Sevenoaks Town 4-1 Eastbourne Town - I'm happy because we are well within our objectives but feeling frustrated that we have drawn too many home games, says 12th placed Sevenoaks Town manager Marcel Nimani

Sevenoaks Town 4 – 1 Eastbourne Town
Location	Greatness Park, Mill Lane, Seal Road, Sevenoaks, Kent TN14 5BX
Kickoff	14/12/2024 15:00

SEVENOAKS TOWN  4-1  EASTBOURNE TOWN
Isthmian League South East Division
Saturday 14 December 2024
Stephen McCartney reports from Greatness Park

SEVENOAKS TOWN manager Marcel Nimani says his midtable side went through some tough times together and hopefully they can enjoy some good times together after sealing their highest win of the season with some clinical finishing.

After losing back-to-back games against the Isthmian League South East Division title-challengers Ramsgate (2-3) and Sittingbourne (0-3), Sevenoaks Town have picked up back-to-back home wins over newly-promoted sides Deal Town (2-1) and this flattering 4-1 win over Eastbourne Town.

Jude MacDonald’s men were the better side but they were often profligate in front of goal.

Sevenoaks Town grabbed the lead – against the run of play – through Warren Mfula’s clinical strike, to score his 13^th goal of the season, before right-winger Rodney Eruotor notched his seventh goal of the season just before the break.

Eastbourne Town took only 54 seconds of the season half to score through midfielder James Waters, his sixth goal of the season.

Gael Kileba came off the bench to score his fourth goal of the season before left-back Ahmed (Salim) Futa scored a flattering late fourth goal in a game where Sevenoaks Town goalkeeper Jordan Perrin, 25, claimed the man-of-the-match award with an outstanding display in between the sticks.

“It’s a strong win. It’s a very good result against what I think to be a very good, strong opposition,” said Albanian-born Nimani.

“You can’t really complain with the result. I felt that clinically in both boxes we were better than we’ve been before and I’ve always reinforced to the players’ when we’re clinical, we’ll win games of football.

“I didn’t think it was the best performance. We’ve played better and drawn or lost but in terms of the result, it’s a fantastic result for us.”

When asked about the threats that this Eastbourne Town side posed, Nimani replied: “If you actually look at Eastbourne, they’re so strong of getting balls into the box but it’s not the first ball that goes into the box, it’s about the second. They pounce on the second.  They’re a very strong side and seconds and thirds and that’s how they get a lot of goals (30 in 19 league games).

“I felt in midfield they were so strong today.  They’re a hardworking side, strong in midfield. They get balls in right areas, balls into the box, pick up seconds and then they just ping you in, so it’s hard to get out of it.”

Sevenoaks Town have leapfrogged over MacDonald’s men in 12^th place in this eighth-tier division, having picked up 26 points (seven wins, five draws and seven defeats), while Eastbourne Town slip down a spot into 13^th place with 25 points (eight wins, one draw and 10 defeats) and their impressive performance here today proved they should be higher in the pecking order.

Last season’s Southern Combination League Premier Division runners-up and play-off winners, started the game on the front foot and Perrin was called into action to make some vital saves inside the opening 10 minutes.

Left-back Jack Murphy threw the ball down the line to Waters (who played on the left of a midfield diamond) before feeding the ball back to Murphy on the overlap and he hung in a deep cross towards the back post where eight-goal striker James Hull had two bites of the cherry to score.  Firstly, Perrin used his legs to block before the goalkeeper caught Hull’s header, as Eastbourne Town created their first openings inside the first five minutes.

“They’re a very energetic side aren’t they, very cohesive and energetic side,” said Nimani.

“Obviously the style of play, it suits them because they can ping you in with direct balls and they’re strong at it.  When they bypassed our defence Jordan had to stand firm and he did that. He kept us in the game.

“Goals do change games and we had an outstanding goalkeeper today to stop them and at the other end, when we did create our chances, we were very clinical today.”

A long ball out of defence by centre-half Dan Hull saw Marcin Ruda (who played behind the front two) skip past Sevenoaks’ centre-half Jahmal Howlett-Mundle, before the ball was laid off to Alfie Simmons and his right-footed shot took a deflection and looped up and Perrin clawed the ball out high to his right and the ball bounced off the top of the crossbar and towards safety with nine minutes and 11 seconds on the clock.

Outplayed Sevenoaks Town almost grabbed the lead with their first attempt on goal in the 17^th minute.

Futa threw the ball into the left-channel where winger Jefferson Aibangbee chested the ball down, Mfula hooked the ball over to the other side of the pitch where Eruotor cut inside and stroked his left-footed angled drive across the goalkeeper and bounced against the base of the far post from 15-yards.

“That was the break that we was looking for,” admitted Nimani.

“We wanted to sit in and we wanted to draw them out and then we wanted to hit them on the counter and we got a lot of joy out of the counter-attacks today.”

Eastbourne Town produced a sweeping move down the right but they often went to pieces with shots from the edge of the Sevenoaks Town penalty area.

Simmons and Ruda linked up before right-back Leon Greig (who slotted into midfield when Ruda was forced off through a knock and Harry Hammond came off the bench to slot in at right-back and his contribution was to launch five long throws into the Sevenoaks box and was their weak link in defence) played the ball into Simmons before he put in a low cross for James Hull, who swept a first time right-footed shot across the keeper and just past the far post from 17-yards.

“The origin of their attacks always starts on the wide areas. They won the first contact and it’s winning the second in midfield, so that’s how they created a load of chances, but ultimately we sat deep and we coped well by counter-attacking them,” explained the Sevenoaks Town manager.

Sevenoaks Town grabbed the lead against the run of play with 29 minutes and 23 seconds on the clock.

No one tracked the run of right-back Kevin Diomande who travelled over the halfway line and penetrated through the middle of the pitch into the final third before slipping the ball in behind centre-half Nathan Hover to play in Mfula, who clinically placed his left-footed shot underneath the goalkeeper to find the bottom near corner from eight-yards.

Nimani was impressed with the clinical nature of the finish from his number nine.

“I don’t know how Warren does it, I generally don’t know how he does it!

“Warren just gets himself in the tightest angles and scores goals and it’s not the first time. He’s done it throughout his career.

“Same as Jordan (Perrin), that’s why he was one of the first people I signed as soon as I got the job here because that’s what Warren does for you.

“I think people don’t recognise is that none of his 13 goals are penalties and he will win us penalties. He’s won us four penalties already this season and assisted.

“Kevin Diomande played against us (for Phoenix Sports) and he did really well, so I asked around about him and I like his CV. One of our coaches had worked with him in the past and they put the seven-dayer in and he decided to join us and he’s been a real, real fantastic addition for us both in the changing room and on the pitch.”

Hammond launched his first long throw into the penalty area, before the ball came out to Simmons, who played the ball into Murphy, whose left-footed drive from 25-yards flashed past the diving Perrin and past the far post.

The home side hit Eastbourne Town on the counter-attack and no one in their horrible grey kit attempted to tackle the pacey Aigbangbee, who ran into the box and was denied by the legs of goalkeeper Winterton.

“I felt Jefferson had a good opportunity, especially as it was his right-side. He could’ve squared it, maybe, to Warren but either way, as a forward he’s solely got himself in that position and his shot hit the target but the keeper saved it,” added Nimani.

Diomande charged towards the by-line before cutting the ball back to Mfula, who swept his right-footed shot towards the bottom near corner, only to be denied by Winterton, holding the ball low to his left in the 38^th minute, as the home side were a threat on the counter-attack.

Nimani added: “Good chance, good opportunity. We just had to be a little bit more clinical there, we weren’t.”

Hammond’s second long throw was flicked on at the near-post by Dan Hull and the ball came out to Simmons, who placed a left-footed shot through a crowd of players and was comfortably gathered by Perrin.

Sevenoaks Town grabbed the lead with 44 minutes and 29 seconds on the clock, through a deflected strike.

Mfula received the ball inside the final third and swept the ball to holding midfielder Joshua Wisson, who sprayed the ball out to the right to Eruotor, who cut into the box and his right-footed shot took a deflection and looped over the flat-footed keeper and dropped into the top near (right-hand) corner of the goal.

“Not the usual type of Rodney performance but impactful and that’s what good players do, even in not the best of days, they impact the game and to score the second goal, it’s a crucial impact,” emphasised Nimani.

Sevenoaks Town could have gone into the break with a flattering three-goal lead when Wisson hit a diagonal out to Eruotor, who laid the ball off for three-goal attacking midfielder James Jeffrey and his first-time shot from inside the D was beaten away by the 36-year-old goalkeeper.

“I was a bit disappointed with that actually because I felt that could’ve killed the game off,” admitted the former Whitstable Town manager.

“In fact that was probably the easiest chance that we had.

“We grew in both halves didn’t we.  The last 15 minutes of both halves, we kind of got comfortable.”

Whatever Nimani told his troops during the half-time interval fell on deaf ears as Eastbourne Town pulled a goal back just 54 seconds into the second half.

The nine-goal striker James Ding back-healed the ball into the left-channel for Leon Greig to whip in a low cross into the middle of the box for Waters to drill a first time right-footed shot past Perrin from 12-yards, after getting between the two centre-backs, Howlett-Mundle and Ryan Sawyer.

Nimani said: “I did warn them that the first 10 minutes that the opposition are going to come at it.  They’re 2-0 down, they’ll be full of energy, they’re going to ping you in with long balls and you have to pick seconds and you have to stand up to the physical challenge, get the ball, kick it out, take the emptions out of the game.

“We literally didn’t do any of that and when they scored, we had 15 minutes to ride the wave of pinning us in, so I was disappointed, really disappointed that we didn’t take any instructions on board for that first 15 minutes.

“I did say to them, you have to stay strong, you have to pick up the seconds, pick up the thirds, get your men and the guy’s free in the box and he’s going to score.

“It’s hurtful because (speaking to them during the half-time interval) is the only way that I can influence the game during a match day, is by giving them the correct instructions but at the same time you have to acknowledge that you’re not playing just any team, you’re playing a side who are equally good.  These guys got promoted last year and you can see why they got promoted, so sometimes the opposition do get the better of you.”

Eastbourne Town dominated most of the remainder of the second half, as Sevenoaks Town were often hanging on as midfielders Wisson and Jamie Splatt (to be replaced to Daniel Duncanson) lost the midfield battle.

Leon Greig hit a long ball up to Ding, who held the ball up before switching the ball towards the unmarked Simmons, whose right-footed half-volley from 10-yards on the angle clipped the outside of the top of the near-post in the 50^th minute.

“I suppose they were a bit unlucky, perhaps. We were due a little bit of fortune there,” admitted Nimani.

“We’ve been quite unlucky so far on many occasions. We’ve played well and the luck hasn’t really gone our way, so today on a couple of occasions, we rode the luck.”

Jeffrey looped a long diagonal ball towards a couple of team-mates lurking at the far post and Mfula's acrobatic overhead kick hit the side-netting from the corner of the six-yard box.

Perrin pulled off another great save (15:29) when Hover’s clearance out of defence released Simmons and his left-footed drive from 22-yards was tipped over by Perrin’s outstretched right-hand while positioned in the centre of his goal.

Eastbourne Town were the team most likely to score the next goal and  James Hull’s low pass went into Simmons, who laid the ball off to Waters, whose left-footed half-volley was hit past the right-hand post from 18-yards.

Waters turned provider but Leon Greig’s speculative first time right-footed angled drive from 35-yards, which was heading towards the bottom far corner, was comfortably gathered by Perrin into his midriff, while dropping down to his knees.

Eastbourne Town were banging on the door and Sevenoaks Town received a big slice of luck in the 72^nd minute.

Murphy floated in a great cross from within the left-channel towards the unmarked James Hull, whose header clipped the far post before Perrin stepped to his right and grabbed hold of the ball before it could bounce over the goal-line.

Nimani revealed that he prepared his side so they knew what to expect from Eastbourne Town’s players – but didn’t have the quality to prevent it happening.

“I think they’re very strong opposition and that’s what we planned last night when we did the Zoom call.

“We spoke heavily about them, the crosses they get into the box. It’s about winning the first headers and the midfielders have to pick up the seconds, so we were well planned and drilled for it.

“When a team is good at something, you’re never going to stop them for the entire game. It’s just about dealing with it.”

Mfula wasted a chance to grab the match winning goal, shooting past the near-post, before a dominant Eastbourne Town continued to press for the equaliser.

Dan Hull hit a long ball out of defence to release Ding within the left-channel and his ball into the box set up Waters, whose right-footed drive from 16-yards was tipped around the post by Perrin as Eastbourne Town wasted another chance to score from the edge of the Sevenoaks Town box.

Eastbourne Town have now conceded 12 goals this season from minute 76 onwards, as Sevenoaks Town grabbed their third goal with 37 minutes and 58 seconds on the clock, as Hammond opened the gate.

Wisson played the ball out to Aibangbee who cut inside and put it on a plate for Kileba, whose sublime first touch saw him cut the ball onto his right-foot (whilst being pressed by a couple of defenders) before his deflected shot from 12-yards looped over the flat-footed Winterton to drop into the bottom far corner.

“I did say to the boys at the beginning of the game, when you’re playing against a side that’s physical like these guys, they’ve got runners, they run a lot, they will always tire out in the last 15 minutes of both haves and you could see that,” revealed Nimani.

“We got a lot of joy in the last 15 minutes of the first half and we got a lot of joy in the last 15 minutes of the second half because they tire.  The space was created, we got the ball down and we started playing it.”

Sevenoaks Town notched their flattering fourth goal with 44 minutes and 55 seconds on the clock, when Hammond left open the gate once more.

The impressive Aigbangbee cut into the box from the left and cut the ball back for Futa, who clinically drove his left-footed drive into the bottom left-hand corner from 12-yards.

Nimani said: “It’s a funny story because I initially signed Salim to be a centre midfielder and that was the agreement and then we lost our left-back, so he’s sort of slotted in at left-back. He’s been our left-back, our centre midfielder playing left-back, so I put him for the first time playing centre midfield this season and he’s scored.”

Former Millwall Academy left-back Adadapo Olugbodi, 19, made a late cameo role on his debut.

“He’s a young up and coming left-back. He’s recently departed Millwall Academy and he’s a very ambitious young man, he’s shown a lot of promise,” said Nimani.

“He’s trained twice with us. He’s come to me through a recommendation and we wanted to give him a little bit longer.”

Nimani also handed late debuts to home-grown pair Colin Igboma (44:58) and gave goalkeeper Kian Eyers only 96 seconds at the end of the game, taking one goal kick after Murphy’s first-time drive from 35-yards flashed across the sub keeper and harmlessly wide, as MacDonald and his players must work on their finishing in the final third.

“Kian’s a 17-year-old goalkeeper. He’s going to remember his debut. He’s been doing really well for our under 18s and I wanted to bring him on a little bit earlier but the game was just too emotional for him. I just wanted him to have a cap and I wanted to be the manager to give him his first cap,” said Nimani.

Sevenoaks Town are 10 points adrift of the play-offs and 12 points clear of the relegation zone.

“The boys have given me joy, a bundle of pride and another good week ahead now because as a manager when you win your game, you go on to have a great week, so it’s another good week for me ahead,” said Nimani, who was asked to reflect on his side’s league position in this 42-match league campaign.

“I’m happy but also frustrated. I’m happy because we are well within our objectives and we’re on a good run of form.

“I do think the fixture list has been quite harsh on us because prior to today, the top three were Beckenham (in third), Ramsgate (top) and Sittingbourne (in second) and we’ve played three of them home and away now, so I think the fixture list has been quite tough on us but that’s the reason why I’m happy. I think we’re doing alright, well within our objectives.

“But I’m frustrated because some of the draws, had they been wins because we’ve drawn four games here at home, and we were in a great position to win all four of them and had we won all four of our draws, I think we’ll be closer to those play-offs.”

Sevenoaks Town travel down to Lancing next Saturday, a side in the bottom three, having picked up three wins, two draws and 14 league defeats this season.

Darren Anslow remains rooted at the foot of the table with Phoenix Sports with eight points from 20 games, with Southern Combination Premier Division champions Steyning Town Community on the same number of points, followed by Lancing (11 points from 19 games) and Nick Davis’s Hythe Town remain in the drop zone with 14 points from 20 games.

The Cannons are a couple of points adrift of safety and have played a game more than the side immediately above them in the table, Littlehampton Town.

Lancing sacked their manager Jamie Hollis on the morning after their 3-0 defeat at Hythe Town on 26 October, but they have picked up seven points from their next eight league games, before losing 4-1 at leaders Ramsgate (52 points) today, whom are two points clear of Sittingbourne after 19 games apiece.

“It’s the wrong time to play Lancing isn’t it because I feel they’ve really recruited well, they’ve got a new manager (Sam Morgan) and they’re a strong unit now and their results have shown as well," said Nimani.

“I think if we had played Lancing four or five weeks ago, it could’ve been a bit different but best not to say that.”

Sevenoaks Town then host Merstham on Boxing Day, travel to Burgess Hill Town on Saturday 28 December, travel to East Grinstead Town on New Years’ Day, host Phoenix Sports on Saturday 4 January before travelling to AFC Croydon Athletic on Tuesday 7 January.

“The thing is, the people who run the League, you don’t want to be critical because ultimately these are the heroes of it all because by running the League, that is the reason why we have these competitions,” said Nimani.

“The reason why they put AFC Croydon on Tuesday 7^th is because it has to be played within a 42 day period (of the postponed original fixture) but it’s just a frustrating decision.

“The reason why it’s a frustrating decision, they’ve chucked in the most heaviest schedule. I’ve got six games in 17 days and from then onwards I’ve got no midweek games for the rest of the season.

“Sometimes it’s great to have principles but you need to have flexibility because you’re putting the players, staff, everyone else in a position that it’s becoming about the quality of football, it’s becoming quantity for filling the fixture.

“There is absolutely no reason that we couldn’t play that even the following month because we haven’t got any other midweek games, so to put that on the 7^th January when the game was called off at no fault of our own, it’s something that the League needs to re-consider.”

When asked how his 18-man PART-TIME SQUAD that have jobs outside of football will cope with such a gruelling festive campaign, Nimani hopes none of them will pick up any muscle injuries during this period.

“We have to rotate. We’ve got a fantastic physio in Carly Payne and she supports us and we just have to rotate.

“I think in the last 14 games now I’ve only brought in one player, so I like to keep a stable environment. I decided to sign these players quite earlier on in the season and I wanted to stick with them through good and bad times.

“We went through some tough times together and now hopefully we can enjoy some good times together.”

Nimani revealed some good news concerning the development of the new stand, clubhouse and dressing rooms.

“There’s a lot of objectives that we’ve set, myself and the board, particularly (chairman) Paul Lansdale and I want to look to bring in the community.

“We want to bring the youth into the first-team and we’ve done that already. We’ve had four from my youth that have played for the first team already this season.

“The next thing is the club is working hard to get the clubhouse going. Once the paperwork’s done, we’re looking to build a good structure for the club and we’re looking to be competitive in the (Isthmian) League.

“I think the ambition is to start earlier in the New Year, to get the paperwork done, to conclude the funding I believe it is and hopefully we’ll get the construction done.”

Sevenoaks Town: Jordan Perrin (Kian Eyers 90), Kevin Diomande, Ahmed Futa, Jamie Splatt (Daniel Duncanson 53), Jahmal Howeltt-Mundle, Ryan Sawyer, Jefferson Aibangbee, Joshua Wisson, Warren Mfula (Colin Igboma 90), James Jeffrey (Adadapo Olugbodi 89), Rodney Eruotor (Gael Kileba 76).

Goals: Warren Mfula 30, Rodney Eruotor 45, Gael Kileba 83, Ahmed Futa 90

Booked: Ryan Sawyer 45

Eastbourne Town: Chris Winterton, Leon Greig, Jack Murphy, Harvey Greig (John Walker 72), Nathan Hover, Dan Hull, James Waters (Sonny Walsh 81), Alfie Simmons, James Ding, James Hull, Marcin Ruda (Harvey Hammond 26).
Subs: Eliot Jenks, Gerson Guillermo Cachimuel De La Cruz

Goal: James Waters 46

Booked: James Ding 90

Attendance: 117
Referee: Mr Stephen Hawkes
Assistants: Mr Nigel Freelove & Mr Jack Matthews
Referee’s Coach:  Mr Andy Bennett