Match reports

www.kentishfootball.co.uk  brings you some recent match reports.

Erith & Belvedere 2-1 Thamesmead Town
By Thomas Hawes

Erith & Belvedere snatched top spot in Kent League Cup Group B after a last gasp winner against the Mead at Park View Road.

Thamesmead had been top of the group since beating Faversham 2-1 at Salters Lane on October 16th and it looked as if they were going to hold on to top spot and a home tie in the quarter-finals when they took a 27th minute lead.

In an experimental Mead side featuring a blend of experience and youth, it was an old head that broke the deadlock as former Dere Richard Dimmock netted from the edge of the area.

Despite their lack of threat in front of goal the Deres drew level before half-time.

Aiden Pursglove’s long range effort bounced up off a divot, deceiving Mead keeper Adam Woodward and nestling in the back of the net.

The second half saw an equally low number of chances as in the first period. Erith came closest through an Pursglove lob, which flew half a yard over the crossbar.

The match looked to be winding down to a draw, but the Deres had other ideas. As the game entered the fourth minute of stoppage time, Erith were awarded a free-kick on the right-hand side.

Matt Johnson whipped the ball in and a combination of Lee Morgan and Paul Gross nodded the ball past the onrushing Adam Woodward to give the Deres the win they needed for top spot.

The win means that Erith will welcome a team that finished second in their respective group in a quarter-final tie at Park View Road early next year.

Erith & Belvedere: Wallis, Gibson, Hardie, L Morgan, Gross, Gonzague (Scowen 59), Bedford, Johnson, Pursglove, Prett (Wetherly 45), Smith.
Subs: Murray, T Morgan.

Attendance: 49

Faversham Town 0-2 Deal Town
By Tony Gray

Goals from David Cory and Aaron Robinson condemned Faversham Town to their sixth consecutive defeat in the Kent Premier League Cup competition.

The group stage of the competition had seen the Lilywhites score five times whilst conceding 26 prior to tonight’s fixture.

With Sean Hetterley and Brad Maguire both unavailable for tonight’s clash the management team of Justin Luchford and Jimmy Strouts drafted in Darren Constable from the reserves with former Hythe Town defender Ryan.T.Ryall making his Faversham Town debut at right back.

As in many of their games this season the Lilywhites started brightly, Matt Carruthers picked out Michael Cook in space on the edge of the area on seven minutes, Cook controlled the ball before blasting high over the bar of former Faversham Town keeper Jurgen Wild.

Wild was called into action minutes later diving to his right to tip a low driven shot, from Strouts, around the post.

Carruthers had a chance on 20 minutes when he received the ball in the six-yard area but was unable to bring the ball under his control.

One of Faversham Town’s major weaknesses this season has been their inability to defend set pieces and a poorly defended corner kick on 23 minutes saw the ball float across the area before falling to the feet of Cory who shot home from close range to give the visitors the lead.

Following the break Deal continued to pressure the home side and extended their lead on 54 minutes when Aaron Robinson received the ball on the right , unmarked Robinson was allowed the time and space in which to pick his spot as he shot passed Hudson in the home goal.

Sensing that it was job done Deal started to pass the ball with confidence, highlighting the frailties of the home side at every opportunity.

A combination of poor finishing and fine goalkeeping denied Cory from further glory on at least 3 occasions.

Tom Hicks went close for the home side and a Ricky Freeman free-kick veered just wide of the post in the dying minutes.

Craig Preston and Julian Beal came on in the second half with Preston causing some problems for the Deal defence during the latter stages of the game.

Favershan Town travel to south-east London for their next match this coming Saturday as they face an Erith Town side who rocked the Lilywhites with a 5-9 home defeat on the opening day of the season.Faversham Town 1-4 Croydon
By Tony Gray

Having conceded nine goals midweek against Erith & Belvedere The Lilywhites returned to league action hoping to recreate the form that saw them defeat this Croydon side only seven days earlier.

The visitors included two former Faversham Town players in their starting eleven – Ross Cable being joined by ex- sweeper Gary Stock.

The Croydon side also included a change of goal keeper with skipper Bronek Dabrowa switching from midfield to keeper in the absence of Tim Roberts.

Both sides seemed keen to attack and early signs were that key battles in the game were to be between Sean Hetterley and Tram’s left-back Danny Beszant whilst Brad Maguire had his hands full trying to contain Stefan Cox’s runs down the left for the visitors.

Cable saw his first real effort on goal narrowly pass over Rob Hudson’s crossbar on 19 minutes.

Two minutes later and the visitors were in front, a corner kick from the left passed unchallenged through the Favershan Town box to be headed home by Chris Hill at the far post.

Faversham Town looked effective with the impressive Hetterley consistently finding space down the right side and it was Hetterley who levelled the match on 35 minutes when he rose to connect with a Michael Cook cross to head past Bronek.

Any thoughts of a comeback were dashed shortly before half time with Cable being brought down in the penalty area and Tim Murdoch coolly despatching the spot kick to give the visitors a 2-1 lead at the interval.

The second half all but belonged to Croydon, Matt Knuckey went close being denied at the near post by Faversham Town keeper Rob Hudson within minutes of the restart although Hudson was unable to contain Cable as he hit goal number 3 for the visitors on 50 minutes.

The mountain that Faversham Town had to climb increased on 65 minutes with the dismissal of Brian Pearce who was issued a straight red card for alleged violent conduct as he tussled with an opponent following a challenge.

Jimmy Strouts almost pulled a goal back for the home side but saw his effort fly wide of the mark, Joint Manager Justin Luchford attempted to inject fresh legs to the team bringing Dane Luchford and Luke Williams on to replace Julian Beal and Brad Maguire on 72 minutes.

Croydon rounded off their afternoon with goal number 4 on 76 minutes with Cox meeting little resistance as he was allowed time and space to beat the Faversham Town defence.

Luchford’s first reaction following the final whistle was to apologise to the home crowd of 129.

Speaking to www.favershamtownfc.co.uk , he said: “That performance was totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated, if I’d paid a fiver to watch that I wouldn’t be happy!

“I said recently that Jimmy and I were looking for progress game after game – that wasn’t evident today. We have plans to take this club forward and to do that we need everyone onboard, until some of the players buy in to that way of thinking they are on dodgy ground.”

Despite his obvious anger and frustration Luchford was keen to praise winger Sean Hetterley

“Sean never gave up today, his effort level was second to none. If we’d had 11 Sean’s out there the result would have been very different."

Slade Green 1-0 Hythe Town
By Robert Smith

The goal machine that is Hythe Town rolled in to The Small Glen on Saturday only to come to a stuttering halt as they were gunned down by Lee Barnett’s 52^nd minute penalty.

Having crushed Erith & Belvedere 8-1 and brushed aside Kent League leaders Beckenham Town 3-0 in their preceding 2 games the seasiders clearly have their sights on wining the Kent League title this season but despite their goalscoring exploits that have seen them strike 66 times from 23 games they continually struggled to break down a resolute and hard working Green side that were once again missing Lee Barber, John Paul McKey, Shaun Malyon and Kriss Hollidge.

As a result Green stand in manager Matt Longhurst paraded no less that 5 new signings.

Chances were at a premium and it was Green who surprisingly always looked the more likely to score.

The only opportunity of the first period arose on 29 minutes, Sam May made a fine break down the right swept past his marker before delivering a pin point cross towards Raphael Akala who rounded former Dover keeper Paul Hyde and looked set to score but dwelled on the ball too long and allowed the Hythe shot stopper to show his class and snatch the ball from the Green striker’s feet.

Following the cagey first half Green edged ahead seven minutes into the second half.

Barnett’s pass played in new signing from Fisher Sam Johnson who was upended in the box and from the resulting spot kick Barnett stepped up to expertly despatch home his 4^th goal in 5 outings.

Ten minutes later Green could so easily have doubled their lead, Barnett flicked the ball into the path of Akala whose shot was kept out by the legs of keeper Hyde.

In 24 goal striker Buster Smissen, Hythe boast the Kent League’s leading goalscorer, but it was a quiet afternoon for him, and he and Hythe’s only goalscoring chance of the afternoon came 12 minutes from time as he let fly from an acute angle only for Greens’s debutant keeper Chris Peck to get down smartly at the near post and parry the ball to safety.

On another afternoon the ever dangerous Akala may well have grabbed a hat-trick as he was again involved in yet another Green near miss late on as her latched onto Lee Woodyard’s corner only to see his shot hacked off the line and with the danger still not cleared, Sam May let fly with a powerful strike that was parried by Hyde.

Slade Green: Peck, Springett, Woodyard, Beauchamp, Payne, Taylor, May, Johnson (McDowell), Barnett (Levy), Akala, Day. Subs: Thomson, Baldwinson

Deal Town 5-5 Thamesmead Town
By Kevin White

Thamesmead dropped a 3-0 lead to gain just a point in a 10 goal thriller at Deal Town.

Rikki Cable secured a hat-trick within 25 minutes as the Mead looked to be cruising.

However, Deal fought back to 3-2 by half time and then went on to go 4-3 up on 58 minutes.

Richard Dimmock equalised on 82 minutes only for Deal to take the lead five minutes later.

But Cables fourth goal of the day ensured that the teams shared 10 goals and a point each.

Beckenham Town go three points ahead of Thamesmead at the top of the Kent League table, with their 3-1 win at home to Greenwich Borough, but Mead have four games in hand.

This coming Saturday they take on Sevenoaks Town in the Kent League at Bayliss Avenue.

Meanwhile, Thamesmead are saddened to announce the death of ex-goalkeeper, Neil 'Chopper' Harris, at the age of 46. Neil, better known as a stalwart of Slade Green, was liked by all at Thamesmead and he would also come to watch and have a drink with the club from time to time.

Folkestone Invicta 0-4 Hendon
By Richard Murrill

Folkestone Invicta’s tale of woe continued on Saturday afternoon when they were comprehensively beaten 4-0 by second-placed Hendon at a wet Buzzlines Stadium.

The statistics make sorry reading for an Invicta side which has now lost its last five matches and gone ten matches without a win after a previous unbeaten run of eleven matches.

And Saturday’s defeat sees the Folkestone side drop six places to third from bottom in what is a very tight league table and now occupying one of the relegation places.

Invicta’s home form has been particularly disappointing so far this season and this was another sorry affair in which Hendon were the more inventive side throughout.

Playing their first game in a fortnight, Invicta gave debuts to new striker Richard Shittu and summer signing Charlie Glyde and welcomed defender Samuel Kola Okikiolu back after a five-match absence through injury. But absent were Leigh Bremner (hamstring), Mark Saunders (injured in training) and James Corbett (migraine).

Hendon are enjoying an excellent centenary season and made the better start as early penalty appeals were waved away when Rakatahr Hudson went down in the box after a good fifth minute run down the left hand side of the penalty area.

Home goalkeeper Charlie Mitten got up to save a ninth minute Casey MacLaren header following a ball into the Invicta box and home centre half Frankie Chappell got across to block from Brian Haule in the penalty area nine minutes later.

Mitten then had to come out to save from Wayne O’Sullivan when the ball went under defender Liam Friend’s foot to put him through on goal after 19 minutes.

And Maclaren opened the scoring in the 22^nd minute with a well-struck shot in off the post following a ball in from the left after Invicta right back Kevin Watson had lost control of the ball.

Invicta had not seriously threatened visiting goalkeeper Richard Wilmot during the first half and Hendon went close again in the 41st minute as Haule fired wide from the edge of the penalty area after making room for himself whewn Sam Page’s ball out of defence sent him clear.

O’Sullivan doubled Hendon’s lead in the 51^st minute when he latched onto a headed ball out of defence and fired past Mitten.

Invicta responded as Micheal Everitt shot wide from just outside the penalty area.

And the home side’s luck was well and truly out amid atrocious conditions after 56 minutes when Ellis Remy shot against the inside of the post and the ball somehow stayed out, with James Everitt just unable to force the rebound over the line.

Chappell was then close in the middle following a 59^th minute corner from the left as Invicta enjoyed their best five minutes of the game in the increasingly heavy rain.

But Hendon extended their lead further in the 62^nd minute when former Harrow Borough striker Haule dinked the ball into the net with a good finish after a pass down the middle had stuck in the water.

Debutant home striker Shittu tried his luck from outside the penalty area in the 76^th minute but Wilmot saved comfortably.

And the visitors compounded Invicta’s misery when O’Sullivan struck again in the 82^nd minute to finish another very well-worked Hendon move which opened up the home defence once more.

It could have been even worse for Invicta, but Mitten saved right on the final whistle to deny Bulgarian substitute Lubomir Guentchev when the ball was squared across goal from the right hand side in another dangerous Hendon break.

The final whistle was the cue for contrasting emotions as frustrated home supporters made their disappointment known, whilst the visitors celebrated on the pitch in front of their small band of away supporters behind the goal after an emphatic win.

Folkestone Invicta: Mitten, Watson, Edge (Bryant 77), Chappell, Friend, Okikiolu (Abel 53 ), M. Everitt, Shittu, Remy, J. Everitt (Sly 77), Glyde. Subs: Burchell, Hurley.

Hendon: Wilmot, Collins, Page, Leach, Parker, Busby (Dyer 85), Hudson, Shulton, Haule (L. Guentchev 80), MacLaren (Burgess 45), O’Sullivan. Subs: Blackmore, I. Guentchev.

Attendance: 302.

Erith & Belvedere 0-3 VCD Athletic
By Thomas Hawes

Erith & Belvedere’s title hopes are all but over following a poor showing against VCD Athletic.

The Vickers netted three times in 16 second half minutes following a drab first period at Park View Road.

Chances were few and far between, although Aiden Pursglove had a glorious chance to put the Deres ahead, but James Tedder was alert to the situation and made a comfortable save.

Despite Lee Morgan going close with a half volley on 26 minutes, Pursglove’s opportunity was to be as close as the Deres would go throughout the match.

VCD themselves hadn’t created too many chances in the first period and it looked that a goal would only be scored following a mistake or moment of brilliance.

In the end it was a combination of both. Mitch Crawley gave away a free kick in a dangerous area and Ashley Probets duly stepped up and fired the ball past Grant Wallis to give his side the lead.

Seven minutes later it was 2-0 when Huggins diverted an off-target shot goalwards. And the match was over on 67 minutes when Huggins turned his marker with ease and slid the ball past Wallis to seal what was in the end a comfortable victory.

Erith began to look more threatening in the last 15 minutes following the introduction of Steve White and Nathan Bell, but in truth without the suspended Nick Smith Erith never looked like scoring.

Free-kick efforts from Adrian Deane and Matt Johnson were the closest that the Deres came to getting a goal plus a ricochet which lead to the ball bouncing off the top of the crossbar and away for a corner.

Erith & Belvedere: Wallis, Gibson, Bedford, Crawley (Bell 63), Gross (capt), Gonzague, Johnson, Morgan, Pursglove, Prett (White 63), Deane
Subs: Hardie, Browne, Murray.

Attendance: 115


Erith & Belvedere 9-2 Faversham Town
By Thomas Hawes

Erith & Belvedere recovered from their awful 8-1 defeat on Saturday to demolish a weakened Faversham Town side 9-2.

The win means that should the Deres beat Thamesmead Town in their final Kent League Cup Group B fixture next Tuesday, they will be awarded a home draw in the Quarter-finals.

Erith started the game poorly and it looked as if the Deres were suffering from a hangover from Saturday as they went 1-0 down after seven minutes.

Neil Murray was making his first start of the season and was at fault for the goal as Sean Hetterley’s cross looped over his head and found the back of the net to give the Lilywhites an early lead.

This was to be as good as it got for the visitors as Erith & Belvedere turned on the style to show their bouncebackability and to show that Saturday was just a blip.

Erith were level on 16 minutes as Lee Morgan headed home Adrian Deane’s cross. Erith had to wait until the 35th minute to take the lead as Morgan blasted home Matt Johnson’s cut back.

Morgan turned provider a minute later as his low cross found Aiden Pursglove to slot home his first of the evening. A minute later, it was 4-1 as Pursglove netted at the back post.

Faversham grabbed their second goal before half-time to give them hope of a getting their first League Cup Group B point. Captain Tom Hickman netting Faversham’s fifth goal of their league cup campaign.

Erith had to wait until the 62nd minute to grab their fifth of the evening as Nick Smith’s diving header from an Adrian Deane cross found the back of the net.

Pursglove completed his hat-trick on 71 minutes after he forced his way through a crowded box and after a couple of fortunate ricochets, the ball stopped dead half a yard out. Pursglove reacted quickest and slotted home to make it 6-2.

Pursglove hit the post with a neat left foot effort from the edge of the area with a quarter of an hour left, but he eventually got his fourth of the evening on 82 minutes as he stroked the ball home with the outside of his right boot after Johnson had laid the ball on a plate for him.

Pursglove took his personal tally for the evening to five on 84 minutes. Substitute Nathan Bell raced down the left-wing and kept his composure to play in a perfect cross, which Pursglove duly dispatched to make it 8-2.

Steve White had had a number of chances during the game and he eventually got his name on the scoresheet with three minutes left with a good finish from 12 yards out to give his side a 9-2 lead.

And White was inches away from sending the Deres into double figures as his free-kick from the edge of the area brushed the sidenetting to the disappointment of those in the main stand, who thought the ball was in the goal!

Erith & Belvedere: Murray, Bedford (Gibson 79), Hardie, Morgan, Gross, Crawley, Johnson, Deane (Browne 69), Pursglove, White, Smith (Bell 79).
Subs: Prett, Wallis.

Attendance: 58