Erith Town 2-1 Sheppey United - It's been a tough month but if there's any football club that will do everything in its power to stay in this league, to do well in this league, it's us, says Erith Town manager Adam Woodward

Erith Town 2 – 1 Sheppey United
Location	Bayliss Avenue, Thamesmead, London SE28 8NJ
Kickoff	14/10/2025 19:45

ERITH TOWN  2-1  SHEPPEY UNITED
Isthmian League South East Division
Tuesday 14 October 2025
Stephen McCartney reports from Bayliss Avenue

ERITH TOWN manager Adam Woodward says he is happy that his side were out of the Isthmian League South East Division relegation zone tonight but not happy with his side’s current position in the bottom six after grabbing their first home league win of the season over a wasteful Sheppey United.

The Dockers – who claimed a 4-1 win at Holm Park just four weeks ago – have picked up 10 points (two wins, four draws and six defeats) from their 12 games to climb three places to move two points clear of the relegation zone that has two club’s that shouldn’t be there in Hastings United (eight points from 10) and Lloyd Hume’s Ashford United (eight points from nine) as well as Beckenham Town (six points from 10) and East Grinstead Town (three points from nine).

Sheppey United have slipped down a place into thirteenth, having extended their winless league record on their travels, having picked up 13 points (four wins, one draw and six defeats) from their 11 outings.

Sheppey United striker Rolando Onu scored his 13^th goal of the season after only 236 seconds to give the Ites’ the lead, as the two opening goals were created by mistakes during a poor quality first half.

Erith Town levelled through Dartford loanee, Albie O’Mara Knapps’ 35-yard angle drive, before the Dockers claimed a vital three points through left-wing-back Andrew Dythe, 24, nine minutes into the second half with a clinical near-post finish.

Erith Town were without Tom Ash (ACL, ruled out until next pre-season), Ross Craig (knee), Harry Taylor (ankle ligaments, ruled out until after Christmas), Tom O’Connor (ankle), Dami Olubesi (suspended), while central midfielder Jacon Conner captained the youth team to a shock 2-0 win at Worthing to reach The FA Cup First Round tonight.

Sheppey United were without Billy Bennett and Jacob Lambert (both unavailable), Medy Elito (personal circumstances) and Danny Leonard (shoulder), while centre-half Tyler Hatton was forced off with a suspected rib injury immediately after the winning goal.

The Dockers handed a debut to holding midfielder Terlochan Singh, who has arrived on dual-registration from lower-league Punjab United, while substitute right-winger Michael Ademiluyi impressed for Sheppey United, making his debut having arrived from their league rivals Faversham Town.

“It wasn’t a great spectacle, was it? I’m sure you’re going to put that in your notes,” admitted Woodward, 36.

“Listen, we changed the way we played a little bit tonight. We went a little bit more direct. I felt we needed to.  We’ve been conceding very poor goals from playing a style that worked for us last season, has worked in games this year but the execution hasn’t been great.

“I felt we were a little bit low in confidence, if I’m honest and felt we had to go a little bit more direct, which we did.  Did I think it worked? At times, yes, other times, no, but three points is what matters.

“You can play total Pep Guardiola football and lose games of football or you can play what they call direct Sam Allardyce football and win, so we decided to go a little bit more direct and we won, so that was positive.”

Sheppey United manager Kevin Watson, meanwhile, reflected on his eighth defeat in his 18^th game in charge of the club.

“I think, if you lose a game 2-1, they’ve desire to score their second goal. A good strike for the first goal and they’ve defended really well. I’ll have to watch it back. Standing here right now, I think we had probably more clear-cut chances to win the game.

“I think their second goal from their perspective it was a good goal. From our perspective, it’s disappointing to concede in that way but at that point they were probably on top of the game, to be fair.

“What was missing? Just when we get the chances, like we’ve come out and we’ve scored straight away and we had more chances in that first half. We just need to convert them, don’t we? And then the game’s maybe out of sight a little bit and we don’t end up losing the game.

“It’s just that inconsistency really. We had a good result on Saturday (beating Jersey Bulls 2-1 at Holm Park) with more depleted numbers than we had tonight. We still had players missing tonight. That’s not an excuse, it’s a reality.

“We’ve signed Michael Ademiluyi to bolster numbers and he done really well when he came on. We’re just really inconsistent. We performed on Saturday and then from our perspective a poor result tonight and that’s no disrespect to Erith Town because we’ve lost twice to them this season. We’re too inconsistent, a win, a loss, two wins, two losses.”

Sheppey United were gifted the lead, when it arrived with three minutes and 56 seconds on the clock, the first chance of the game, clinically punished.

Emmanuel Oluwasemo gave the ball away, and Erith Town centre-half Calum McGeehan opened the gate as last defender, allowing Onu to race through into the penalty area before clinically placing his left-footed shot across the keeper to find the bottom far corner in a one-v-one.

“Good finish, very direct. He’s gone straight down the middle, opened his body up, good goal from our perspective,” said Watson, who was asked about his striker notching again.

“That’s to a certain extent, that’s his job in the team as a forward isn’t it? To score goals but yes we think he’s improved as a player in the time we’ve had him, so that improvement needs to continue.”

Woodward said: “That goal was what we’ve conceded three or four like in the past two or three weeks. It was a goal where I felt we were in good possession but we’ve given the ball away and one pass they’ve split us open and they’ve scored.

“I felt we started the game the better side to be hones with you. We had a couple of final third entries but no, it wasn’t a great start.

“We keep giving the ball away in silly areas, under-hit passes. Look, we haven’t trained since the start of the season.  It was our 20^th game tonight (in 73 days). We’ve got a small squad (22 players), the boys are walking wounded. We’ve had a lot of midweek games, I think that was our fifth game in a row on a Tuesday night, so we’ve had a lot of games in a short space of time, so we haven’t been able to train but look, I thought the boys are working hard and it’s just about getting the recovery in.”

With both sides playing three centre-halves and wing-backs, Erith Town left-wing-back Dythe was getting behind Sheppey United’s weak link in defence, right-wing-back Oluwadamilola Olorunnisomo.

O’Mara-Knapp played the ball out to high Dythe, who put in a low cross towards the near-post where O’Mara-Knapp poked a first time shot which rolled into the gloves of former Erith Town goalkeeper Adam Molloy (5:23).

Sheppey United gifted Erith Town their equaliser, when it arrived with 11 minutes and 37 seconds on the clock.

Holding midfielder Tamas Amhbaduba (who launched five long throws at Bayliss Avenue tonight) threw the ball short to David Opoku but the ball was intercepted by a hungry Lorenzo Lewis, who played the ball inside to O’Mara-Knapp, who drilled a low 35-yard angled drive around the diving Molloy to find the bottom far corner.

“He took information on that we gave him at the start of the game, shoot, shoot, shoot. It was a skiddy surface, he’s got his shot away and it’s bounced off the surface and I think Molloy might’ve seen it late and it’s skidded into the bottom corner, which was really good,” said Woodward, who was asked about the Dartford loanee striker’s stay so far.

“Fantastic Absolutely superb. He was arguably our best player on Saturday (a 3-1 defeat at leaders AFC Croydon Athletic) as the number nine. He’s played up front with someone else tonight. I think he’s a huge talent. He’s going to go far. We’re very lucky to have him.

“Dartford have given him on a 28-day loan, so I thank Ady (Pennock) for that, but he’s learning his trade, he knows that, so he’s just obviously got to keep going.”

Watson added: “I think they won balls in midfield quite well today and kept that pressure and momentum on at times.

“I don’t think we turned over their throw-ins the way they turned over our one in that sequence, so it’s a set-piece ultimately, a throw-in, isn’t it?

“Players’ have to be trusted to make those decisions and keep the ball but the risk involved in it, led to them having a turnover. It’s a good strike from the lad, don’t expect players to score from that distance.”

But the rest of the first half lacked quality in this sparsely supported eighth-tier Kent derby in Thamesmead, with both sides guilty of making mistakes and not keeping the ball.

Dythe launched his first of two long throws into the Sheppey United box, the ball was headed away by Olorunnisomo and Lewis took a touch, before looping a right-footed 25-yard shot, which was comfortably caught at head height by an untroubled Molloy in the 23^rd minute.

“Lorenzo played a different position tonight (in a midfield two in front of Singh) that he’s maybe not used to. We asked him to do a job, I thought he done his job well for 82 minutes until I replaced him,” said Woodward.

“He’s always exciting when he gets on the ball, Lorenzo excites people. We’re just, just, just not quite seeing the best of him yet. I think there’s a lot more to come from him. It’s not a negative comment. We’re just about to get him fit and where he needs to be.”

Sheppey United talisman striker, Daniel Bradshaw, dropped deep to play a right-footed pass forward, which Jerome Jayaguru (the home side’s weak link on the right of their three-man defence) and Calum McGeehan (centre) both failed to clear their lines outside the box, which allowed the pacey Onu to drill a right-footed shot which pinged against the right-hand post from 18-yards, with 30:35 on the clock.

“He didn’t do a lot wrong there to be honest with the strike. On another day, you think that goes in don’t you but it’s a chance isn’t it?  Yes, he’s made good contact with it and we didn’t get the rebound, follow the rebound up,” added Watson.

Woodward added: “Where did it come from? We gave the ball away again in good possession. One pass that splits us open, so yes we’ve left ourselves a little bit open and we spoke about that at half-time to try to counter-act that.”

Sheppey United’s left-wing-back Archie Johnson got in behind Jayaguru and right-wing-back Bertie Valler to put in a cross from within the channel. The ball was cleared out to Olorunnisomo, who hooked a right-footed volley screaming over the top of the left-hand post from the curve of the D.

Sheppey United created chances to take the lead and Olorunnisomo’s throw in saw Onu reach the by-line before putting in a great cross which evaded Bradshaw’s head on the goal-line and frustrated Watson as another chance went begging (44:37).

“So close to it. I think he’s got to try to go with his head, hasn’t he? He was in the right position Dan but again it’s another really good chance isn’t it. A yard out and we haven’t made contact. If he makes contact on it, it goes in.” agonised Watson.

“It’s definitely frustrating isn’t it. It’s more of a concern if you’re not creating chances. You’ve got to diagnose something further back on the pitch at that point but we are creating chances.

“We felt that we needed to continue to try to expose them in the things that we were doing but maybe just be a little bit more patient in our play at times. I think we done that in the second half but unfortunately after they scored.”

Woodward admitted: “It is, it is (a lucky escape) but again it’s come from not setting the ball properly, a sloppy miss-placed pass and they break on us and I said that to the boys at half-time, our transitions need to be better.

“They want to turn it into a basketball match. We’ve got to try to slow it and when we recover, we’re recovering in good central areas and not worry about wide. Our transitions were much better second half. I thought we were in more control of the game second half.”

Erith Town edged the start of the second half and they should have scored from their second and last corner.

Valler swung the ball in from the left, the ball was flicked on and Lewis’ spectacular overhead kick from a couple of yards at the far post flew over the crossbar.

The Dockers grabbed a vital victory, scoring the winning goal with 10 minutes and 58 seconds on the clock through Dythe’s desire to score his first goal of the season.

Singh started the move on the halfway line, playing the ball along the deck to Mal Turner, who then fed Lewis down the right.  He played the ball to striker Oluwasemo who reached the right by-line to put over a cross towards the near-post.

Dythe showed desire to make an untracked darting run across several players into the near-post to rifle a first-time left-footed shot into the roof of the net from a couple of yards.

“Took a gamble and that’s not what we’ve been doing enough off,” admitted Woodward.

“We’ve not been getting in the box enough and Andy’s done well, he’s got himself back stick and finished.

“I instructed him to get forward, yes.  We need to get forward more. We’re playing wing-backs tonight. We want them to get forward and that’s what we done.

“He’s come across the goalkeeper, didn’t he, because we’re talking about hitting near-post. That’s a poachers goal really. He’s hit the near post. You don’t see many forwards go in those sort of areas. We like to call it the Dean Bowey area.”

Watson added: “Desire from him to get into that position from where he was playing (on the other side of the pitch). I think we had opportunities to clear our lines, so to speak, if you like, or get possession back before that phase.

“The cross comes in too easy for me and then he’s run from a position to score. He would’ve run past several of our players to get in that position hasn’t he, so our awareness and communication (was lacking).”

Sheppey United continued to be wasteful when second half chances came their way.

Olorunnisomo played the ball down the line to impressive winger Ademiluyi (who came on for Hatton, who hurt his ribs after losing the by-line tussle with Oluwasemo that lead to the decisive goal) and he fed Diekonipeoluwa Falade, who played in Onu but goalkeeper Harrison Firth dived low to his left to make the block (18:13)

“Again, I don’t think for all those chances we have tested the goalkeeper did we? It wasn’t like he was pulling off save-after-save whilst we created openings,” admitted Watson.

“I don’t think our finishing, we’ve got some players that can finish in the team but it’s different doing it in training or in isolated situations, as it is doing it in a game.”

Woodward, a former goalkeeper, revealed: “Harrison’s had a little bit of criticism from me the last couple of weeks – but it was a good save. He’s made a couple of unforced errors and we’ve had a conversation. He’s my number one and he needs to make sure he keeps that shirt.”

Olorunnisomo (who put in a vastly-improved second half performance) then cut in from the right before feeding Falade, who cut onto his left-foot and his 35-yard effort whistled across the keeper and past the far post.

Composed Erith Town centre-half Dexter Peter shrugged past Onu inside the Sheppey United half before drilling a right-footed shot towards goal from 35-yards, which Molloy stuck out his right arm to make a block.

When asked what the Essex-based defender brings to the party, Woodward replied: “Leadership – he’s a quality defender. He’s good around the changing room and he’s a big, big player for us.”

Watson was asked why his players were too slow in putting the ball into the Dockers’ penalty area, the longer the game went on.

“I don’t think I wouldn’t summarise it as too slow. At times I would’ve liked us to be a little bit more patient because we kept it in spells.

“You can challenge my maths on this, we probably had 20 percent possession each in a sense there wasn’t lots of possession, consecutive passes in the first half.  Second half we had more but then they held their shape pretty well, especially when they changed shape. I think we were causing them a few issues. Then they ended up changing shape, some of their defending was very good, some of their challenges when people couldn’t get shots off in the box.”

Sheppey United continued to press for a late equaliser, but they lacked the quality needed to claim a point.

A ball over the top played in 34-year-old talisman striker Bradshaw who saw Firth rush off his line but his right-footed chip dropped agonisingly over the crossbar in a one-v-one with 16 minutes remaining.

“He’s pulled his run well, a really good touch and he overhit that. That’s a great chance. The goalkeeper’s coming off his line, he’s over-hit it over the bar,” said Watson.

“Dan’s experienced isn’t he? He’s committed to the club. He has a good influence off the pitch as well and he’s probably not played the totality of minutes he’s played this season, is probably relatively low but he’s played the majority of the game on Saturday until the 79^th minute and he’s played 90 minutes this evening, so that will take a slight toll on his body.

“But look, he’s a great lad to work with, low maintenance. We don’t take advantage of that but he’s really good around the lads.”

Woodward admitted: “That was a chance. You can’t give Dan Bradshaw too many chances because if you give him too many, he’ll score.”

The Dockers switched formation to 4-2-3-1 – even putting McGeehan up top as an emergency forward – and they were resilient in defence, with Valler putting his body on the line to frustrate Onu with a left-footed drive inside the box after Olorunnisomo put the ball into the box at the death.

“Listen, that’s what I said to the boys at the end. I was really impressed with the way, what I will say about us, is we will work hard.  The boys are an honest bunch, they’re making mistakes at the moment but tonight they’re putting their bodies on the line and they’re throwing themselves in front of tit and their will to win was really good,” added Woodward, who was asked why McGeehan was put up front towards the end of the second half.

“Just to have a direct person to hit. Calum’s great with his versatility with that. We’ve used him more up there than we have at centre-half this year.”

Sheppey United created one final chance (48:03) when Johnson fed Falade, who laid the ball off to Onu, who rolled his left-footed shot from 15-yards into Firth’s gloves for a comfortable low save.

“Michael (Ademiluyi) done really well and that’s what you expect from Michael. That’s why we’ve signed Michael. A lovely lad. We introduced Michael and I thought he had an impact when he came on,” added Watson.

“I was pleased when we saw opportunities to play a little bit more and be patient but then I think at times we ran out of ideas. I think for me it required even more patience in those positions when you then gain territory through playing.

“I think there’s a tendency just to put a ball in the box but through that phase when you’re playing, you’re quite spread out aren’t you, so when you’re then putting balls in the box, you’ve got less players in that. Erith are deeper, so then the ball goes in and what’s required to then get the first contact on it, it’s a little bit more challenging when they’re deeper.”

When asked about the injury situation at the club, the Erith Town manager replied: “Tom Ash and Harry Taylor have been our most consistent players in the past three or four years. Harry Taylor has been our top goalscorer. Tom Ash has played over 200-odd games for the club. To lose two big players like that, not only on the pitch but they’re massive characters for us off it.

“We need to get some players’ in with the same character as them but hopefully we’ll see Harry just after Christmas if he’s rehabilitation goes well.  Tom’s in for an operation at the start of November, so he’ll be straight into rehabilitation, hopefully we’ll see him at the start of pre-season next year.

“We’ve got to get one or two bodies through the door. We need to bring in fresh blood. Toch (Singh) has come in tonight. I thought he done really, really well, so we may need to get one or two through the door.

“There’s a couple that I’ve spoken to that could be with us on Saturday, which is positive. We’ve got to wait for the paperwork to go through. We need a few bodies. I’ve got a few older players in the team that we can’t rely on to play 40-odd games. It’s a close-nit team. They’ve got to be the right characters to come into this team as well. If they’re not the right characters, they won’t fit in.”

Woodward welcomes the side immediately above them in the table to Bayliss Avenue on Saturday. Newly-promoted Hassocks have picked up 11 points (three wins, two draws and four defeats) in their maiden Isthmian League campaign.

“Happy were out of there (relegation zone), not happy with the position. Not happy with the position but I keep saying it, we’ve missed two big players that have gone down with injuries and we’re trying to replace them and trying to get the characters’ right.

“We’ve just trying to get a decent result on Saturday against Hassocks and then we’ve got a little bit of a break, no game the following Saturday, which is good and then we’ve got Chatham here on the 28^th in the Kent Senior Cup before their FA Cup First Round tie at Buxton, so we’ve just got to focus now and try to get another three points on Saturday.

“Listen, we always knew it was going to be possible Second Season Syndrome -we knew that.

“Look, I’ll be honest. We’re in transition. We’ve lost some big players’ last season, we lost some big names, not only big names but big characters in the changing room. We’re in a little bit of transition and it’s going to be tough. We knew that but if we’re brutally honest, two years ago when we were playing in the SCEFL you wouldn’t think we’d be having this conversation tonight. No one thought we’d get out of that League and we done it with the character and the will to win and the drive.

“If there’s any football club that will do everything in its power and the management team and the players to stay in this League, to do well in this League, it’s us and we will do that.

“We will leave no stone unturned. I’ve got a fantastic backroom staff that are watching game after game after game, trying to improve us, trying to come up with game plans. I’ve got a fantastic bunch of boys.

“It’s not going to be an easy season this season – we knew that – but we got out of the SCEFL on not the biggest budget and we were never fancied to go up, even when we got into those play-offs, we were the poor relation and we managed to work hard and get out of it.

“Listen, we done well last season. We had a drop off towards the end of the season. I didn’t think it was going to be like that after Christmas last year and we had a drop in form.

“I felt we had to re-group and re-build and I feel we’ve got a much stronger squad from last season with the new faces through the door. It’s going to take time to gel and listen, it’s been a tough, tough month, very tough month.  Look, it's a positive we’ve got three points on the board but if we lose Saturday, it means nothing, so we’ve got to make sure we carry on Saturday and get three points.”

Watson takes his side to Broadbridge Heath on Saturday – a side that thrashed Eastbourne Town 5-0 tonight – and sit in fourteenth-place in the table with 11 points (three wins, two draws and four defeats).

When asked about Sheppey United’s position in 13^th, Watson admitted: “It’s not where we want to be. There’s lots of teams in the league that aren’t where they want to be. There’s some big clubs (Hastings United and Ashford United) down there and it’s a competitive League.

“I think some of the results have been quite interesting across the board week-in-week-out. You string a few wins together – that’s why tonight’s disappointing. If we would’ve won tonight, you start to progress and move in the league, so not where we need to be.

“Hopefully, we have a few players back on Saturday because we’ve not had an abundance of selection headaches yet just through an unavailability of players. Once we get everybody back, hopefully it will be a little bit more competitive.”

Watson now has an 18-man squad, not including youngsters Tommy Linkson and Kian Downey, who warmed the bench.

“I’ve not had any thoughts on Broadbridge Heath yet. It’s quite early. The games’ just finished, so we’ll digest that, train on Thursday and start to plan for Saturday.”

Erith Town: Harrison Firth, Bertie Valler, Andrew Dythe, Calum McGeehan (Elliott Duncan 89), Dexter Peter, Jerome Jayaguru, Lorenzo Lewis (Mecca Maxime-Samuels 82), Terlochan Singh, Albie O’Mara-Knapp (Aaron Jeffery 89), Emmanuel Oluwasemo, Mal Turner.
Subs: Jude Jeffery, Tom O’Connor

Goals: Albie O’Mara-Knapp 12, Andrew Dythe 56

Booked: Albie O’Mara-Knapp 62, Bertie Valler 69, Calum McGeehan 86, Emmanuel Oluwasemo 90

Sheppey United: Adam Molloy, Oluwadamilola Olorunnisomo, Archie Johnson, Lex Allan, Tamas Amgbaduba, Tyler Hatton (Michael Ademiluyi 60), David Opoku, Diekonipeoluwa Falade, Daniel Bradshaw, Rolando Onu, Hassan Ibrahiym.
Subs: Tommy Linkson, Malakai Hyman, Kian Downey, Medy Elito

Goal: Rolando Onu 4

Booked: Tyler Hatton 50, David Opoku 71, Rolando Onu 90

Attendance: 101
Referee: Mr George Barker
Assistants: Mr Stephen Williams & Mr Matthew Topp