Beckenham Town 1-0 Sittingbourne - I've set myself and the team some targets and we will hit them, insists Sittingbourne boss Ryan Maxwell

Beckenham Town 1 – 0 Sittingbourne
Location	Eden Park Avenue, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3JL
Kickoff	28/01/2023 14:00

BECKENHAM TOWN  1-0  SITTINGBOURNE
Isthmian League South East Division
Saturday 28 January 2023
Stephen McCartney reports from Eden Park Avenue

SITTINGBOURNE manager Ryan Maxwell says he knows how to fix things after experiencing his first defeat in charge of the relegation threatened club.

This was the Belfast born Maxwell’s third game in charge of the Brickies, having come away from then leaders Ramsgate with a 1-1 draw before beating VCD Athletic 3-0 in midweek.

A lacklustre Beckenham Town snatched the victory courtesy of striker Louie Theophanous notching his nineteenth goal of the season following a set-piece with 20 minutes remaining.

Chatham Town came away from seventh-placed Ashford United with a 4-1 win so leapfrog over Ramsgate (who lost 2-0 at Three Bridges in the other two o’clock kick-off) to reach the summit of the Isthmian League South East Division table with 48 points from their 22 games.

Ramsgate (46 points from 23 games), Beckenham Town (44 points from 22 games), Cray Valley (39 points from 21 games) and Sheppey United (37 points from 23 games) are in the play-off zone.

Faversham Town - who suffered a 3-0 home defeat to Beckenham Town in midweek - were without a game today and Sammy Moore’s side are rooted to the foot of the table with nine points from 22 games, and Corinthian (who held Sheppey United to a 1-1 draw today) are also in the drop zone on 17 points from 22 games.

Sittingbourne remain third-from-bottom on 21 points from 22 games and are joined in the relegation play-off zone by East Grinstead Town (23 points from 20 games), while Burgess Hill Town are currently safe with 24 points from 21.

“I didn’t think we got what we deserved.  If you’re a neutral, I think we were the better side, not by a huge margin but certainly the ball was in their box a lot more than ours,” said a disappointed Maxwell.

“I thought second half we were actually pretty good and I was pretty pleased with the performance second half.

“The performance wise, I’m pleased because the three fixtures when I came in, three away games, one to Ramsgate, top of the league, VCD sitting tenth and here today sitting third.  We’d probably lucky looking to get a point, I suppose but we’ve got four out of the nine.

“It’s disappointing today, we definitely deserved at least a point but you don’t always get what you deserve.  I’m reasonably pleased with the performance but I’m not happy with the way we conceded the goal.”

Beckenham Town assistant manager Phil Wilson admitted: “Not a pretty game to watch.  I was glad when the whistle went!  I thought we looked quite defensively assured.

“Youssouf Bamba was a little bit of a problem but you expect that from a player of that quality but overall I think we stood well.

“We probably shaded it over the 90 minutes and yes it was going to be a goal like that from a set-piece because there was just no life in the pitch so it was hard to get the ball moving today.”

Beckenham Town turned from defence into attack, creating their first opening after only 62 seconds.

Sittingbourne kicked-off and central midfielder Matthew Attenborough-Warren hit a long ball into the left-channel and a poor backward header from Beckenham Town’s holding midfielder Nick Curran went behind for the first of eight Sittingbourne corners.

Correy Davidson swung the ball in from the left, the ball was cleared out and Aaron Eyoma recycled the ball back into the box from within the right channel and Beckenham goalkeeper Damian Niemczycki plucked the ball out of the air at his near post.

Jason Huntley’s men swiftly broke up field and Jamarie Brissett’s through ball released left-winger Steven Townsend, who cut inside and cracked a right-footed drive towards goal from 20-yards, forcing Sittingbourne’s on-loan goalkeeper Harley Earle to dive to his left to push the ball behind for the first of three corners.

Wilson said: “It was a quick game. It was kind of end-to-end for the first five to 10 minutes but you know magic (Brissett) he’s got that quality to pick a good pass out and it’s a trademark Steve Townsend move but a good save from the keeper.”

Maxwell added: “Harley wasn’t overly busy today for a team that were at home.  I don’t think they posed an awful lot of threat.

“Harley’s done fantastic, a young kid, just 19 but (National League side) Maidstone United have got a little prospect there and I was pleased with his performance again today.”

Sittingbourne should have taken the lead inside the opening seven minutes.

Davidson’s left-footed free-kick on the right wing was on the money and centre-half Joe Tyrie found a pocket of space inside the box and steered his free header bouncing against the crossbar.

“If I’m honest, he should score, he should score! It’s a free header, he should score there,” admitted Maxwell.

“I’m not going to be too harsh on him. He’s a young man, scored on his debut, he's not a striker but what I will say is he should score and no doubt in the future he will score those.”

Wilson was quick to praise Davidson’s quality ball in with his left-foot from set-pieces.

“Probably one of the best deliveries of the ball I’ve seen. I thought his set-pieces looked dangerous.  Mudiaga (Wanogho) and Rob (Carter) did well after that.  The ball was hit in a good area and it’s easier to go and attack the ball than defend it and it was a good chance.”

Beckenham Town’s left-back Archie Johnson’s second corner came in poorly from the left and Sittingbourne’s right-back Donvieve Jones headed the ball away and Curran rushed onto the loose ball and sliced his first time shot harmlessly wide of the goal from 22-yards.

Harvey Brand threw the ball to Stefan Cox and the Beckenham Town right-winger whipped in a quality left-footed delivery from the right towards the back post but Townsend steered his free header past the near post from a tight angle.

“Steve didn’t read the ball, perhaps well enough. It’s not something Steve’s known for, his heading ability. It was probably a chance at first, even when the ball went in, I wasn’t sure it was going to come of anything but actually it ended up being a good chance squandered,” added Wilson.

Beckenham Town produced some patient play and missed a glorious chance to smash the deadlock in the 29^th minute.

Centre-half Robert Carter fed a 20-yard pass into Cox, who skipped past Chaynie Fage-Burgin before cutting inside Warren before slipping a through ball into Theophanous down the heart of the pitch.

The striker took a touch before stroking a left-footed shot straight at Earle from 15-yards.

“You expect Louie to work the goalkeeper a little bit more.  As I said the other day, he’s in and out at the moment (due to the birth of his son), so he’s probably not as sharp as he wants to be and it was his first chance of the game.  I think you want to make the keeper work a bit more,” added Wilson.

Maxwell added: “You expect them to have some chances but without being really under the cosh or being too worried about it.  I didn’t feel that worried if I’m honest and we were good value certainly for the clean-sheet at half-time.”

Sittingbourne’s holding midfielder Abdul-Haq Osman rode a challenge from Beckenham centre-half Mudiaga Wanogho inside the Brickies’ half before releasing the lightening quick Youssouf Bamba down the right but the winger cut inside and powerfully drilled a right-footed drive over the crossbar from just inside the box.

“Bamba’s very, very good at this level, he’s potentially as good as it gets one-v-one,” said Maxwell.

“I’ve still got work to do with him. He’s open to it. I’ve said to him I can improve him by 10-15%, which he wants to do.  That’s why he’s still here because I had decisions to make when I got in and he’s one that I wanted to work with and he can beat a man, like he’s not there.”

Sittingbourne are a well-organised outfit and Beckenham Town found them to be a hard nut to crack.  It wasn’t evident which side were third and one fighting for their lives at the wrong end of the table.

“We’ve just done what me and my staff do, which is get a structure in, get a work ethic and other things, some additions as well, better players obviously helps,” explained Maxwell, when asked what he has brought to the club since his arrival on 7 January.

“We basically made the club a lot more professional. We train twice a week now for starters.  I mean training once a week wasn’t going to work for me. I wouldn’t have came in if it was one night a week format, so we’ve done that so players’ are slightly fitter now because it’s hard to gain fitness in a couple of weeks but they are now slightly fitter.

“They conceded that they weren’t too sure what they were doing previously. We’re not off the cuff now. We have a plan and a way of playing but ultimately the boys are still getting to know each other. 

“There’s five players I’ve signed so it’s half a team and they will only get better and I will eradicate, with my staff, the way of which we conceded the goal today because it was also the way we conceded the goal at Ramsgate, so I know that has to be erased and it will be.”

Wilson added: “You can see Ryan’s got them very well-organised. I think at half-time they were probably quite happy with the way it went.  We were a little bit disappointed with our quality at times.

“We didn’t really get going in the first half, to be fair, the whole game.  We haven’t really created enough chances but I think it was two organised teams and it was going to be a set-piece or something like that, that was going to win the game.”

Brand, who has five goals as a right-back, floated in a cross towards the edge of the Sittingbourne box and Curran rose and looped a header which was comfortably caught by the untroubled Sittingbourne goalkeeper.

Sittingbourne went close to taking the lead on the stroke of half-time.

Davidson threw the ball in from the right, targetman Fage-Burgin flicked the ball on in the box and Warren took a touch before Fage-Burgin’s shot on the turn from the edge of the six-yard box forced Niemczycki to bend down at ankle height to make the stop beside his near post.

“I thought Chaynie was very good today in his all-round game but ultimately he wasn’t sharp enough in front of the box mentally. He certainly wasn’t making first contact enough for me for a guy of his abilities,” said Maxwell.

“He is a real handful and I think we’ve shown that again. He’s still finding his fitness. We wasn’t starting at (Isthmian Premier side) Haringey Borough.  This is his third consecutive start and I think he was feeling slightly leggy so the best is yet to come and that’s why he wasn’t quite getting there.

“He had a fantastic chance second half with the header. I don’t know how he’s headed it wide. He’s missed a huge chance there.”

Wilson added: “I wouldn’t expect him to be beaten near stick there. It was a good block.  He wouldn’t have been able to do much more with it. 

“If we were limiting them to chances from tight angles like that, they’re going to have shots in the game, if that’s what they’re limited to, it’s not the end of the world.”

Niemczycki is on loan from National League South side Braintree Town while Nick Blue recovers from an operation.

“Damian’s a big lad, he’s reassuring to have at the back. He’s not been particularly busy in his first two games but he’s switched on. He does what he needs to do when he does.  National South is a league where everything is set-up a little bit more, a lot of organisation and at times possibly want him to play a little bit quicker with the ball but he’s got to adapt to the level but he’s a quality goalkeeper and a great back-up for Bluey.”

At half-time, Wilson said: “We talked about the quality on the ball. With the way the pitch was we needed to play areas more than people. We wanted to get down the sides a little bit more.  We didn’t really get the wingers in the game today but I think that’s testament to how they set up.  They were difficult to beat.

“It was just keep going, when we get opportunities, set-pieces, make sure we set up properly and follow the ones we’re meant to do rather than be a little bit off the cuff, which they did a couple of times in the first half but it was very much just be a bit more direct into those areas.”

Maxwell added: “To be honest with you mate, I was reasonably pleased, reasonably pleased baring in mind where they sit in the league and where we sit in the league currently.

“To play as well as we had done, without being fantastic, it was pretty close first half.  I kept them upbeat but warned them don’t switch off ultimately.”

Both sides cancelled each other out during most of the second half, as players struggled on a heavy pitch and it’s a very rare experience when managers complain about the pitch at Eden Park Avenue, which is normally so pristine you could play top-flight football on it.

Wilson said: “I think it’s taken a bit of a battering over the winter.  We’ve had more games called off at home than we’ve liked and you can see the ball barely bounced on it. It’s a tough pitch to play on at the moment.”

The first real clear-cut chance came Sittingbourne’s way, halfway through the second half.

Bamba played the ball into Eyoma, who sprinted down the left and ignored left-back Bagusan Graham on the overlap and decided to unleash a low left-footed angled drive, which was comfortably held by Niemczycki to prevent the drive nestling inside the bottom near corner.

Maxwell said: “Aaron was the best footballer on the pitch today.  In possession he was outstanding, very rarely gives it away, beats a man, sees a pass, never panics and I think that was a big ask for him playing on that pitch, big, heavy, heavy pitch after playing on Tuesday and he is really not match fit so getting the best out of Aaron is yet to come.”

A sign of a good team, they say, is when they play poorly and grind out a win – and that is exactly what Beckenham Town did today.

They snatched the victory with 24 minutes and 18 seconds on the clock, following a set-piece and poor Sittingbourne defending.

Fage-Burgin was late on Curran and Johnson whipped in a left-footed free-kick from the right.

Fage-Burgin jumped inside his penalty area and powered a header towards his own goal and Theophanous pounced and brought the ball under control before smashing a left-footed half-volley past the pressing goalkeeper into the bottom near corner from six-yards out.

Wilson said: “Louie’s not going to miss in the six-yard box.  I think they had an opportunity to clear it and didn’t and we had a few players around the ball.  If Louie can get his body in the way, no ones’s going to get around him and on the half-turn, there’s only going to be one outcome, I think.”

The 30-year-old match winner cut an often frustrated figure for most of the game, however, especially as Carter’s intended long balls out of defence proved to be meat and drink for Pont, Tyrie and Earle.

Wilson said: “First half we kept going out to Rob Carter and then expecting him to play that ball.  I think it got a little bit too repetitive, easy to read.  We needed to change that up a little bit more and be a bit more patient, I think, at times.”

Maxwell said: “Ultimately, it’s cost us. First of all it’s not a free-kick but the fact is it was given and I expect us to defend it better. 

“The second ball has dropped to their striker and I don’t know how he’s got a shot off. I did pre-warn the two centre-halves at half-time, you’ve only had done a job and you need to stay switched on because he’s the type of experienced striker who will score two if you take your eye off him.  I don’t want to take any pleasure being right in that but that’s what happened.”

“I mean good forwards need being watched until the game is over, it’s as simple as that and we didn’t.

“It’s a lesson for the young centre-half. Joe (Tyrie) had him second phase. It was a lesson, it’s a costly one and I hope that he’s better for it because you just can’t switch off ever and it’s a costly lesson but I’m sure he will learn from that.”

Sittingbourne then enjoyed plenty of possession as they went in search of a point that they deserved.

Bamba whipped in a cross from the right towards the unmarked Fage-Burgin, who glanced his header across goal and harmlessly wide from a good position shortly after playing a big part in Beckenham’s clincher.

Wilson added: “I think that was a real wake-up call for us. We were camped out towards the end of the game, a little bit more composure when we’re trying to clear it, again the heavy pitch doesn’t help.  You understand why they were trying to get it out to Bamba, he was a threat all game so we’ve done well not to concede from him.”

Centre-half Harrison Pont played the ball up and Wanogho failed to clear his lines properly on the edge of his box and was relieved when the impressive Bamba took a touch before dragging his right-footed shot across the keeper and harmlessly past the far post.

Beckenham Town held firm for the remaining 17 minutes of the game, with Carter leading by example with the captains armband at the heart of their defence, alongside Wanogho.

“We’re very hard to beat but actually when the conditions don’t suit, we’re still able to roll our sleeves up and grind performances and results out like that," said Wilson.

“The back four were absolutely solid today.  Rob and Mudiaga have created a great partnership this year.  Everyone’s adapted to the level really well, as the league table shows and sometimes you just have to accept you’re not going to be able to play the style of football you want.  You have to swallow your pride a bit and be a bit ugly at times.”

Beckenham Town suffered a 3-0 defeat at Chatham Town last weekend but have now sealed back-to-back wins and back-to-back clean-sheets and welcome the new league leaders to Eden Park Avenue on Tuesday night.

“I think it’s good that it’s come round quickly. The result aside it was disappointing and the nature of the result, losing from three set-pieces, so the boys were disappointed with themselves last Saturday, so it’s good that it’s come around quickly because they’ve got a bit between their teeth for that game, so I think we’ll be a bit more of a challenge for them than last Saturday.

“Now we are where we are, we’ve got to set the target of being in the play-offs at the end of the season and that will be success.  This season has been a success, when you look at where the club’s come from.

“We’re here now, so we want to give it a good go.  We’ll be disappointed if we’re not in the play-off positions at the end of the season.”

Sittingbourne, meanwhile, perform statistically better on the road than at Woodstock Park and welcome ninth-placed Sevenoaks Town there next Saturday.

“I’m not panicking. I know how to fix things. We will fix it,” insisted Maxwell.

“I’ve got honest boys in there, they really are.  They’ve brought into everything, the results or the performances wouldn’t have changed if they hadn’t have brought into it.

“I know we will take this one on the chin. It will hurt, rightly so, we deserved a point but you don’t always get what you deserve in a 90 minute piece.  You do in the long run through over a period of time so I’m sure there will be a game like this in the future where we weren’t slightly the better side but we’ve come away with the three points and that’s the nature of football.

“I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I’m really looking forward to the home game.

“We would’ve liked to have got a win today obviously but we’ve got two training sessions and maybe even a new face, who knows.

“It’s quite a big day afterwards. I’ve got an open meeting with the fans and the management and staff so I’m looking forward to that.  I want to get to know people here and make sure they feel apart of the club but I want to do that hopefully after a win. Take care of business first and hopefully a jovial afternoon afterwards.”

The Northern Irishman is keen to climb away from the relegation picture in their final 16 league outings and on today’s performance they are more than likely of getting out of trouble.

“I can tell you, we won’t be amongst that but it’s more of a case of game-by-game, where can it takes us?  I’ve set myself and the team some targets. We will hit them and if I told you what they were, that would be the million dollar question but the players’ know and that’s why we’re going to be working to a floor until we get there.”

Reflecting on the vocal noise coming from the travelling supporters, Maxwell replied: “I don’t know how many there were today but it sounded like 150.  I’m sure there wasn’t that many here but they are so consistently vocal throughout the game and the players are lucky, they really are.  They are regarded as the best fans’ in the league and we really, really appreciate all of their support.”

Beckenham Town: Damian Niemczycki, Harvey Brand, Archie Johnson, Nick Curran (Freddie Nyhus 66), Mudiaga Wanogho, Robert Carter, Steven Townsend, Freddie Cray, Louie Theophanous, Jamarie Brissett (Danny Waldren 85), Stefan Cox (Alfie Bloomfield 81).
Subs: Henry Griffin, George Goodwin

Goal: Louie Theophanous 70

Booked: Alfie Bloomfield 90

Sittingbourne: Harley Earle, Donvieve Jones, Bagusan Graham, Abdul-Haq Osman (Ekow Owusu-Boakye 75), Harrison Pont, Joe Tyrie, Correy Davidson (Gael Kileba 81), Matthew Attenborough-Warren, Chaynie Fage-Burgin, Aaron Eyoma (James Dyer 84), Youssouf Bamba.
Subs: Tom Hanfrey, Billy Horley

Booked: Donvieve Jones 88, Joe Tyrie 90, Chaynie Fage-Burgin 90

Attendance: 285
Referee: Mr Peter Dingle
Assistants: Mr Sobastian Frazer & Mr Ben Wilkinson