Faversham Strike Force 0-1 Snodland Town - It wasn't a game that we wanted to be drawn into at times but we had to battle and battle well with them, says Snodland Town coach Barney Sullivan

Faversham Strike Force 0 – 1 Snodland Town
Location	The Belmont, Belmont Road, Whitstable, Kent CT5 1QP
Kickoff	07/08/2026 19:45

FAVERSHAM STRIKE FORCE  0-1  SNODLAND TOWN
The Emirates FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Friday 7 August 2026
Stephen McCartney reports from Belmont Road

SNODLAND TOWN coach Barney Sullivan says his players suffered a tough night under the lights after beating their league rivals Faversham Strike Force to reach The FA Cup Preliminary Round for the third time in four years.

Snodland Town finished in a disappointing 12^th place in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division last season, which put paid to Luke Jessup and Fred Dillon’s time at the club.

Newly-appointed manager Connor Dymond was serving a suspension that he received while managing Dartford’s women’s side last season and his assistant manager Martin McCarthy was on holiday too.  Coaches Sullivan and Rhys Terry were in charge tonight and they were thankful to captain Emmanuel Shoderu for making it back-to-back FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round defeats for Whitstable-based Faversham Strike Force, by scoring the only goal of a poor game.

“Tough night, battling game. It’s The FA Cup, under the lights in front of a good crowd,” said Sullivan.

“It wasn’t a game that we wanted to be drawn into at times but we had to battle and battle well with them.

“I thought they were a great outfit and they’ll be a real good test to any team this season.

“First 20 minutes, I thought we were really good. We moved the ball well; we score our goal. We stuck to our plan.  I thought we came away from it a little bit in terms of the last maybe 20-22 minutes of the first half.

“We re-grouped at half-time, came out, weathered a few storms towards the end, could definitely wrapped the game up by scoring a penalty late on but that’s football. It was a great watch, I think, for the neutral.”

When asked what kind of side Faversham Strike Force were, Sullivan replied, “Good, strong battling team.  They wanted to wrestle us at times. They wanted to make it hard for us, they did but they also want to play and they want to mix it up and what they’re effective at going direct.

“It definitely works for them. We did our homework on their game at the weekend against Tunbridge Wells. They scored three goals (in a 3-3 draw) from three long throws, so we done a little bit of work around that.  Fortunately, right, nothing’s really hurt us from set-pieces.”

Faversham Strike Force manager Stuart Benfield added: “I think it was two teams going through it. It was very aggressive. It was a battling game. I think both sides lacked a bit of quality during the 90 minutes but I felt both sides gave everything they’ve got to try and win the game.

“I thought first half we didn’t compete enough with them. They were a bit hungrier than us and I thought second half we came out much better. We wanted the ball more. We wanted to get in front more. We chased the ball harder and I thought second half from us we were a lot better.

“Other than a great save from their keeper and one cleared off the line and our keeper made a penalty save but we had two or three good chances ourselves.

“They (Snodland Town) were clever, they were good. They knew what they were doing. They set-up well. They had a game plan and they stuck to it and they actually executed it very well.”

Snodland Town dominated the opening 20 minutes, with attacking midfielder Shoderu impressing during this lively period of the game.

Faversham Strike Force holding midfielder Alfie Giles – who sits in front of a back three – was penalised for a foul on Nathaniel Olawole and Shoderu’s left-footed free-kick from inches away from the penalty area sailed over the crossbar, with four minutes and 22 seconds on the clock.

Snodland Town’s left-back Kevin Akpowdafe powered a bullet header into the left-channel and Shoderu’s left-footed cross was cleared out to right-back Tyler Jackson-Hunt, and his right-footed half-volley screamed just past the foot of the right-hand post from 22-yards.

Cian McCormack – who plays on the right of the home side’s three-man defence – kicked the ball straight at Kian Scott and the ball rolled to Snodland Town striker Christopher Alhassan, whose right-footed shot from 30-yards was comfortably caught by the untroubled recalled home keeper Harry Earls.

“I just felt we gave them a little bit too much time and space,” admitted Benfield, when asked about his side’s lacklustre first half performance.

“They were a lot more physical than us. They were a bit more hungrier than us, which was one of the things we spoke about at half-time, which was our desire to get to the ball first, which I felt they had more than we had first half.”

Snodland Town sealed the deal by scoring the only goal of the game with 19 minutes and 26 seconds on the clock, with a sweeping move and clinical finish.

Winger Scott played the ball in from the left into the centre to Alhassan, who laid the ball off for Shoderu, who drilled his first-time right-footed drive past Earls into the right-corner from 12-yards.

“We identified where their weaknesses were going to be in their shape, a 3-5-2, in transition their full-backs are high and they get caught.  If we can get into wide areas quickly and move the ball quickly, we’ll get a chance and that goal and such as the stars aligned, it happened,” said Sullivan.

Benfield added: “It was good finish. It was a ball across our box. I felt it came from our throw-in at (the other end of the pitch) but I just felt we didn’t react, transition quick enough back in to get behind the ball and it was a good ball across the box for the guy to have a tap in at the back really.”

Earls pulled off a smart low save to prevent Snodland Town killing off the game with 26:31 on the clock.

Holding midfielder Harry Hudson (who didn’t launch a single long throw into the home side’s penalty area) hooked the ball into Shoderu, who slipped the ball along the deck into Alhassan, who’s flicked the pass back inside to Shoderu, who drilled a first-time left-footed drive towards the bottom far corner from 25-yards, only for the Faversham Strike Force keeper to dive low to his right and use a strong right-hand to push the ball towards safety.

“We started well. I think that was just a carry on from Saturday, the way we won the game in the last five minutes (1-0 at home to Rusthall) on Saturday,” said Sullivan.

“We just carried on the confidence and the momentum in football is huge. Our momentum was good tonight. First 20 we came out and we played our football the way we wanted to play it and scored out goal from it.”

Benfield added: “He made a very good save in the first half, kept us in it really because if we go in 2-0 down, it’s a completely different game, so I think he had a very good game to be fair Harry.

“His distribution was good. He controlled his area well and a fantastic save first half and matched it in the second half with the penalty save.”

Faversham Strike Force then weathered the storm but lacked quality to create any goalscoring chances through open play.

Benfield’s side launched 16 long throws into the Snodland Town penalty area tonight, which proved to be meat and drink for their two centre-halves Ben Fitchett and Jaydon Bolarinwa, who have now kept two clean-sheets, having beaten play-off finalists Rusthall 1-0 on the opening day of the League season.

Left-wing-back Tom Carter launched 11 into the penalty area, while centre-half Hayden Wood launched five, which were delivered with better quality and threat.

Wood took over the throw-ball duties in first-half stoppage time and the ball was cleared out to Tristan Holden, who recycled the ball back into the Snodland penalty area and Alistair Wren’s weak downward header bounced into Frankie Leonard’s gloves.

When asked about defending the home side’s SianBall tactics, Sullivan replied: “If that’s the way they’re going to play, that works for them, I never knock a footballing style. Some club’s want to put it on the floor, some want to battle in the air and they do well.

“We dealt with them to a certain degree. I thought we were good on the first ball. Second ball we could’ve been a little bit quicker on but I thought overall we dealt with them.”

Benfield admitted the tactic didn’t work, especially as the long throws failed to beat either the first man or second man inside the Snodland penalty area.

“I think they were good, their centre-halves were good. They got to that first contact better than we did off our throws.

“I think it caused them problems in terms of we were just putting the ball in an area, making them defend but they defended them very well.”

One of the many reasons why England never come close to winning the World Cup is because of nights like this – with the ball spending most of the time in the air.

“I don’t think Frankie’s (Leonard, Snodland's keeper) going to walk away from that and be really stressed too much but listen, from 1-0 they were definitely in the game though,” admitted Sullivan, who was asked what was said during the half-time interval.

“Calm, calm, just relax and simplify things. I think we were trying to do too much on the ball tonight. I think we were trying to over-complicate it. I don’t think we needed to. I think it was easier to just get the ball down and move the ball, instead of trying to take four or five touches, on a nice (3G) pitch, like this. It’s a bit sticky, you get tackled.”

Benfeld appeared to have read his side the riot act during the interval.

“We just needed to be a bit more hungry. We needed to want the ball more. We needed to have a bit more desire about us, getting there before they did. I think first half they wanted it more than we did.  They got to every 50-50 before we could.

“Second half, I just wanted us to match that. I said to the boys ‘if nothing else, we just want to go out and compete second half’ and make sure we give them a game and I felt we did that.

“We had a couple of good chances early doors and their keeper pulled off an absolute worldy from a header.

“I felt when we were through on goal could it have been a red card? I’m not sure but Harry Taylor was through and the keeper pulled him back but I’ll have to look at that again on the camera and see what that actually looks like.”

Benfield sent his players out for the second half with plenty more desire and they came out with all guns blazing.

Carter’s ninth long throw came in from within the right-channel and dropped to Wren, who cracked a left-footed half-volley, which took a deflection from within a crowd of players and went past the far post (72 seconds). 

Joshua Oliver swung in the resulting corner from the left towards the back post where Alfie Giles steered his header past the right-post.

But Faversham Strike Force created their best moment with 11 minutes and 55 seconds on the clock when Fitchett opened the gate for the only time.

Attacking midfielder Hill got to the by-line down the right and dinked a quality cross towards the unmarked Giles who smashed his header straight at former Bearsted keeper Leonard from six-yards, who clawed the ball away high to his right.

Benfield knows Giles had to take the glorious chance.

“It’s a very good header, it’s an unbelievable save. Sometimes you just have to go ‘well done’ and give credit to the keeper and I think on that occasion, we need to do that.

“We said to the boys at half-time, if we go out of The FA Cup, we go out trying and I think we actually did that. We gave it a really good go second half and I can’t fault the boys’ effort and attitude in the second half. If we had done that for 90 minutes, it may have been a different game.”

Sullivan added: “They’re good in the air. I won’t knock them for that. That’s what Frankie Leonard is there to do.  We’ve gone to get Frankie (from Bearsted), probably one of the best, if noy the best goalkeepers in this League, so he showed that again tonight and he’ll do that for us many times.”

When asked to reflect on keeping back-to-back clean-sheets in the opening week of the new season, Sullivan added: “Yes, which is really, really, really pleasing because in the pre-season our form was good but we weren’t keeping clean-sheets. We were leaking goals and we definitely identified that.

“You win games by scoring goals but you win stuff and you finish high up in the League by clean sheets and we’re all, as a management team, keepers or defenders, so we love a clean-sheet.”

Faversham Strike Force substitute Ollie Gray slipped a sublime through ball in between the two Snodland centre-halves to put Oliver through on goal and Leonard rushed out of his penalty area to catch Oliver and received a yellow card from Essex-based referee Ellis Lander.

Leonard lined up a four-man wall but watched Oliver send his right-footed free-kick over the crossbar from close to the D, which summed up the home side’s poor quality in attack.

The home side showed desire in a bid to score their first ever FA Cup goal but lacked the required quality to do so.

Snodland Town put in a lacklustre second half performance and Sullivan was asked why his side didn’t perform as well as they did in the first half.

“We had to suffer at times because Faversham are at home, they’re 1-0 down in The FA Cup. They had to go and score to stay in the competition, so they’re going to give us everything that they’ve got, so we have to suffer and we have to defend more.

“I thought when we got the ball we moved it well and we had a few late chances but for large portions of the second half we had to defend but sometimes in football you have to weather storms.”

The game opened up towards the end and James Holloway’s offside flag denied Snodland Town a second goal (42:00).

Oliver failed to intercept Sekou Traore’s long ball, which released Shoderu charging forward on the counter-attack and he fizzed the ball in towards the goal-line, which was smashed over the line by substitute left-winger Jimmy Shepherd but the goal was chalked off.

The referee pointed to the penalty spot after Faversham Strike Force’s midfielder Alfie Hill brought down Snodland Town’s substitute striker Traore (45:37) and winger Olawole was guilty of watching too much World Cup football over the summer.

Olawole decided to do one of those pathetic stuttering run-ups and his awful right-footed penalty was comfortably held by Earls, low to his right (47:17).

“Sekou (Traore) was brilliant coming on. We gave him a game plan and he executed it fantastically,” said Sullivan.

“In terms of Nat, listen, any player that steps up to take a penalty is good in my eyes. If he misses it, scores, over the bar, indifferent, it doesn’t matter. He’s forced the goalkeeper to make a good save and the keeper had made a good save.

“I don’t think what helped Nat was the two or three minutes (100 seconds) that he’s had to wait but such is life.”

Benfield added: “It’s a difficult one. He’s done well to get back into position. I think the lad’s just cut across him and he’s stuck a foot out. I think that’s one of those incidents that Harry makes a great save and keeps the game at 1-0 and give us that chance to keep going until the end.

“It was a case of we went for it, which left spaces in behind for them to exploit and they were good in transitions all game, so I think the difference in the end was we were pushing and they had those opportunities to get in behind us.”

Both sets of players displayed attitude problems after the final whistle with pushing and shoving close to the half-way line.  Referee Mr Lander walked over to the Snodland squad, who had gone over to celebrate their hard-fough victory with their travelling fans along the side of the pitch and pulled out a red card towards one of the red-shirted visiting players'.

Seconds after the match officials had left the pitch and walked into their dressing room, a Snodland Town official wanted clarification of whom was sent off and was told that 'number 10,' which was Shoderu's shirt number, was the recipient.

Once things had settled down and most of the crowd had dispersed, assistant referee Richard Wilson stormed into the visitors' dressing room, persumably to confirm the player his colleague had sent off and was walked out by Sullivan, who basically told him, 'you can't just walk into our dresing room!"

Following the post-match press conference, referee Mr Lander confirmed that he cautioned McCormack and red-carded Snodland Town striker Alhassan - both players were substituted during the second half.

Both were asked their thoughts on the ugly post-match scenes.

Benfield said: “I don’t really know (what caused it). There was a melee going on in the middle, a lot of pushing and shoving. I didn’t really see what caused it all or what went on. I haven’t managed to speak to the referee yet either, so I don’t really know.

“It (a goal or win in The FA Cup) still eluded us but we’ll keep going and we’ll go again next year. We’ve got the Vase to look forward to now and the League, so we’ve got Phoenix (here) on Saturday, so we now need to prepare for that one.

“We’ve got to pick the boys up. We go to training on Thursday and make sure we go for the game on Saturday.”

Faversham Strike Force finished their maiden campaign in the ninth-tier in 13^th place last season and Benfield searches for improvement this time out.

“To improve on that. I think we need to start pushing and try to get ourselves into that top 10.

“I think the quality’s there. I think we shown that in the second half today. If we can find that consistency and build up our fitness levels, I think the top 10 is there for us to try to get to, that’s the target.

“It was excellent (to attract a crowd of 257). We thought it would be good tonight on a Friday night. Their supporters’ travelled as well. They brought a lot up with them, which is great, so I think that always makes a difference when the away fans bring a good crow with them. It boosts the numbers straight away.

“I think the League this year will be very open. I think it will be very physical. There’s some good teams in there, so I think every game you go into, you’re not going to know who’s going to win it, you just go in and try your best to win every game you can.”

Sullivan added: “I don’t know who’s got the red card to be honest with you. Everyone’s sort of come together. I think emotions are high. It’s The FA Cup. It’s what every kid dreams of playing in, coaches in, manages in.

“I think you never like to lose a game of football, especially this early on in the season, so I think it’s just a little bit of pushing and shoving. Whatever’s gone on there, you don’t want to see it but nothing serious has happened, it’s one of those things.”

Snodland Town’s reward is a trip to Harrow Borough in the Preliminary Round on Saturday 22 August (15:00).

Harrow Borough kick-off their Isthmian League South Central Division campaign at home to Jersey Bulls tomorrow (Saturday) and finished in the top eight in the eighth-tier last season.

“We go into that probably the underdogs, they’re in the League above, but we will go there, we will go there full of confidence. We’re in a good spell of form to start off with, which is brilliant, but we will go there and give them a game, for sure,” added Sullivan.

“Yes, we’re really pleased, really pleased with the start.  To kind of win back-to-back with clean-sheets, football is all about momentum, that’s what they talk about and roll on the next game.”

That next game is a trip to Chislehurst Glebe next Saturday 15 August (15:00).

Frankie Sawyer’s side started their campaign with a 2-0 defeat at Bearsted and are at the foot of the table after 90 minutes of football.

“It will be tough. I know some of their players and they’ve made some great signings. There’s some boys that I’ve worked with previously. That will be a tough game on a fantastic surface.

“Rocky’s (McMillan, chairman) gone and got a really good surface down there at Glebe, so we’re looking forward to going there. We’re on good form, so we want to play another game now.

“We want to win as many games as we possibly can do, play attractive football and make sure that when we’re at home the ground’s buzzing and people are enjoying watching Snodland Town this season and where we finish is determined on results by other teams as well.

“But we’ll take it game-by-game. We set little targets month-by-month and we identify patterns of fixtures that we want to try to get maximum points in, or some points in and that’s where we’re at.”

Faversham Strike Force: Harry Earls, Jack Smith (Harry Alexander 60), Tom Carter (Mefose Esumobe 60), Alistair Wren, Cian McCormack (Jude Leberl 81), Hayden Wood, Tristan Holden (Thiago Ferreira 65), Alfie Giles (Ollie Gray 60), Harry Taylor, Joshua Oliver, Alfie Hill.
Subs: Baily Sinnock, Jake McCarthy

Booked: Joshua Oliver 37, Jack Smith 58, Cian McCormack 90

Snodland Town: Frankie Leonard, Tyler Jackson-Hunt (Todd Brand 70), Kevin Akpoedafe, Harry Hudson, Ben Fitchett, Jaydon Bolarinwa, Kian Scott (Jimmy Shepherd 79), Bobby Dunn (Kieran King 61), Christopher Alhassan (Sekou Traore 61), Emmanuel Shoderu, Nathaniel Olawole (Louie Griggs 90).
Sub: Charlie Sayer, Gurpreet Benning

Goal: Emmanuel Shoderu 20

Booked: Frankie Leonard 72, Harry Hudson 76

Sent Off:  Christopher Alhassan 90

Attendance: 257
Referee: Mr Ellis Lander
Assistants: Mr James Holloway & Mr Richard Wilson
Observer:  Mr Phillip Knight

Match Duration:
First Half:  47:00
Second Half:  54:24