Kentish Football 
MATCH REPORTS: Invicta and Stones' relegation concerns
We bring you reports from Folkestone Invicta, Thamesmead Town and Maidstone United here.
STAINES TOWN 2-0 FOLKESTONE INVICTA
Ryman Premier League
Saturday 5th April 2008
Richard Murrill reports from Wheatsheaf Park
FOLKESTONE INVICTA remained in the Ryman Premier League relegation zone after going down 2-0 away to third-placed Staines Town at Wheatsheaf Park.
The home side opened the scoring midway through the first half and sealed their victory with a late second goal despite an Invicta revival after the interval.
Invicta’s fate will now rest on their remaining five matches of the season, four of which are at home, with just one away match – and that’s in Kent at Margate.
The Folkestone side returned to action after their previous weekend’s postponement, but had to do without the services of the unwell Kevin Watson as Frankie Chappell came back into the defence.
It was the home side who had all the first half chances as Marien Ifura headed just wide following a dangerous cross from Mark Nwokeji on the left after five minutes.
One-time Staines defender Samuel Kola Okikiolu then made a vital tackle for Invicta two minutes later following some trickery from Howard Newton inside the penalty area and goalkeeper Luke Stonebridge then saved Gareth Risbridger’s well-struck shot from outside the box.
Stonebridge was called into action again when he saved Dave Sargent’s 13th minute free kick from the right hand side of the penalty area after James Everitt was adjudged to have fouled Newton.
The Ryman Premier League’s leading goalscorer Nwokeji was then allowed to burst through the middle of the Invicta defence in the 18th minute, but Chappell made a saving tackle at the expense of a corner.
Amidst the wind and rain, the Swans opened the scoring in the 22nd minute when Newton volleyed the ball in at the far post after striker Marc Charles-Smith had played it across from the right hand side.
Visiting goalkeeper Stonebridge then made a great save to touch over a 34th minute Newton volley when Nwokeji played the ball back.
Invicta came out for the second half showing more attacking purpose and were denied an equaliser after 48 minutes when home goalkeeper James Courtnage made a point blank save from Lloyd Blackman.
The visitors threatened again as a great James Everitt strike was touched over the crossbar by Courtnage after 61 minutes when the ball broke to the edge of the penalty area.
Staines striker Nwokeji got in behind Chappell in the 67th minute after good play from Leigh Mason in midfield, but Liam Friend made a saving tackle to retrieve the situation.
Stonebridge then saved a low Nwokeji shot when the striker spun on the edge of the penalty area five minutes later.
An 80th minute corner from home substitute Lewis Cook was touched against the Invicta post by big midfielder Risbridger as the rain fell heavily.
Invicta were still in the game as Blackman shot at Courtnage after capitalising on an 83rd minute mis-cue from Ifura and substitute James Corbett also shot at the Staines goalkeeper three minutes later following a move involving James Everitt and Blackman.
But Staines made the points safe when recent signing Elliot Onochie struck from the left hand side of the penalty area and converted a Dean Thomas ball in.
Newton then headed into the side netting at the far post in the 90th minute following a deep cross from the left from substitute Lewis Cook.
Invicta had one final chance as captain Roland Edge’s shot was saved for another corner after a Ben Sly ball in from the left.
Staines Town: Courtnage, J. Newton, Sargent, Gordon, Ifura, Risbridger, Mason (Cook 68), Thomas, Charles-Smith (Butler 58), Nwokeji (Onochie 82), H. Newton.
Subs: Nugent, McDonald.
Folkestone Invicta: Stonebridge, Sly, Edge, Chappell, Friend, Okikiolu (Corbett 75), Glyde (Ovard 84), M. Everitt, J. Everitt, Blackman, Bremner.
Subs: Dickson, Barton.
Attendance: 289
THAMESMEAD TOWN 2-1 ERITH TOWN
Kent League Premier Division
Saturday 5th April 2008
Kevin White reports from Bayliss Avenue
Thamesmead Town now need three points from the remaining six available after a two one victory against Erith Town at a windswept Bayliss Avenue.
The opening few minutes saw both teams try to test their defences on the edge of both areas without creating any real chances.
On nine minutes, Rikki Cable managed to shake off his marker with a quick turn to cross the ball to the middle of the area where Junior Baker was on hand to fire home the opening goal. From here, Mead settled and controlled the midfield.
On 14 minutes, a nasty tackle floored James Brown on the edge of the area in front of referee Graeme Ions.
However, Mr Ions attention must have been elsewhere as no foul was given, despite Browns obvious pain, backed up with a bright red cut down the whole of his right leg.
Such frustrating refereeing affected both side and as a result, a frustrated Richard Dimmock was cautioned on 20 minutes for challenging Mr Ions decision making skills.
On 26 minutes, Thamesmead thought they had doubled their lead after Cable netted from close range.
However, the goal was disallowed as referee Ions deemed that Cable had committed a foul leading up to the strike, a decision which bemused players and crowd alike.
However just a minute later, Thamesmead would actually double their lead.
Pedro Knight was left alone in the middle of the Erith area to have a strike on goal which was well saved and turned round the post for a corner.
The resulting corner was met by Baker and cleared, but the referee adjudged the ball to have crossed the goal line.
Mead created another couple of chances before the end of the half, but would go in to the dressing room having controlled the match for the comfortable lead. The only threat from Erith Town in the first half came from their number 8, Malcolm, on the right hand side.
After a couple of efforts from 'Bingi' Grant and tricky Cable, Erith started to take the game to Thamesmead, who began giving the ball away far to easily in the middle of the park.
Erith's pressure, particularly on the right hand side resulted in a goal on 68 minutes.
A cleverly taken corner caught the Mead defence out as it was played to the edge of the D where George was able to fire a hard shot low in to the Mead net via a deflection.
The last twenty minutes were a tense affair, with Mead having to clear the defence time and again and Chris Conneally commanding his area expertly in the Mead goal.
Like the continual rain at a smartly refurbished Bayliss Avenue, Thamesmead weathered the Erith storm to run out victors and get a step closer to the title.
Speaking after the match, Mead manager Keith McMahon said: 'I'm really pleased with the effort today, it was a good performance. It tops off an excellent week for the club, with the youth team winning the (PLAYYA) Cup and the work on the ground being passed.'
Next week sees a break in the title challange with the Kent Senior Trophy final at Park View Road, Welling against Beckenham Town. Kick off is at 3PM on Sunday 13 April.
Thamesmead Town: Conneally, Williams, Baker, Brown, Watts, Coburn, Mulholland, Knight, Dimmock (Killick), Cable, Grant (Tarrant).
MAIDSTONE UNITED 1-4 ASHFORD TOWN (MIDDLESEX)
Ryman Premier League
Saturday 5th April 2008
Paul Parkinson reports from Bourne Park
WHEN MAIDSTONE United beat Ashford Town (Middlesex) 2-1 at the end of October, it was the Stones first away points in the Ryman Premier League and started on a run up the league table from 17th to 6th.
However, six months on, it is Ashford Town who are putting together the league climbing run of form, as their comprehensive 4-1 win at a cold Bourne Park leaves Maidstone deep in relegation trouble.
This is not to say though that the Stones didn‘t create enough chances to deserve than the scoreline suggests, but lax finishing in front of goal, combined with the constant threat of the visitor‘s counter-attacking play meant that a difficult afternoon was endured by the 356 hardy souls who ventured to Bourne Park.
Indeed it was the home side that started the strongest, with an Ian Selley free kick forcing a good defensive header from Russell Canderton as early as the 2nd minute.
From the resulting Selley corner, the ball fell to Ben Lewis via a fumble from Paul Burgess, but the Ashford keeper atoned for his error by plunging to his left to push aside the Stones captain‘s shot.
Burgess was called into action again to turn Alex Tiesse‘s shot away for another corner on 5 minutes, after the forward was released by a long clearance by Lee Shearer.
The best chance of the opening spell fell once more to Ben Lewis, when a free kick by Selley fell to the defender at the back post, but his stretching volley screwed wide.
Ashford took the lead on 10 minutes with their first attack of the game. A good break by Warren Harris down the right side, saw the winger skip past an ineffective challenge from Craig Roser.
Harris drove into the box and as Lewis came to challenge, he slipped the ball back to the outstanding Ricky Wellard, who slotted home from 10 yards.
Maidstone responded well to this disappointment as another long clearance by Shearer was flicked on by Jacob Erskine into the path of Tiesse, but this time his left foot shot cleared the crossbar from 12 yards.
The long ball into the Ashford defence seemed to be the main threat for Maidstone, as on 22 minutes, a throw from Aaron Lacy found Lewis 10 yards out, but his back header bounced harmlessly across the face of the Ashford goal.
Ashford‘s defence continued to ride their luck in the first half from a cross by Nathan Paul, which fell to Erskine after Takaloo challenged keeper Burgess, but Gavin Bamford nipped in to hook the ball clear before the Maidstone forward to get the ball under control.
From the clearance, a poor back pass by Lacy rebounded from Roser into the path of Scott Todd. He shifted the ball quickly, but Steve Northwood made a good save high to his left to push away the shot.
On the half hour, a long clearance (this time from Roser) found Tiesse free on the left, but having turned inside full back O‘Sullivan, he saw a shot from the angle turned over the bar by Burgess.
Five minutes later, Tiesse once again found himself inside the box following a Lewis free kick and good work from Erskine and Takaloo, but his snapshot from 15 yards trickled past the left hand post.
With five minutes left in the half Tiesse released down the left by a Lacy clearance, but with three men queuing up in the middle, Tiesse took an ambitious shot from the edge of the area that sailed high over the bar.
From the goalkeeper‘s clearance, Darren Deegan broke clear down the left side and curled a left footed cross into the box. This was flicked on by Gavin Smith to the waiting Todd, who tried to find the breaking Johnson inside the box, but Ben Lewis made a last ditch tackle to clear the danger.
The last chance of the first half fell to the Stones when, with Ashford defender Canderton lying motionless on the edge of their area, referee Rendell allowed play to go on.
Tiesse sent a dangerous cross into the area and following an aerial challenge between Erskine and Burgess, the fall fell to Takaloo, whose right foot shot from 10 yards was superbly saved by the retreating Ashford keeper.
Sam Tydeman replaced Craig Roser at half time and within 15 seconds of the restart saw Burgess save his 25 yard left foot drive, having been set up by Erskine.
Sustained early pressure from the Stones saw a long throw from the right by Lacy hooked clear from the back post by Gavin Smith after a challenge between Lewis and Burgess. From the resulting Lacy throw on the left wing on 48 minutes, Lewis beat the defensive challenges to flick home a header into the top corner.
Even with the vociferous crowd behind them, once again the Stones couldn‘t build on their good start to the half, and it was Ashford who grew in confidence hitting Maidstone on the counter attack time and again.
On 55 minutes, poor Stones defending from a Canderton long throw, failing repeatedly to clear Ashford probing at the edge of the box, led to the visitors retaking the lead.
The ball eventually fell to Johnson 20 yards out and with no challenge in sight, he unleashed a left footed shot in to the top right corner of Northwood‘s net, with the Stones goalkeeper rooted to the spot.
Three minutes later, Shearer came close to restoring parity to the score line from an Selley free kick on the left, but the defender‘s towering header was hooked off the line by O‘Sullivan.
On 62 minutes, Ashford came close to increasing their lead when a Johnson free kick was volleyed over the bar from 16 yards by the unmarked Warren Harris.
Maidstone continued to be thwarted in their search for the equaliser when on 71 minutes, Selley released Erskine on the edge of the Ashford box.
The forward turned Adam Logie, but the defender was able to block the shot away for a corner.
Tydeman‘s deep corner found Shearer unmarked at the back post, but his header bounced down wide of the post.
Almost immediately, Ashford broke quickly down the left through Todd. The Ashford forward turned inside Nathan Paul and put a perfect cross to the back post to allow Gavin Smith to volley the ball past the diving Northwood from 6 yards.
With the visitors looking increasingly dangerous on the counter-attack, it was little surprise that the match was sealed on 78 minutes.
Todd once again started the move down the left hand side and he laid the ball inside to Wellard. The midfielder played a little dink-ball through the Maidstone defence for Smith to run onto, and he comfortably slotted the ball past the advancing Northwood into the left corner of the net.
As the match moved into stoppage time, Ashford full-back Deegan was lucky to escape with only a yellow card for an awful tackle on Paul, but the sight of the stretcher being brought on to carry the full-back from the pitch was not one any football fan would have wanted to see.
Fortunately for him, Deegan was seen to limp from the ground after the conclusion of the match.
Now playing against opponents down to ten men, having used all three replacements prior to Deegan‘s injury, the Stones were able to create one final chance, but Erskine‘s shot on the turn flashed past the post, denying the Stones what would have been a deserved consolation.
Maidstone United: Steve Northwood, Nathan Paul, Craig Roser (Sam Tydeman 45), Ben Lewis, Lee Shearer, Aaron Lacy, Ian Selley, Mark Saunders (James Peacock 82), Mo Takalobighashi (Conor Hagan 60), Jacob Erskine, Alex Tiesse.
Subs: Marc Clarey, Pat Mullin.
Goal: Ben Lewis 48
Ashford Town (Middlesex): Paul Burgess, Vinnie O‘Sullivan, Darren Deegan, Russell Canderton, Ricky Wellard (Wes Goggin 90), Adam Logie, Paul Johnson, Gavin Bamford, Gavin Smith (Byron Harrison 83), Scott Todd, Warren Harris (Jon Palmer 83).
Subs: Scott Weight, Craig Ross
Goals: Ricky Wellard 10, Paul Johnson 55, Gavin Smith 72, 78
Booked: Darren Deegan 90
Attendance: 356
Referee: Mr Lloyd Rendell
Assistants: Mr Paul Beadle (Sevenoaks) and Mr Jonathan Gooding (Ashford)
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