Chislehurst Glebe 2-3 Phoenix Sports - If I'm doing my job properly, I'll keep it. If I'm not good enough then he'll just get rid of me, says Chislehurst Glebe manager Dan Lawrence

Chislehurst Glebe 2 – 3 Phoenix Sports
Location	Foxbury Avenue, off Perry Street, Chislehurst, Kent BR7 6SD
Kickoff	08/08/2025 19:45

CHISLEHURST GLEBE  2-3  PHOENIX SPORTS
Presence & Co Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division
Friday 8 August 2025
Stephen McCartney reports from Foxbury Avenue

CHISLEHURST GLEBE manager Dan Lawrence says his players need to be better in both boxes after starting his tenure with back-to-back league defeats.

The Foxes are pointless within the bottom three in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table after losing 2-1 at Kennington on opening day, but they did beat newly-promoted side Faversham Strike Force 4-0 in The FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round last weekend.

Relegated side Phoenix Sports have climbed up to eighth-place, having opened with a 1-0 defeat at Hollands & Blair and lost 3-0 at home to Leatherhead in last Monday’s FA Cup Replay, after a 2-2 draw.

A crowd of 210 witnessed a poor quality local derby at Foxbury Avenue, which has had £1.6m worth of ground improvements made during the summer and the newly-laid artificial pitch no longer has a slope.

Phoenix Sports took the lead after only 157 seconds through attacking midfielder Dominic Morgan Griffiths tucking home, following their first of five corners.

The first half was poor quality, flat, lacked tempo and both sides cancelled each other out, as Phoenix Sports went on to seal a flattering 3-2 victory.

Jake Goodman, 32, a dominant centre-half headed Phoenix Sports into a two-nil lead to score his second of the campaign, before Chislehurst Glebe scored twice in 55 seconds to restore parity, a sublime free-kick from French central midfielder Thibault Abie and an emphatic finish from talisman striker Jamie Philpot, 28, scoring his fourth goal of the season.

However, Phoenix Sports grabbed the victory through a counter-attacking goal finished off by 34-year-old Portuguese born striker Jerson Dos Santos.

“Tough one to take really. I thought we were ok, without being brilliant and when you’re 2-0 down and bring it back to two-all, you get stuck between do you go for the 3-2 and try to win it, which we did and we just got caught on the counter-attack,” said Lawrence.

“A little bit naïve really, so frustrating but there’s positives but really frustrating to lose.

“Quality in both boxes (was missing).  We were aware of their threats at set-pieces. There’s one man (Goodman) that they’re going to aim for. We worked on it in training. We knew what they were going to do, didn’t defend well enough and in their box first half we had one shot from 35-yards, loads of possession but didn’t put the ball in their box, didn’t make them defend and if you don’t have quality in both boxes, you won’t win games of football.”

Phoenix Sports christened the new facilities by taking the lead with their first attempt on goal.

Central midfielder Lyle Della-Verde floated a deep corner from the right and Goodman rose at the back stick to knock his header back across goal towards the other post and Morgan Griffiths poked his right-footed volley into the bottom right-hand corner from a couple of yards.

“It’s something that we set out, for a fresh start. It’s our third game in a week, so I said to the boys ‘I wanted to start quickly, I wanted to be 1-0 up inside 10 minutes’ and the opposite happens,” said Lawrence, 38.

“We talked about the set-piece threat that we’ve worked on and we talked about defending our box and we challenged for the first one but the second phase wasn’t good enough and it’s a tap-in, really not good enough.”

Both sides failed to produce any tempo and Chislehurst Glebe’s first opening also came from a set-piece in the 17^th minute.

Abie floated a deep free-kick from the right, the ball was cleared away by combative Phoenix Sports’ right-back Jerald Aboagye and the ball fell at centre-half Ryan Green, who lacked composure and cracked his right-footed half-volley over the crossbar from six-yards.

Chislehurst Glebe’s first of four corners was taken short by winger Muhammed Cham and Philpott ran along the by-line before cutting the ball back for centre-half Joe Nelder to lash his first-time left-footed volley over the crossbar.

“Set-pieces is something that we do work on. We had a short corner that we worked really well.  Again, we’ve got to hit the target,” said Lawrence, the former Canterbury City manager.

“I think today there were a lot of balls that bounced around the box and that we didn’t have enough quality in both boxes.”

Darren Anslow’s side were guilty of a glaring miss in the 21^st minute, which should have given them a two-goal advantage.

Della-Verde released left-winger Will Efambe, who released left-back Ahkeem Belford on the overlap and he cut the ball back to Dos Santos, who lacked composure inside the box and dinked his shot straight at Nathan Edwards, who saved comfortably low to his left.

“First half we had the majority of the ball. We looked really good and their only output was the counter-attack and we got caught big time overloading and that was their threat and they should’ve gone 2-0 up. We got out of jail with that one,” admitted Lawrence.

“We were quite wary of what they were trying to do. We’re a young group, we’re a new group and sometimes it’s just a little bit of naivety. We’re exciting going forward but we’ve got to stop those counter-attacks.”

Chislehurst Glebe were dominating possession but they lacked the quality to create any real clear-cut goalscoring opportunities.

When asked about the poor quality on show from both sides, Lawrence replied “The quality, us or them or both? 

“Yes, I thought we had a lot of the ball. Some of our patterns were really good. We got the ball into the half spaces, which we work on. We got our wingers one-on-one.  As I said, when we got into areas we didn’t ask questions of them.  We didn’t make them defend, not enough crosses, not enough shots.

“From their point of view, they’ve obviously got some good players, very dangerous, quite quick in transition and I think that was their route to goal.

“I don’t think they’ll be happy with how they played but they’ll be very happy with the three points.”

Belford played the ball inside from within the left channel into Efame, who drilled a right-footed angled drive from 30-yards, which bounced off Edwards’ chest and the Foxes goalkeeper gathered at the second attempt at his near-post.

Lawrence demanded a vastly-improved performance from his side, who played like 11 individuals during the first half.

“If you don’t ask teams to defend, you won’t score goals, so we had a lot of possession but I think we had maybe one, two shots in total in the first half, so the second half was all about crossing, shots, more end product.

“We’ve got very good wingers, we’ve got very good forward players but if you’re not shooting and crossing, you won’t score goals.”

Phoenix Sports created the first opening of the second half when Aboagye played the ball along the deck inside to Della-Verde, who cracked a right-footed rasping drive towards goal from 25-yards, which was comfortably caught at head height by Edwards in the 50^th minute.

Visiting goalkeeper Sam Freeman’s poor clearance was helped on by holding midfielder Harry Barnes, who lost the ball to a pressing Ryan Kelly and his left-footed chip from 30-yards sailed over the crossbar. Anslow barked “not good enough!” and everyone attending this ninth-tier game agreed.

Philpot’s run forward was stopped by Phoenix centre-half Jensen Grant, whose clearance rolled towards winger Cham, who rolled a woeful right-footed shot harmlessly past the far post from 25-yards as this dire game approached the hour-mark.

“I think we were knocking on the door second half and I felt like a goal was coming,” said Lawrence.

“That’s why we didn’t make any changes or anything because I thought we was building momentum.”

Philpot dropped deep and dinked a 35-yard shot sailing narrowly over the top right-hand corner in the 65^th minute, as Freeman tried to claw the ball away high to his left.

A free-kick from the left from Khavarn Williams fell at Cham’s feet at the far post and he drilled a low right-footed drive towards the bottom far corner, only for Freeman to make a big save with his right leg.

“A shot across goal. It could’ve been a cross, it could’ve been a shot. At half-time we said to the boys ‘you’ve got to have more shots, more crosses, so at least he’s taking the information on board. We just need to have a bit more quality,” added Lawrence.

Phoenix Sports grabbed their second goal of the night following their final corner, timed at 22 minutes and 51 seconds on the clock.

Morgan Griffiths floated the ball in from the left and Goodman called out his name before burying a towering header hanging across the keeper and into the bottom far corner.

“Another set-piece and a bit of a sucker punch made it 2-0 but what I will say is the boys showed tremendous character at 2-0 not to just jack it in, they kept going,” said Lawrence.

“There’s no question he’s (Goodman) very good in the air and that’s clearly their target but as I said to you, we had them watched. We knew exactly what they’re about. We worked on it.  We spoke about it before the game. We spoke about it after the warm-up so for him to set up the first and score the second is really disappointing from our point of view.”

Chislehurst Glebe showed desire to fight their way back into the game and Verde was cautioned by referee Paul Agyei-Tabi for bringing down Foxes’ right-back Harry Maher.

Goalkeeper Sam Freeman lined up a three-man wall but Abie’s sublime right-footed free-kick from 25-yards flew over the wall and flew into the top right-hand corner, as Chislehurst Glebe pulled a goal back with 27 minutes and 40 seconds on the clock.

Lawrence said: “He’s a great ball striker. He’s a talented passer of the ball. He’s still young, he’s still learning and he’s going to get better but there’s times when he’s got to simplify things a little bit.

“But take nothing away from the free-kick, it’s a great strike and he deserved his goal. He played well tonight.”

However, the Foxes were level just 55 seconds later when Philpott cracked an emphatic right-footed drive screaming into the roof of the net from 25-yards, which gave Freeman no chance.

“It’s what he’s about, he’s a poacher, he can finish from outside the box. It’s why we talked about getting the ball in the box because when you’ve got someone like that in there, you’re going to score goals,” said Lawrence.

“I think he took a long shot just before that, that no one saw coming that just went over. When you’ve got a Jamie Philpot in your side, you’re going to get the ball in there when you can because that’s what he’s about.

“It’s funny, when I joined I asked him what was his record was for goals in a season and he told me 42, so I said ‘I’d like to better that’ so I think he’ll be on target for that if he carries on the way he’s going.

“We’re going to get better. He’s going to get more chances. He will score goals. We’ve just got to keep him fit, keep him fresh. We know what he’s going to give us.”

Chislehurst Glebe had the momentum and looked on course to go on and win the game.

Freeman used both hands to palm over Abie’s free-kick from 40-yards as the home side continued to knock on the door but Phoenix Sports delivered a sucker punch, grabbing a flattering winner with 37 minutes and 59 seconds on the clock on the counter-attack.

Della-Verde’s left-footed diagonal pass released Efambe charging down the left before he easily cut inside Maher before feeding substitute Ben Morrison, who cut towards the corner of the six-yard box before Edwards pushed the ball away.  The ball was controlled inside the six-yard box by Dos Santos, who swept his right-footed shot into the bottom left-hand corner to score his second goal of the season.

“I talk about at two-all, we’re in the ascendancy. We’ve got momentum and it was very clear we wanted to go for a winner,” explained Lawrence.

“I’m a big believe sometimes you can settle for a point but the difference between not having a point and a point is very little to me. I felt it was the right thing for us to do, was to go for the winner.

“We left ourselves a little bit open at the back.  Harry Maher, who I thought had a terrific game, defended really well, just got caught on that one.

“Nathan makes a great save and we’re just a little bit flat-footed in the box and that was the difference today.  They were better in the boxes than we were.”

Anslow’s men almost grabbed a flattering fourth goal inside stoppage time when Abie gave the ball away within their defensive third – as his intended pass to substitute right-back Rolex Buiti was intercepted by the threatening Efambe before he fed substitute striker Ellis Procter, who shot straight at Edwards from inside the D.

Chislehurst Glebe make the trip to Corinthian next Tuesday, before travelling to Isthmian League South Central Division side Ascot United in The FA Cup Preliminary Round on Saturday 16 August.

“Obviously really disappointing with Kennington, was a really flat game and nowhere near the level that we should’ve been at. I was suspended so I had to watch it back on veo,” said Lawrence.

“Last week we wanted a reaction, which we got at Faversham Strike Force. We were really good.

“We had a really good weeks training this week and I felt good coming into the game (tonight).  I thought we controlled large parts of it, a bit naïve in both boxes and when you’re playing against teams that fancy themselves (Phoenix) to be at the top and I think they’ll probably will be because they’re mature, you’re going to get punished for it.

“We’re not panicking because like I said to the boys their attitudes right, their applications right, they’re working, they’re trying, they’re listening, which they did tonight.

“I keep going on about it, we’ve got to be better in both boxes.”

Lawrence wants a reaction against Keith McMahon’s Corinthian side at Gay Dawn Farm.

“I love we’ve got an opportunity to bounce back straight away. It’s going to be our first game on grass. We’ve played three games now on 3G, so it will be a slightly different way of setting up, a different way of playing but it’s something that we spoke about and the boys are ready for.

“The one thing Corinthian will always give you is they’re always be a battling side. They’ll work hard, they’ll be hard to beat. The players are there for the right reasons, so you’re never going to get players that aren’t trying, so another really tough game.

“There’s no easy games in this league but what it does do is it gives us an opportunity to bounce back really quickly.

“Obviously we’d like to have six points on the board but it is what it is. We’ve rebuilt the side. It’s difficult that four players have stayed from last year, so when you rebuild things take time. It’s a short pre-season. We was aware success line isn’t straight, it’s bumpy, it’s rocky.

“As long as the players are giving their all and listening and learning then that’s all I can ask for.

“I think we’ve seen tonight we’ve got the quality, once we get things right and spend a bit more time together, we’ll be fine in this league.”

Glebe football managers and time isn’t something that chairman Rocky McMillan gives his man in the hot seat at Foxbury Avenue.

“I think it’s an open league. The thing we haven’t got, a lot of the other top club’s have got is a bit of continuity. They’ve got the same manager and the same squads that they’ve bult and any manager will tell you, when you’re building a new side, it takes time.

“It takes time to gel. When you look at Whitstable last year, they were hallway down the league, they ended up winning the Vase, reaching the play-offs, so it does take time. Time to gel and as long as the beliefs there and the players are working then I don’t see any reason why we can’t challenge at the top end of this table.

“Me and Rocky have got an honest relationship. He’ll tell me if he doesn’t think it’s good enough but he’s trusted me. I trust my work. I believe in the work that we’re doing.

“We’re trying to change the way to try to make it more entertaining. We saw tonight there was a big crowd and we wasn’t on the end of it but I hope they can see what we’re trying to build, so the interview and the project was based around a couple of years’ and if I’m doing my job poorly, I’ll keep it. If I’m not good enough then he’ll just get rid of me, then that will be that.

“You can only take things on face value and so far he’s been good as gold with me. Everything we spoke about we’re doing, we’re rebuilding. He even said to me it’s going to take eight weeks for us to really settle down and get us where we want to get to, so it is what it is. I’m not worried about it.

“I’ve been in football long enough to know that players’ come and go, managers come and go but as long as everyone’s honest and does their work, then that’s all you can do.”

Chislehurst Glebe: Nathan Edwards, Harry Maher (Rolex Buiti 88), Luka Radojevic, Ryan Kelly, Joe Nelder, Ryan Green, Khavarn Williams, Thibault Abie (Callum Flynn 90), Jamie Philpot, Montrell Deslandes (Robert Lawrence 90), Muhammed Cham (Quadri Green 81).
Sub: Mugisa Hodasi

Goals: Thibault Abie 73, Jamie Philpot 74

Booked: Muhammed Cham 40, Montrell Deslandes 44

Phoenix Sports: Sam Freeman, Jerald Aboagye, Ahkeem Belford, Harry Barnes (Kristian Campbell 81), Jensen Grant, Jake Goodman, Will Efame, Lyle Della-Verde, Jerson Dos Santos (Ellis Procter 89), Dominic Morgan Griffiths (Ben Morrison 75), Tyler Anderson.
Subs: Louis Reid Newth, Stanley Mills

Goals: Dominic Morgan Griffiths 3, Jake Goodman 68, Jerson Dos Santos 83

Booked: Jerald Aboagye 67, Lyle Della-Verde 73, Ahkeem Belford 86

Attendance: 210
Referee: Mr Paul Agyei-Tabi
Assistants: Mr Michael Dye & Mr Kenechukwu Aghasili