Holmesdale 0-3 Glebe - We've got a massive, massive tough run-in, says Glebe boss Adam Woodward

Holmesdale 0 – 3 Glebe
Location	68 Oakley Road, Bromley, Kent BR2 8HQ
Kickoff	14/03/2017 19:45

HOLMESDALE  0-3  GLEBE
Southern Counties East Football League First Division
Tuesday 14^th March 2017
Stephen McCartney reports from Oakley Road

GLEBE manager Adam Woodward says it’s unfair on his side having to play 10 league games during the last six weeks of the season.

The Chislehurst-based title-chasing side remain in second-place in the Southern Counties East Football League First Division table on 66 points, four points behind leaders Rusthall but with four games in hand following this comfortable 3-0 win at Holmesdale.

The League appointed Derek Peck as their new secretary this week and it is hoped that he follows in the footsteps of the Isthmian League, who tell their member clubs to re-arrange postponed games within six weeks. This League, however, year-after-year-after-year wait until March and April to play midweek games if clubs have fallen behind on their fixtures due to cup commitments or bad weather.

Glebe striker Ryan Golding scored twice in six minutes to take his goalscoring tally to 27 goals (not counting the abandoned game against Newham United in the London Senior Trophy), before Sam Long drove in the killer third just 17 seconds into the second half for his seventh goal of the campaign.

For Glebe manager Adam Woodward, his side are closing in on the title in his first season in charge of the club, after collecting their 21^st league win of the season.

“A good win to be honest. I watched them on Saturday, they were good down at Gravesham.  They’ve got two boys up front who are lively, the midfield battle and Gravesham tried to beat them up on Saturday and we were a little worried about things tonight but we done well, got a 3-0 win and that’s all that I can ask for.

“It’s good to win a derby but it wasn’t about that tonight. It’s about getting points on the board and winning games of football and that’s what we’ve done tonight.

“I was pleased that we kept a clean sheet, it’s massive. The three goals were good but I was impressed with the way, there was a lot of pressure on us tonight to come here and win, which we have done. It closes the gap a little bit. It was one of our games in hand and it was good to get the points.”

Holmesdale manager Ian Varley has won 16, drawn 7 and has now lost 13 of his 36 league and cup games in charge of the Bromley-based club.

“I have no complaints with it. I was saying to their manager before, I think every result is deserved,” said Varley.

“We started the game really well.  I thought the first 20 minutes we did what we set out to do and slowed the game down and have it at our tempo.  Then we started giving away silly free-kicks and corners and their first goal comes from a second phase of a corner that we didn’t get out to and once they get in front they’re a very difficult team to break down.

“Our game plan was to stay in it for as long as we could and for the first 20 minutes I thought we were excellent. I don’t think they’d argue with that.

“I thought we were very good, obviously goals change games and the first one was a downer on us a little but we didn’t really recover from that up until half-time.

“They’ve got some very good players. I expect them to go on to win the league. Having said that I thought we matched them in the first game (a 1-1 draw) matched them for parts of this game.  They won the game 3-0 but at stages of the game I thought we managed it really well, just disappointing when they scored that we couldn’t keep it to 1-0.”

Holmesdale missed a glorious chance to open the scoring following their first corner inside the opening eight minutes.

James Teodorescu swung in a deep corner from the right, the ball was headed back across goal by Danny Gannon but Jamie Williams steered the ball over the crossbar from one-yard out.

“It was a good chance,” admitted Varley, a coach for The FA.

“First goals are big things in games. Fortunately, we’ve got a lot of the first goals in our fixtures. It’s unfortunate. It’s a chance.  You’re not going to score every chance. He probably should’ve hit the target but it hit him on the back in the end.  It would’ve been good for it to have gone in but I can’t really complain about that.

“We played well first 20 without really creating loads. We got in and around their box with throw-ins (Lewis Chambers looped in six long throws into the Glebe box for the 44 minutes that he was on the pitch) and set-pieces.  We just wanted to control the tempo, which we did for 20 minutes.  Then we started giving silly free-kicks away and once we went a goal behind I was a little disappointed.”

Glebe boss Woodward admitted: “First 15 minutes, we rode our luck. They had a couple of chances first 15 minutes and we could have found ourselves 2-0 down but we didn’t.  We got that little bit of luck and once we nicked the goal we calmed down a little bit. Maybe the (goal-less) game at Bridon could have been a little bit different had we scored early doors.

Golding’s driven pass put his strike partner Aaron Jeffery through on goal but he drilled his left-footed shot just over the top of the near post from a tight angle some 15-yards out from the left-hand side.

Andreas Felipe Losada Tobon floated in a free-kick into the Holmesdale box, Golding rose with a defender, the ball came out to James Day but Glebe’s skipper cushioned his right-footed volley over the crossbar from 15-yards.

Long swung in Glebe’s first corner of the game right underneath the crossbar and Carson Dennis came up from the back to plant his header over from a couple of yards out, getting underneath the ball.

Holmesdale winger Justianio Junior almost headed in an own-goal.  George King’s free-kick from the right failed to beat the first man, Junior’s back header from the edge of the penalty area bounced just past the foot of the post and behind for a corner.

Glebe then opened the scoring from the resulting corner, the goal timed at 22 minutes and 49 seconds.

Long’s corner from the right was cleared back to him and the former Bromley player cut the ball back to Jack Duffy just inside the penalty area.  Duffy slipped the ball back to Long, who cut the ball back from the right by-line for Golding to tuck his right-footed shot into the bottom right-hand corner from six-yards.

“Ryan Golding does what he does all the time, scores goals and he’s in the right place at the right time,” said Woodward.

“He’s got the hump after the game because he thought he didn’t have a very good game but he’s scored two goals so if he doesn’t have a very good game every week but scores two goals I’m over the moon with it!”

Varley added: “It was a second phase on the corner so it was cleared out. We didn’t get out to the second one quickly enough. Golding does what he does. He scores a lot of goals at this level and it’s a tap in for him.”

Man-of-the-match, Glebe left-winger George King produced some high-quality balls into the Holmesdale with his left-foot.

Woodward said: “He played really well. The ball he put in for one of the goals was absolutely superb. He’s got the quality. He’s with us now until the end of the season and then he’s off to New Zealand to move jobs but George King is a massive player for us. He’s absolutely superb. He’s quality. George shouldn’t be playing at this level but one thing we have we have hopefully got George playing with a smile back on his face and he’s enjoying it again.”

He swung in a free-kick towards the near post which saw Holmesdale keeper Charlie Martin flap at his near post. The ball bounced off the near post and Junior was positioned on the line to clear the ball to safety.

Woodward said: “It’s another chance! Maybe we should have scored but look we’ve had that chance there. If that goes in it’s 2-0 but we scored just after that to be honest.”

“We got away with one there,” admitted Varley.

“A ball in the box, silly free-kicks. Yes it was a good save, Charlie got a touch on it and Junior cleared it and it kept it to 1-0.”

Long chipped a free-kick into the Holmesdale box, the ball bounced off Dennis’ chest and looped up into Martin’s hands for a comfortable save.

But Glebe doubled their lead, the clock showing 28 minutes and 44 seconds.

Former Manchester City youth-team prospect King, 23, whipped in a high-quality delivery from the left to find Golding at the near post who guided his header into the top-left hand corner from six-yards.

Woodward said: “It was a great header to be fair. He’s good on the floor, he’s improving a lot in the air. It’s going really, really well for him. He’s got another two goals tonight. It’s good to have him back. He’s a big, big player for us. We missed him at Bridon, he’s a big player to have back.

“Twenty-seven goals is not bad for someone who’s been out for two months as well.  Ryan Golding is a quality player. When I first came to the club he was one of my first signings because he scores goals and that is a hard thing to come by at any level, someone that scores goals.”

Varley, who was Simon Copley’s number two at Glebe last season, said: “Good ball in the box. We had enough people in the box to sort of win the header, maybe ball-watching slightly.  Golding does what Golding does. That first half is probably down to Golding.”

Long then swung in Glebe’s third corner, but Charlie McCarthy came up from the back to loop his header over the crossbar at the near post just six-yards from goal.

King played a short corner to Tobon, who curled his shot high over the top of the crossbar as a horse from a neighbouring field trotted towards the perimeter fence to watch this local derby.

When asked what they told their troops at the interval, Varley replied: “This is going to sound ridiculous! Funnily enough, we need to stay in the game, stay in the game as long as we can, as long as we can. That was the jist of it and then look, you could probably here me muttering, I was muttering “you might as well not have said anything at half-time!’

“We’ve lost it, people are just learning, we’ll learn from that. Funnily enough, from that was exactly what I wanted apart from without the goal.  The rest of the second half was exactly what I wanted.

“It was a good finish. We gave them a bad goal and that unfortunately ended the game as a contest.

“Glebe managed it well. After the third goal we had a bit of a bad spell before Christmas when we were behind and we conceded five or six but we stuck at it tonight and I was pleased with that.”

The Glebe manager said: “We gave them nothing in the first half, pleased about that. We came in at half-time. We had a bit of trouble getting in (to our changing room) so I don’t my Phil Brown impression on the pitch and it got opened up and we went in there and had a chat and said to them keep going, keep going what you’re doing. 

“We might be 2-0 up but they would have been dangerous if they had got a goal. I just wanted to keep a clean sheet and in the end that’s what we done.”

Glebe killed the game off by scoring their third goal only 17 seconds into the second half.

The ball was played up to Golding, who laid the ball off for Long, who drilled his right-footed angled drive from 12-yards across Martin, the ball nestling nicely inside the bottom far corner of the goal.

Woodward said: “Good finish by Longy. Varley’s obviously given them instructions. After 17 seconds we’ve come out and scored to go 3-0, which is superb to be honest, absolutely superb. I don’t think it was quite game over but it relaxed us a little bit.”

Varley said: “Good finish. We gave them a bad goal and that unfortunately ended the game as a contest.

“They managed it well.  If you get a goal, you might get a sniff but 2-0 if we got the next goal we’re back in it.  They get it, it’s game over and it sort of died.

“I thought we played well. I thought we did well after their third goal. We had a bit of a bad spell before Christmas where we were behind and we conceded five or six but we stuck at it tonight and I was pleased with that.”

Glebe were a threat from set-pieces. Long’s corner was cleared out to Tobon, who hit a dipping right-footed volley over the crossbar from 25-yards.

Glebe right-back Davy-Jo Anderson also impressed tonight and he whipped in a cross into the box for McCarthy (who was initially in the box waiting for Anderson to loop a long throw into the box), the defender seeing his looping header being plucked out of the air by Martin.

Woodward said: “He doesn’t get a lot of credit Davy-Jo. He’s a find really. My assistant manager Charlie McCarthy brought him across along with Jack Duffy and to be honest with you he’s been playing really, really well and he doesn’t get a lot of credit. The credit goes to the forwards but I thought Duffy at central midfield and Davy at right-back were absolutely superb.”

Dan Palfrey floated in a free-kick into the Glebe box and Clark’s free-header was palmed up by Molloy, before Glebe’s keeper caught the ball as it dropped out of the sky.

Woodward was delighted that his players kept Holmesdale’s wing-backs quiet.

He said: “When I watched them on Saturday, the main thing that I was worried about was the fact that their wing-backs got on and looked dangerous. We identified that tonight with Andreas and Sam and we tried to push them back and I thought we kept Jordan Clark and Dan Palfrey back.”

Varley added: “A ball in the box. Jordan’s got a good header on it and the keeper saved it.  I think we were limited to that. I don’t think we created anything too clear cut tonight but we kept going and that’s what we’ve done all season and we’ll keep doing it.”

Holmesdale lost right wing-back Clark due to an ankle injury following King’s challenge and had to be stretchered off the pitch and replaced on the hour-mark.

Varley revealed: “We lost all three to injuries.  Justianio Junior came off at half-time injured. Lewis Chambers was ankle from Saturday, he went over on it again. Jordan was ankle and Junior was hamstring so that’s the finer details of games. We’ve had three enforced changes, which was all our midfield so we had to reshuffle but no excuses at all.”

But despite being three goals down, Holmesdale put in a spirited performance against a Glebe side that are tipped for the title and with a mean defence having conceded only 16 league goals this season.

Gannon put in a cross from the left, Williams lost his fight to win a header in the middle and the ball was cleared out to Teodorescu, who hit his left-footed volley over the crossbar from 25-yards.

Anderson whipped in another decent cross from the right towards the near post where Golding steered his header wide from the edge of the six-yard box as the game entered the final 20 minutes.

“Once he gets two, he’s always going to sniff the third one,” said Varley.

“I think we dealt quite well after the third one really. The game sort of petered out slightly but we kept going, which is important.”

With Gannon and substitute Reggie Tembra up front and with central defender Ben Fitchett pushed further forward in the middle of the park, Holmesdale kept going and created a couple of late chances.

Substitute right-back Adriano Lawson collected the ball in his own half, danced forward down the channel before playing a one-two with Williams but his low deflected shot was comfortably gathered by Molloy at his near post.

Williams cracked a right-footed volley towards the top right-hand corner from 30-yards, forcing Molloy to palm over the crossbar, before Teodorescu’s deep corner was planted over by Jack Hooper, who had come up from the heart of Holmesdale’s three central defenders.

Holmesdale’s Varley said: “Again, it’s a half chance, a 30-yard volley.  We kept going. I was pleased that we kept going. It’s just spells in the game we managed really well and we didn’t manage our parts of the game well but I’ve got no complaints at all about the result. I was pleased that my lot kept going.”

Glebe boss Woodward said: “Good strike by Jamie. He’s a good player. I had him when he was an under 18 player at Thamesmead. He done really well.  Him and Danny Gannon don’t stop working, they’re like a rash, they just don’t stop all night, they’re just constantly running and running. It must be horrible for centre halves. You can’t switch off and you have to be on your game.  They kept going until the end along with Jack Hooper at centre half, he won his headers all night.”

Glebe remain unbeaten in the league away from home and Woodward was full of praise for his rock solid back four.

“We’re missing Scott Whibley and I keep saying he’s a massive player.  I had Tamer Bilal at the start of the season and he decided to leave and Charlie McCarthy stepped up and he’s done superbly with Carson Dennis.

“I’ve got competition for places. We’ve got to try to keep them happy but players that are playing well, will keep their shirts.”

Holmesdale remain in the top seven with 42 points and have eight league games left to play starting with a trip to Phoenix Sports Reserves on Saturday, a side that beat Rusthall 2-0 at Jockey Farm last weekend.

Holmesdale are now only a couple of points adrift of sixth-placed Lydd Town and Varley said: “I think the highest we can probably get is sixth.  The top five are probably away from everyone else but we’ll keep going.   I think it’s one thing to give credit to my boys as well.  Like we haven’t got anything to play for, we still want to get points. 

“I think we’re fourth in the form table going into tonight so if we can get a win on Saturday and back it up again on Tuesday (at home to Bridon Ropes) we’ll just finish as high as we can.  The one thing they will do, they’ll go to the end and we’ll take pride in what we do.”

Glebe host third-placed K Sports to Foxbury Avenue on Saturday, before travelling to league leaders Rusthall next Wednesday, 22 March.

Woodward said: “Two massive games. Nothings won or lost in those two games. There’s a long way to go. There’s a lot of points to be won or lost all the way and we’ll just set out to do what we said at the start of the season, we’ll win as many games of football as we can and see where we end up.

“There’s a lot of games to be played. We’ve got a massive, massive tough run-in, a lot of fixtures being thrown at us left, right and centre.

“It’s probably not fair. Unfortunately, we went on a bit of a run in the Vase, we got to the Quarter-Finals of another cup, got to the semi-final or the Final of the London Cup. No, I don’t think it’s fair.”

Holmesdale: Charlie Martin, Jordan Clark (Adrian Brown 60), Dan Palfrey, Jack Hooper, Ben Fitchett, Jamie Rawsthorne, Justianio Junior (Adriano Lawson 46), Lewis Chambers (Reggie Yembra 44), Danny Gannon, Jamie Williams, James Teodorescu.
Subs: Tyrus Gordon-Young, Charlie Weedon

Booked: Jamie Williams 53

Glebe: Adam Molloy, Davy-Jo Anderson, George King, James Day, Carson Dennis, Charlie McCarthy, Andreas Felipe Losada Tobon (Jonny Murray 79), Jack Duffy (Frazer Cronin 87), Ryan Golding, Aaron Jeffery, Sam Long (Jamal Alexander 86).
Subs: Joe Borland, Fred Obasa

Goals: Ryan Golding 23, 29, Sam Long 46

Booked: Sam Long 32, Ryan Golding 74

Attendance:  88
Referee: Mr Chris Price (Bromley)
Assistants: Mr Daniel Wyatt (Woolwich, London SE18) & Mr Kevin Greenhead (Bexleyheath)

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