Erith & Belvedere 2-2 Deal Town

Erith & Belvedere’s new managerial partnership of Paul Gorman and Chris Cosgrove were minutes away from getting their managerial careers off to a winning start, but a wicked 40-yard drive saw Deal snatch a Kent League Cup Group B point off of the Deres for a second consecutive Saturday, writes Thomas Hawes.

The ex-Greenwich Borough pair, having only begun work at the Park View Road side three days before the Deres opening home game of the League Cup campaign, fielded a side full of prominent players of the Wayne Brown regime, including Steve White, Mark Nougher and Austin Berkley.

As ever, the quality of football played by Erith was better than league position would suggest and the performance at times dazzling but at other times frustrating.

Nevertheless, Gorman and Cosgrove are yet to put their own mark on the team that finished 4th in the Kent League last season.

The match was an entertaining end-to-end affair, with both sides threatening to score on a regular basis.

The first clear-cut chance of the match fell to Deres striker Darryl Wilson. Austin Berkley rolled in a teasing cross, which Wilson’s strike partner Steve White dummied. Wilson got in front of his marker and shot from 8 yards out, but former Ramsgate goalkeeper Danny Twyman saved Wilson’s shot with ease.

However, it was to be the visitors who took the lead. A lofted ball from Aaron Robinson caught out Deres right back Matt Bedford, who suddenly found two of the biggest Deal players charging towards him. With Bedford isolated, Deal won possession and Dave Bathgate raced into the box before eventually cutting the ball back to Mark Pollard to tap home.

Deal’s lead was to be short-lived. Deres left back Vinny Durrant sped his way past the Deal midfielders before cutting the ball back to Adrian Deane to tap home a goal with a stark resemblance to Deal’s opening goal.

After 26 minutes, Erith & Belvedere suffered a set-back as Austin Berkley was substituted having picked up a knock for a second consecutive outing having came off in the midweek defeat at Sevenoaks, which proved to be Wayne Brown’s last at the helm of the club.

Graham Bignall, making his first Deres appearance for a long time, replaced the ex-professional and after a nervous start Bignall had a solid performance.

An already compelling encounter sprung to life in the last five minutes of the first half with a host of chances, including three attempts, which rattled the crossbar and a goal.

Firstly, Deal hit the crossbar twice in two seconds as Pollard’s shot struck the upright before Danny Smith’s follow-up effort hit the bar again to the disbelief of the Deal contingent behind the goal.

A minute later and it was Erith who were within inches of scoring as Adrian Deane’s cross come shot bounced off the Deal crossbar.

Amazingly, there was enough time left for a goal before the interval. Deal fed the ball into Steve White with his back to goal 16 yards out.

The 34-year old striker took one touch before turning and drilling an unstoppable shot past a helpless Twyman.

In contrast, the second half saw the Deres trying to slow the game down and for 44 minutes it worked well.

Erith reduced Deal to half chances and Deal did the same to Erith in a half of few opportunities.

Ultimately, if either side was to score, a spectacular goal was required and after 89 minutes Jamie Marriott scored that wonder goal.

Deal were awarded a free-kick 40 yards out of goal and the substitute took the free-kick. Marriott drilled the ball viciously over the top of the wall and applied the exact amount of power onto the ball as it flew into the back of the net, leaving Erith stunned.

To compound Erith’s misery, Nougher got injured and received treatment for a substantial amount of time. The extent of the injury is unknown, but it didn’t look too good for the ex-Harlow player.

The results leaves Erith bottom of the group after three games, meaning that the fixture with Faversham on Wednesday 15th November is a must win for Gorman and Cosgrove’s side.

ERITH & BELVEDERE: Murray, Bedford, Durrant, Morgan, Maycock, Nougher (Dunkley 90), Deane, Johnson, Berkley (Bignall 26), White, Wilson.
Subs: Herd, Walsh, Harris.

DEAL TOWN: Twyman, Govey (Marriott 77), Fielding, Davidson, Cassar, Robinson, Leberl (Davis 87), Bathgate (capt.), Pollard, Corey, Smith.
Subs: Thomas, Collins

Attendance: 71