Beckenham Town 2-5 Sporting Bengal - My worst result in football, admits shell-shocked Jason Huntley

Tuesday 19th October 2010

BECKENHAM TOWN 2-5 SPORTING BENGAL UNITED
Safety Net Associates Kent League
Tuesday 19th October 2010
Stephen McCartney reports from Eden Park Avenue

SHELL-SHOCKED Beckenham Town boss Jason Huntley locked his players inside the dressing room for thirty minutes after their humiliating home defeat to whipping boys Sporting Bengal United at a sparse Eden Park Avenue tonight.

The downpour before kick-off put a lot of supporters off from watching this top-versus-bottom Kent League clash and they made the right decision to stay away as Beckenham put in a woeful performance against a Sporting Bengal side that were rooted to the foot of the table with ZERO points from seven games.

The Kent League’s most amateurish side turned up at Eden Park Avenue within 30 minutes before kick-off, changed into their aluminous yellow shirts and then played Beckenham off the pitch.

Huntley emerged from his stunned dressing room and told www.kentishfootball.co.uk that his players’ attitudes were “scandalous.”

“I will say they deserved it,” he said. “They wanted it more than us. I don’t include my goalkeeper, who was thrown in at the deep end tonight, the other ten players showed no heart or desire to win the game.”

With Nick Blue ruled out nursing a thigh injury, seventeen-year-old Jack Carthy was handed his debut and was beaten by a fine hat-trick from diminutive striker Safron Patel, with Prince Pippim and
Vassell Sopylyusu ensuring it was a night to forget for the Kent club.

When asked what he was telling his players following their NIGHT OF SHAME, Huntley replied: “I told everyone, I want them to tell me where they felt it went wrong. I said I can tell you where it went wrong, but I want to see if they can admit and be grown up enough to let me know that they were wrong tonight.

“I know exactly what they’ve done, they turned up thinking Sporting Bengal are bottom of the league, it’s an easy three points and you score as many goals as you want. That don’t happen in any football, not when you go with that attitude.”

Beckenham’s attitude was disgusting. Two of their players Ibrahim Fusini and Allie Jaward failed to turn up and will face Huntley’s wrath at training on Thursday night.

“We had a couple of boys that didn’t even turn up tonight, which I’m not happy about,” fumed Huntley.

“Both were down to be playing tonight and they both didn’t even turn up so we’ll have to speak to them and decide what we’re going to do, whether they go or give them a chance, I don’t know. I’m not even thinking about that at the moment.

“I said that our attitude was wrong from when we got here - it’s scandalous - at this level of football, if you don’t want to play football on a Tuesday night.”

The East London visitors arrived on the back of a 7-1 defeat at Tunbridge Wells at the weekend, but no-one would have predicted what was to follow during the 90 minutes at a chilly Eden Park Avenue.

Diminutive goalkeeper Shamimur Zaman was to play a part in their first league win of the season as he made several good saves.

Beckenham were awarded an eleventh minute penalty after Quentin Conteh was sent sprawling to the ground, but Zaman dived to his left to block Steve McNamara’s left-footed penalty.

“It was a very good save to be fair,” added Huntley. “The keeper chose the right way, pulled off a save. If that goes in early doors it could’ve opened the floodgates and it could’ve been a different game but all credit to them, they came with their game plan, their keeper’s only little but he pulled off some great saves to be fair to him.”

Before that though, Sporting Bengal issued Beckenham a warning of what was to come when Louis Anton cut in from the left and smashed a shot narrowly past Carthy’s near post.

Anton then floated a free-kick towards the far post and skipper Aaron Hutchins came up from the back to glance a header into Carthy’s arms.

Patel squandered an excellent chance when he picked the ball up down the inside left-channel and dragged his shot past the far post - before he stunned the home side as Sporting Bengal took a 23rd minute lead.

Sopylyusu played in the tricky striker in the same area as his first chance but this time he drove his shot across Carthy and into the bottom far corner to spark pandemonium from the players in bright yellow.

Beckenham should have levelled inside two minutes when Conteh cut the ball back to Gary Gorman but the striker lashed his shot against the top of the near post when well placed.

Sporting Bengal attacked in numbers throughout and they simply tucked away the chances that came their way, as Beckenham, at times, played like headless chickens.

The visitors’ broke away and it was that man Patel that was denied by a smart save from Carthy, before he set up their second goal after 34 minutes.

Patel played in Prince Pippin, who still had a lot of work to do as last defender Danny Gorman was snapping away at his heels, but a good piece of fortune for him saw Gorman stumble over inside the box and the striker gleefully swept his shot into the bottom far corner and Gorman faced the wrath of Huntley from the sidelines.

Beckenham pulled a goal back six minutes before the break when skipper Nick Curran floated in a free-kick from the inside left-channel and Danny Lawson looped his header across the keeper and into the far corner.

But last man Zaman prevented the home side going into the break on level terms when he made a fine block to thwart Conteh after McNamara sent the ball straight down the middle of the pitch.

Both Gorman brothers called Zaman into action early in the second half - defender Danny ambitiously trying to beat the keeper from 40-yards and striker Gary scuffing a weak shot towards goal after cutting inside substitute Loise Adjei inside the box.

Sporting Bengal raced into a 3-1 lead after 61 minutes when Sopylyusu released Pippim through on goal, who won a foot race with defender Chris Hill. Although a heavy touch from the striker allowed goalkeeper Carthy to smother the ball at the striker’s feet, Pippim retrieved the loose ball and cut the ball back to Patel, who smashed a right-footed shot into the corner, despite Hill’s gallant attempts on the goal-line to nod the ball away.

Man-of-the-Match Patel scored his hat-trick in the 72nd minute.

Anton sent over a cross from the right and Patel left Danny Lawson gaping at thin air as he jumped and sent a looping header over Carthy’s head, dropping in just underneath the crossbar.

Patel tried to score an ambitious fourth from distance, but his drifting shot was caught by the Beckenham keeper.

Beckenham went close to pulling a goal back when Lawson met McNamara’s in-swinging corner from the right with a bullet header, which only just cleared the crossbar.

Sporting Bengal wrapped up their famous night with a fifth goal ten seconds into time added on, by finishing off a fine breakaway move.

Right-back Abdul Bari released Patel down the right flank and he drilled a low centre across the face of goal for Sopylyusu, who was left unmarked at the far post after ghosting into the penalty area and the midfielder smashed the ball into the roof of the net from close range.

Carthy denied the visitors a sixth goal when he made a fine block to thwart Pippim after Patel turned provider.

Beckenham scored a flattering second with the last kick of the game, as Gary Gorman scored his ninth goal of the season.

The ball got stuck underneath his feet in a penalty box scramble, but the former Orpington striker bundled the ball into the bottom far corner.

It was considerate of Huntley to take seven minutes out to talk about the club’s most humiliating night for a very long time, before heading off to a clubhouse without any supporters, who swiftly headed home in a state of disbelief.

Huntley bemoaned: “I don’t even put it down as a bad day at the office because you can’t carry 10 players in a football team and that’s what we’ve done tonight. We had 10 players out there that didn’t try.”

Condemning his side’s pre-match preparation, Huntley fumed, “My players were sitting in the changing room. I blame my coach and I’ve had a word with him. He should’ve approached this game like any other game, they should’ve been out on the training pitch like they are every Saturday 40 minutes before the game, not go out there a quarter-an-hour before the game and have a little warm-up because the other team ain’t here.

“They turn up, they literally put their kit on and gave us a football lesson as far as I’m concerned. That weren’t good enough!”

Huntley added: “It’s probably one of the worst results in football I’ve ever had and that’s the truth of it and it’s probably one off the worst results in Kent League football.

“They’re bottom of the league - but on that performance I didn’t see how they are!

“All you can ask players to do is to give 100% and try and they were a much better footballing side than us!”

Despite ending their run of six straight wins, Huntley was full of praise for Patel.

“He was the best player on the pitch tonight, dangerous, fast and finished his goals extremely well,” he said.

The rest of the Kent League must be laughing over tonight’s humiliating result and Huntley admitted his title rivals would not put in such a shocking display against a side you can’t even describe as a pub side as they immediately left the ground with a tray full of sandwiches rather than enjoying Beckenham’s post-match hospitality.

“To win this league you’ve got to win your home games and you pick up points away,” explained Huntley.

“You certainly got to win your home games against bottom-of-the-league teams.

“All the top teams in this league, they won’t get beat like we did tonight. They’re a lot more professional than us. We’ve got too many people in this team that can’t be told. They’re alright when everything’s going good but when it’s going bad we’ve got no-one who roll their sleeves up.”

Beckenham Town: Jack Carthy, Danny Lawson, Steve McNamara, Chris Hill, Danny Gorman, Durrand Jemmott (Nathan Paul 69), Danny McKone, Nick Curran, Quentin Conteh, Gary Gorman, Anthony Weir.
Subs: Jason Cook, Jason Clews, Steve Hanlon, Darren Wise.

Goals: Danny Lawson 39, Gary Gorman 90

Sporting Bengal United: Shamimur Zaman, Abdul Bari, Liton Zaman (Loise Adjei 46), Aaron Hutchins, Shah Mashud, Louis Anton, Sam Cashmen (Justin Zackaria 77), Nana Adjei (Fillipli Anzallio 82), Prince Pippim, Saffron Patel, Vassell Sopylyusu.
Subs: Ashraf Ameer, Jamie Myers.

Goals: Safron Patel 23, 61, 72, Prince Pippim 34, Vassell Sopylyusu 90

Booked: Nana Adjei 65

Attendance: 42
Referee: Mr Martin Peck (West Malling)
Assistants: Mr Martin Cook (Sidcup) & Mr Gerry Heron (Beckenham)