say challenged to put more of a shift in.”

Huckle was concerned about the lack of goalscoring threat coming from his side.

“We know Bearsted are a good side and they’re well-drilled and they were good at what they did.  We knew we wanted to pressurise them and force them into mistakes, which we did at times.

“But it’s coming back to that you have to have that cutting edge and a bit of a clinical edge, which we’re working on bit by bit.  We are getting there but as a whole we just need to punish teams.

“I think we’re just that little bit off needing to be where we need to be, just that punishing aspect but we’re very, very close.

“I wanted more of the same endeavour, work-rate and just cut out some of the switching off. I think a lot of our downfall at times, we’ve been good for 30-35 minutes, a slight lapse in concentration and at this level you get punished.

“This is a very, very, very competitive league, probably the most competitive the SCEFL Prem has ever been.  I’ve played my games at Step Three and Step Four and some of the standard of these sides aren’t off some of the sides I used to play with before.

“At this level you get punished. You have to stay switched on and stay in games and you’re hard work will pay off and that was the message (at half-time).”


Good win play from Nathan Palmer out on the left saw him cut along the by-line before cutting the ball back for Okundalaiye, but he lacked composure in the box and placed his first-time shot harmlessly wide of the goal inside the opening eight minutes of the second half.

Sutton Athletic squandered a glorious chance to grab an equaliser on the hour-mark, following a long ball from substitute holding midfielder Alfie Hawkins, with a crowd of players in and around and behind him.

Bearsted centre-half Callum McCarthy made a hash of a clearance and goalkeeper Leonard rushed out of his penalty area and Sutton Athletic striker Marcel Brown rolled his left-footed shot past the base of the left-hand post from 16-yards.

Huckle said: “Marcel is a very, very honest lad and he said to me after the game, ‘gaffer, I’m gutted, I’m gutted, I think I could’ve, should’ve scored,’

“He’s our leader, he’s our captain and he takes it upon himself.  With Marcel’s ability, he should be scoring, although at the same time, we had chances to go forward that we squandered as well. It was a chance we should’ve taken.”

Wakeling admitted: “I wasn’t overly concerned. I don’t think the man Sutton had running through didn’t have the confidence to score if I’m honest but it was a slight moment of hesitancy and complacency.  This creeps in from time to time but what I will Phil (Headley) and Callum (McCarthy) have only been playing together for the last couple of games with the injuries that we’ve got.

“Frankie (Leonard) is a young goalkeeper and that trio at the back actually dealt well with things over the last couple of weeks, so you’re always going to have moments in games but the record of five clean-sheets in the last six, four on the spin with four wins, that’s good enough for us.”

Stevens’ side play an eye-catching brand of passing football and it was only until the 65^th minute introduction of Hudson that saw the play-off chasers start to raise their game.

“He probably would’ve come on a bit earlier.  There was a 10–15-minute warning for fingers to get got at, particularly in the front line,” added Wakeling.

“I like Malachi’s attitude. He’s a very good player. He was benched on Saturday and again tonight but he works really hard off the ball, so when we lose the ball he’s good on the transition and he’s bright and energetic and he’s also got end product. I think he had a great contribution to the second half.”

Hudson’s impact was almost immediate as he played in a low cross from the left towards the near-post but Falade’s stabbed his shot past the near post.

Bearsted killed the game off by scoring their second goal with 24 minutes and 53 seconds on the clock.

Falade’s pace saw him cut inside Hawkins down the right to reach the by-line before cutting the ball back to central midfielder Jacob Kalonda, who teed up Hudson, who swept his left-footed shot into the bottom near corner from four-yards, to score his first goal for the club.

Wakeling said: “I thought actually pound-for-pound tonight Dieko was the best player on the pitch without showing his full range of quality, especially second half.  His desire, work-rate, it wasn’t a stand-put night for individuals but his work-rate, attitude and desire on the back foot and the front foot. He was pacy, strong and it was a clinical finish.

“It was his persistence that manufactured the second goal, drilled it across the box. Jacob has got a set and it’s well finished by Malachi Hudson.”

Huckle added: “There came a point in that game at 1-0, I thought we’ve really got to go for it now, if we weren’t already, which we did.  We slightly changed our shape, which in the main it worked to an extent. It left us slightly open, which if you’ve got players of the quality of Dieko in your side, he will punish the space you give him.  Potentially, slightly against-the-run-of play but I think that often happens when you’re chasing the game.”

The Bears finished the game on the front foot and left-back Conrad Lee’s final action of the game was to whip in a great cross from within the channel towards the back post where substitute winger Robbie Roberts’ free-header came back off the crossbar.

“That’s what we wanted probably in the first 20 minutes but we finished the game strong, created a few more opportunities and as the game tempered off, we kept the ball well and just banked the points,” added Wakeling.

Turton’s sublime through ball on the deck and straight down the middle split open Daniels to put Roberts through on goal and his left-footed chip was superbly clawed out by the advancing Waller, high to his right to deny Bearsted another goal inside the final nine minutes.

Wakeling said: “Robbie Roberts did really well off the bench. He’s a young lad that hasn’t had a great deal of game time, so he’s grafting what he can get but he played Saturday, started and scored.  We changed it up to freshen up.

“That kid keeps doing what’s been asked of him and any young player that does what you need to do to keep them making the right impression and he’s moved up the pecking order, so his next challenge now is to maintain that, sustain that and go and have a notch.”

Huckle has high hopes for his goalkeeper Waller.

“Since Toby’s come in, he’s been terrific. One of the best young goalkeeper’s I’ve seen to be honest with you.

“Whether we’re under the cosh or whether we’re really getting after teams, Toby’s concentration is terrific so for him to pull that save off, is brilliant.”

The impressive Hudson then put a chance on a plate for 19-goal striker Freeman, who flicked his shot past the left-hand upright.

Sutton Athletic lacked the quality required to find a way back into the game with strikers Shaun Omogbai and Tiwatayo Hamzat coming off the bench for the final 13 minutes and not testing a Bearsted defence which was well marshalled by Headley.

Bearsted complete their campaign with trips to Rusthall on Saturday and to Tunbridge Wells on Monday 22 April, before hosting Fisher here at Honey Lane on 27 April.

Sutton Athletic are in the bottom four with 23 points with two games remaining, followed by Stansfeld (22 points with two games remaining), Rusthall (20 points with two games remaining) and Welling Town remain the sole relegation berth with 18 points with four games remaining.

Rusthall go into the game on a 21-match winless run.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Anderson’s current goalkeeper Serine Sanneh played for England’s under 15s in a game against Belgium in February 2017.  England’s squad included Cole Palmer (now Chelsea) and Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), while Sanneh is now playing for a struggling team in the ninth-tier of English football.

“I suppose I won’t reflect too much, there’s a bit of a disappointment of being in a position of being in control of our destiny and sort of let go of that,” said Wakeling.

“Having said that, to bounce back from that and put these results together with the clean-sheets, says a lot about everyone involved in this football club.

“For a club like Bearsted to be even within touching distance of potentially hitting play-offs is remarkable, considering the budget that we have here in comparison of the club’s we’re competing with.

“There is no pressure on the boys to try to achieve it but this club has already smashed its points record at this level and no matter what happens, it will secure its highest finish, so I think it’s a good thing that the boys have got something to aim for to push that points marker even further.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re playing top of the table, bottom, we’ve got our own objectives here anyway, irrespective of who is in front of us.

“Yes, Rusthall have got something to play for but so have we, so we have no fear going down there. I’d imagine there would be some nerves on display but I think there will be more from the home team to be honest with you.

“It’s a lot harder to handle keeping your status, that’s negative pressure. We’ve just got positive energy about breaking our points record, finishing as high as we can and still knowing that we’ve got the carrot of maybe reaching the play-offs.

“No one expects Erith Town to slip up, they’re a good outfit, a good side. I’ve known Woody (Adam Woodward) a long time and I don’t think he will let it slide.

“Football is strange, you only need a red-card or to go down to 10 men or nine men, anything can happen in a game of football.

“What would it mean (for Bearsted to reach the play-offs)? It would be a fantastic achievement and show we’re punching well above our weight but in terms of the trajectory of the club, whether we reach play-offs or not, we’re on an upward curve, there’s no denying or stopping that.

“if it doesn’t happen this year, on the scales of probability, it shouldn’t.  The possibility still says you’ve got a chance. If it doesn’t happen this year, all it is, it’s a stepping stone to be a more strongly considered club for next season.

“It puts you in a different stratosphere, then it’s down to us as a management team for us to handle that, asses the squad and sort of see what players can handle maybe a bit of semi-expectation.  They’ve pushed themselves to this point, now can they break the seal and expand themselves to go again?  That’s the challenge for any sportsman in any sport and any footballer that we will have going forward in this football club.”

When asked about handling the pressure of a promotion race, Wakeling admitted: “For me, what I have going on in my life, this is my opportunity to sort of switch off in what I’ve got going in my life.  Wherever I’ve been, whatever club I’ve been at, I’ve never found football a pressure, never.  We play with a lot of freedom because none of us get overly stressed about it.  Football is to be enjoyed and it’s a good outlet for me at the moment from life.”

Sutton Athletic should be playing in this division next season but Huckle is keen to get the job done and pick up points at Stansfeld on Saturday and at home to Hollands & Blair on the final day of the season.

When asked about his statistics since taking over as manager, Huckle replied “To be completely honest, naturally any job you take, whether it’s a player, coach or manager, is challenging.

“I inherited a side that the old manager had managed for a very long time, so I knew there was some work here that needed to be done and the boys weren’t happy where they were in the division.

“It’s about picking up enough points to sustain us and build in pre-season, which I believe we’re still on track to do.

“Management has it’s challenges, it has its ups and it has it downs but it’s a terrific club to be at. The support you get behind the scenes, the players’ will run through a brick wall for you.  As a whole club it’s very, very positive and I’ve no doubt once we secure safety, we’ll kick on.

“Our mindset in there is not worrying about Welling Town, Rusthall, Stansfeld. It’s very easy to have an eye on their results but we can only do what we can do in that changing room.  It isn’t over until it’s over, so we know we need to attach those last two games. They are two cup finals for us.

“I have no doubt the boys that I have put together will give me absolutely everything, that is all I can ask and I have full belief that we will do what they have to do to get the job done for the club.”

Bearsted: Frankie Leonard, Marvin Okundalaiye (Jordan Tingley 65), Conrad Lee (Dennis Agbudume 77), Jack Palmby (Adam Turton 27), Phillip Headley, Callum McCarthy, Nathan Palmer (Robbie Roberts 61), Jacob Kalonda, Ollie Freeman, Eniola Hassan (Malachi Hudson 65), Dieko Falade.

Goals: Dieko Falade 21, Malachi Hudson 70

Booked: Jacob Kalonda 48, Ollie Freeman 90

Sutton Athletic: Toby Waller, Lewis McIntyre (Conor Cheek 60), Callum Gallie, Dolapo Oladipupo (Alfie Hawkins 46), Sam Huckle, Fraser Daniels, Emmanuel Oduguwa (Simon Kabamba 60), Simon Walton (Tiwatayo Hamzat 77), Marcel Brown, Daniel Emmanuel (Shaun Omogbai 77), England Kurti.

Booked: Dolapo Oladipupo 37, England Kurti 81

Attendance: 64
Referee: Mr Stephen Hughes
Assistants: Mr Simon Jackson & Mr Kevin Greenhead
Observer:  Mr John Paton