Sevenoaks Town 2-2 Faversham Town - I think today maybe you could see points in games why we've probably dipped out of the play-offs, admits Faversham Town caretaker manager Frannie Collin

Sevenoaks Town 2 – 2 Faversham Town
Location	Greatness Park, Mill Lane, Seal Road, Sevenoaks, Kent TN14 5BX
Kickoff	18/04/2026 15:00

SEVENOAKS TOWN  2-2  FAVERSHAM TOWN
Isthmian League South East Division
Saturday 18 April 2026
Stephen McCartney reports from Greatness Park

FAVERSHAM TOWN caretaker manager Frannie Collin says he will sit down with chairman Gary Smart at the end of the season to see which direction he will take when appointing their next manager after missing out on the Isthmian League South East Division play-offs in their penultimate game.

The Lilywhites were profligate during their dominant spells at Greatness Park, after striker Tashi-Jay Kwayie scored his 29^th goal of the season, from the penalty spot to give Faversham Town an early lead.

Referee Patrick Nixon brandished a yellow and then a swift red to Sevenoaks Town manager Marcel Nimani who went over the top from his technical area after a penalty decision didn’t go his side’s way.

But Sevenoaks Town were clinical in front of goal, scoring two of their three attempts on target, after the hour mark, scoring twice in 11 minutes.

Striker Warren Mfula accepted a gift from visiting goalkeeper Jacob Russell to notch his 19^th goal of the season, before holding midfielder Jaden Perez drilled in a stunning strike from outside the box to score his fourth of the campaign.

Faversham Town’s holding midfielder Tommie Fagg scored with a deflected strike but a point wasn’t enough for sixth-placed Faversham Town, with Sittingbourne also winning, 2-0 at fourth-from-bottom side Hassocks.

Sevenoaks Town were without Noah Carney with a groin/ankle injury and were limited to players with eighth-tier experience on the bench, while Faversham Town were without Jack Parter through a groin problem.

“I thought we started the game really well, really positive, front-foot.  The first 20-25 minute spell where everything we wanted in terms of intensity with the ball, pressed without the ball,” said Collin, 38.

“I think maybe the break in play, the ref decided to send Marcel off maybe disrupted us a little bit and then we had a spell where we dropped off and we went in at half-time feeling like we were maybe 10-15 yards too deep, a little bit disjointed.

“I thought we addressed it at half-time but I thought maybe we came out and started the second half the same, 5-10 yards off it and we’ve been punished.

“The first goal, it happens. It’s the way we want to play. It’s how we asked Jacob (Russell) to play, so I’ll take that. It’s nothing on him and then the second goal, it’s one hell of a strike.  From my point of view, we’ve got to be tighter and stop the shot and then at the other end we’ve probably created more than enough to win the game but unfortunately just didn’t take them.

“We’ve come away with a draw, still unbeaten in the three games. Obviously, the win was what we wanted to keep the season going but we’ll go into next week and exactly go to the wire, as they say.”

Sevenoaks Town assistant manager Ben Franks added: “It was a contrast to the first and second half but I thought we adapted really well. A draw was probably a fair result in the end.

“I thought we had a spell, probably first 15 minutes of the second half where we had an intensity we’ve not really seen before. We were like a rash on them and we didn’t really have the quality to completely punish them at that moment and then it kind of evened out a little bit.

“We were very impressed, a team like Faversham, a lot riding on this game for them to turn up and they’ve scored a penalty and a goal that deflects in and created some other stuff but I’m really impressed with how we applied ourselves throughout the game, especially with the response for the second half, I thought was outstanding!

“Faversham are a lovely team, aren’t they? They play excellent football but I think we let them play a little bit too much in the first half and second half we got a bit of intensity into them, tried to rush them a bit more and it levelled a little bit in terms of opportunities.

“But they’re in the run-in for the play-offs for a reason. They’ve got so much threat. I mean Tashi as a nine, you’ve got a nine that can take it on the chest in the penalty box and hold it up and set and it makes such a difference.  I thought Tommie Fagg in the four was so effective and dictated it and was a big part of us trying to adjust to try to stop him having the room to play.

“They’re an outstanding team. As Marcel said before the game the difference is we’re outstanding in those moments. We can be outstanding today, now we were outstanding here against Sittingbourne. We’ve had some really stand-out moments but it’s doing it over nine months.”

Faversham Town came out with all guns blazing.  Their attacking players were fulfilling their high-press duties and both sides played at a very high tempo for the opening 35 minutes before the intensity died down.

Sevenoaks Town created their first opening after 119 seconds when left-winger Kevin Diomande put in a low cross from within the channel, which was cleared out to holding midfielder Ayomide Majekodunmi, who took a couple of touches before drilling his speculative effort sailing high over the crossbar from distance.

Faversham Town – who had beaten free-falling Sheppey United (3-0) and East Grinstead Town (2-0) in Collin’s first two games of his managerial career – went route one for the move that lead to the referee awarding them a penalty.

Centre-half Matthew Newman drilled a right-footed long ball into the right-channel and Kwayie cut into the penalty area and Sevenoaks Town centre-half Ryan Sawyer gave away a soft penalty.

Kwayie emphatically drilled his right-footed penalty, just left of centre, sending goalkeeper Jordan Perrin (who had made five saves) the wrong way, as he dived to his left, as Faversham Town took the lead with four minutes and 11 seconds on the clock.

“Delighted for Tash. He’s been frustrated. A forward (Michael Salako) come in and he’s been in and out. Tash does what he always does, he scores goals, so delighted for him. Hopefully we can get him to 30 (goals) and it’s another little feather in his cap for the season.  I was really happy with the start we made,” said Collin.

Franks added: “We knew it was coming. We didn’t deal with it particularly well.  We thought we dealt with the first phase really well and they got out and just got a ball across the back line. It’s just one ball. We just badly judged it. Sawyer makes contact, it’s soft but it’s probably is a penalty.

“But our resilience to kind of fire our way back into it, we didn’t crumble but it’s not an ideal way to start a game.

“We caused ourselves a lot of problems because for 88 minutes of the game we defended really well.  We’ve been really strong. We’ve pressed on the front foot well at times, we got our triggers right. When we had to sit in a block we’ve been really good. Tolu and Sawyer just won duals galore but we just have those flashes of moments where we are not perfect and for some reason at the moment it cost us.”

Sevenoaks Town were struggling to deal with Faversham’s high-pressing intensity and Faversham’s high left-back Frankie Smith picked Daniel Duncanson’s pocket before slipping the ball into left-winger Kieron Campbell, who cracked a right-footed angled drive from 30-yards, which bounced in front of Perrin, who dropped down to his knees to comfortably hold.

“I thought we handled it well,” added Franks. “They weren’t carving us open on repeat. We knew we’d spend large periods without the ball. We just had to be a bit braver, push wingers a little bit higher and not get drawn into chasing their full backs.

“I mean, I like the way they play football. I like the number of bodies they went to launch forward and kind of suffocate the final third…

“They had a lot more territory than us in that first half but they weren’t carving us open repeatedly but they’re a very, very good team.  We were expected to be under pressure. Our job was always to take it into half-time in ideally in a positive result for us be it 0-0 or 1-0 up.

“But being 1-0 down at half-time, we knew that there was a lot of pressure on this game for them and we knew we could kind of go out and go and be aggressive and throw a little bit back at them and see how they can handle the pressure.”

A dominant Faversham Town kept knocking on the door and Sevenoaks’ right-back Hanson Itauma opened the gate and allowed Frankie Smith’s long ball to go in behind him.

Kwayie reached the by-line and whipped in a deep left-footed cross towards the back post.  Sevenoaks’ left-back Charlie Dickens decided to chest the ball back to his goalkeeper but Faversham winger Nathan Wood intercepted and toe-poked his right-footed shot over the crossbar from the corner of the six-yard box (22:56).

“I think we sort of said on the bench that at 1-0 we felt maybe a second goal in the spell when we was on top maybe kills the game off – and we didn’t get that,” added Collin.

“Woody’s poked it over, maybe if that goes in at 2-0, maybe it’s a different game.”

Collin, meanwhile, who was Tommy Warrilow’s player-coach all through this season, admitted being held to 13 draws in the Isthmian League South East Division this season has harmed the club’s promotion ambitions as the Lilywhites had numerous chances to kill off their hosts here today.

Collin said: “We’ve spoken all along, even going into last week, even at Sheppey, the one criticism I’ve had with the group is we haven’t been clinical enough and when we’ve had chances to kill games off and kills teams off, we’ve not really, use a better term, gone for the throat and finish the game, so there’s a lesson for us. We’re all learning on it.”

Nimani was enraged when Faversham Town centre-half Dexter Peter was not penalised for his challenge on Diomande (25:36) and stormed along his technical area shouting at the referee, who walked to around 10 yards off the technical area to pull out a yellow card and within a second a red card (26:42) to send off the Sevenoaks Town manager.

Nimani watched the rest of the game from outside the stadium, a high vantage point up on the hill behind one of the goals.

“I won’t go into the red card because that’s the lads opinion but I think the ref could’ve dealt with that before. It you could’ve just calmly explained his decisions beforehand, I think he stops that getting a little bit silly and get out of control,” said Franks.

“I don’t still understand the justification for why one was a penalty and one wasn’t?! Something about one was football contact and one was an accidental trip and unless someone can find out what the difference is, I’d like to know really because Sawyer catches the heal for theirs but (Peter) has an extended arm on the body of our ball carrier for ours.

“I’m just not sure what the difference is and I think their guessing. The red card is what it is, isn’t it. It’s frustrating. I think it should’ve been dealt with it way before then.

“Marcel was trying to drop a few messages in but he didn’t try to dictate the game from the hill.  He was smart about it.  But we were well prepared before the game, whether Marcel was on the side or not, the plan was still the same. We were still consistent, it was one of those things.”

Collin added: “I get it. I mean if it was me at the other end, I’ll be screaming the same. The ref’s decided maybe he’s took it a bit too far – but I get it.  We’re passionate on the sidelines and it’s a passionate game and maybe frustrations boil a little bit over when you feel a bit unjustified.”

Faversham Town keeper Russell launched a big kick into the corner of the Sevenoaks Town penalty area and centre-half Toluope Jonah was spotted pulling Kwayie’s shirt outside the box but the striker stayed on his feet and stabbed his shot straight at the advancing Perrin.

Franks said: “JP’s done a lot of those. He’s kind of under-stated over the last month or two. He’s pulled out one or two of those one-v-one spreads in every game and normally in crucial moments and he’s done it again there.  The chest back to JP was a bit of a horror show wasn’t it?”

The intensity clearly dropped with 10 minutes to go before the interval – on a warm and sunny day of 16 degrees.

A poor touch from the sloppy Diomande inside his own half gave Fagg a chance to pounce, drilling a right-footed angled drive towards the bottom far corner from 35-yards, which forced Perrin to get his frame down low to his left and use a strong left hand to ensure the ball didn’t nestle inside the bottom far corner.

Itauma was the weak link in the Sevenoaks back-four as Campbell hung over a deep cross from the left by-line and Wood’s downward header was excellently clawed out by Perrin, diving high to his left and using a strong left hand to prevent a certain goal. Wood had a second bite of the cherry and lashed over.

Sevenoaks Town created just the one opening, coming 85 seconds into stoppage time from a set-piece.

Perez floated the ball in towards a crowd of players at the back post and Dickens’  towering header was comfortably caught by Russell and the referee then blew for half-time.

“It’s a shame. We’ve got some very good physical defenders that are good in the air but we don’t seem to have as much success as we’d want with these set-piece situations lately,” admitted Franks.

“That’s probably the best of the bunch really. We knew when the game opened up slightly we can start to get at them a bit more. 

“We could see where they commit so many bodies forward. It was just a matter of time before we could go. We were ok with that first half. We thought going in at half-time, one down but not out of the game by any stretch, we had enough territory, there weren’t enough good moments, we were ok.

“We put Kevin (Diomande) as a winger just to try to attack the space in transition but we didn’t quite get the success we wanted so we put Kev back  into right-back. Sam Itauma into left-wing and Daniel Duncanson.

“The intent and energy they gave us in the press, we thought we could try to push their back line a little bit. If we can rush their back line, they can’t get their rotations as quick so when they do play the longer one, they’re not set.

“It worked. The first 15 minutes (of the second half) we were so aggressive.  We had so much good intent about us. We rushed them. It’s exactly what we needed.  We didn’t have much success with the ball but we didn’t need to.  That first 15 minutes was all about causing a mind-set change in them and it worked. They started to go longer in the goal-kick which allowed Sawyer and Tolu to step through to win their headers and it allowed us to be more compact. The midfield three were then able to lock onto players.

“When it connects for us, we are an outstanding team with the ball in front of us.”

Collin said: “Since we’ve come, we’ve made a couple of changes and altered a few things and defensively generally been really good. I just feel as though we did drop five to 10 yards too deep and sort of invited them on.  The two centre-halves (Newman and Peter) weren’t going right with Warren up top and it allowed him to get into the game a little bit more and that is the only criticism we’ve had.

“I thought the full-backs (Bradley Simms, who threw the ball into the Sevenoaks box on six occasions and Frankie Smith) defended their wide boys brilliantly today.”

With Nimani outside the stadium, Franks and Craig Coles (who departed the club after the game) took the half-time team-talk and whatever was said had the desired effect as the home side came out with much more desire.

The pair made a tactical switch, moving Itauma further forward and down the left wing and Dickens fulfilled a role in a three-man midfield, as Diomande dropped to right-back and Perez slotted in at left-back.

Collin said: “Sevenoaks were exactly how I thought they would be that they move the ball well, they’ve got good threats in wide areas, good threats up top. They’ve got a goalscorer (Mfula) at the top end that if you give him chances, he’s going to score goals, so they were absolutely what we expected from them.

“We said going into the game you won’t get a lot of credit for the last two games because they’re games you’re expected to win but today will be a proper challenge. 

“I thought they asked a lot of questions of us and I thought generally we stood up to it but unfortunately the lapse in concentration and just being 5-10 yards too deep at times cost us.

“I mean at half-time Watty obviously looks mainly at the back line, which he’s going to do. It was a case of we dropped off five-to-ten yards and it was encouraging us to go tight and squeeze the pitch a little bit more. I felt we became al little bit disjointed.

“The front five were pressing in groups and then the gap between the front five and the back four was becoming too big, so it was a case of get five yards further up the pitch, keep the ball in their half more, move the ball side-to-side and you will create chances, which we still did.”

The Oaks were ruthless in front of goal and pulled a goal back with 16 minutes and 41 seconds on the clock, courtesy of a gift from Faversham’s 24-year-old keeper.

Fagg played the ball back to Russell, who tried to take the ball around the pressing Mfula and the 36-year-old striker picked his pocket inside the penalty area and charged towards the empty goal before smashing his left-footed shot into the bottom left-hand corner from a yard.

“That’s all from Warren because I shout at Warren not to press goalkeeper’s because Warren’s no spring chicken anymore,” admitted Franks.

“It’s his 19^th goal of the season and this has been a bad year for him with 19. Warren’s timeless. He scored an identical one last week, rushing a back-pass, nicking it in front. He’s just got that instinct that he can just get a goal from nothing and put some belief back into us.

“We were able to commit higher again. We turned the pressure back on Faversham, which is what we needed to do. We needed to test them, their play-off ambitions were quite heavily on today.”

Collin said: “Look, we’ve said since we’ve come in, that’s the way that we want to play, involves Jacob being comfortable with the football, so look, in the first instance maybe Faggie should’ve played the ball forward or maybe played it backwards quicker but then once he’s gone backwards, I’ve got no issue with Jacob if he hasn’t got a pass on doing what he did.

“I take that because that’s what I’ve asked him to do but listen, it’s not Jacob’s fault we didn’t win a game of football today. Like I say, I thought we dropped off it as a group and at any level if you do that against decent opposition, you get punished.”

Sevenoaks Town went very close to grabbing an equaliser (21:01) when Majekodunmi played the ball inside to Perez, who took a touch before drilling his right-footed drive past the diving Russell and only just past the far post from 35-yards.

Perrin was called into making a comfortable two-handed save (22:56) when Fagg fed Campbell, who cut onto his right-foot and cracked a drive from outside the box which screamed straight down Perrin’s throat, pushing the ball over the crossbar with both of his gloves high above his head in the centre of his goal.

Sevenoaks Town grabbed the lead, courtesy of a quality strike from Perez, with 27 minutes and 37 seconds on the clock.

Itauma and Dickens linked up down the left inside the Faversham defensive third before the ball was worked inside to Perez, who took a touch and drilled an emphatic right-footed drive whistling into the top left-hand corner from inside the D, 22-yards out.

Franks said: “He’s an unbelievable striker of the ball. It’s Jaden. He doesn’t do enough in games. He’s doing it more and more. He’s got that confidence but after every training session he spends about 10 minutes just rifling balls from that exact distance and gets such movement on the ball and it was just a deadly strike.

“He’s got that in his locker. We’d love to see it more and you see that confidence breathing back into him. He’s an outstanding technical footballer and I thought going 2-1 up, I thought it was deserved after that spell in the second half.

“We really stressed them. We really pushed them so much intensity back to us. We were committing high, we were getting the ball in good areas.  I think we were good value for taking that 2-1 lead. I think it was a fair reflection. We earnt our way to get back in, earnt that goal by the work that came before it.”

Collin added: “Look, from Sevenoaks’ point of view, a great strike but from our point of view it’s frustrating because that’s exactly what we highlighted at half-time, not being tight enough around the box, being a couple of yards off, so he should never be allowed to turn in that position and get his shot off in the first place.

“It’s a hell of a strike from the boy but from our point of view, we’ve got to do better and go in there with him.”

However, Faversham Town showed great character to restore parity with their next attempt, timed at 30 minutes and 26 seconds on the clock.

Fagg started the move by switching the play out to Campbell on the right, who cut into the box and cut the ball back from the by-line back to Fagg, who drilled a low right-footed shot (which was on target) towards the crowd of players inside the box.  The ball deflected off Jonah and crossed the goal-line.

Collin was asked why Fagg was playing as a holding midfielder, as Ethan Smith was playing behind Kwayie, who dropped into midfield when Amgbaduba and Michael Salako went up top for the latter stages of this Kent derby.

“Faggie gets his goal, which I’m really happy for him,” said Collin.

“He’s played a different role for us since we’ve come in, being deeper. Essentially we want his quality on the ball deeper to get us playing. You obviously lose the goal threat that he provides higher up the pitch but we looked at it with KC (Campbell), with Woody, with Tashi, with Josh (Ajayi) there’s enough goal threats that end of the pitch.

“I’m pleased that he got his goal, even from that deeper role. He can still join in and get his shots off.”

Franks added: “It was so frustrating! It’s just, it’s not a nothing goal because their build-up to get there was good build-up but it’s such a frustrating one.

“it’s a nonsense deflection but we rattled, against a team like Faversham, they’re fighting for so much. We could’ve crumbled but we stood back up and pushed back.

“On reflection of the goal, they deserved it to be 2-2 but it’s us at the moment. Just those small little moments have just cost us.”

Collin and assistant Steven Watt threw on big targetman Eniuelayefe Amgbaduba and he slipped in Wood in behind the Sevenoaks back line but Perrin rushed off his line to make another vital block.

“I mean, the one we thought when Woody burst through, you’ve got to credit to the keeper, he’s come out and he’s done well.  He’s made a good save so that was another one for us,” said Collin.

“We just thought at that point if you go to 3-2, I thought the shape changed from our point of view, it caused them problems and it took them 5-10 minutes to sort of get hold of it.  We obviously got the second goal in that time. If Woody’s goes in, just then maybe it’s a different game.”

Franks added: “Outstanding from Jordan, he was quick of his line there. We just got caught being a little bit happy about being on the front foot and being aggressive. We committed a couple of bodies too many. That’s why we’ve got Jordan in there. He pulls those out almost weekly at the moment and they’re a little understated.”

Faversham Town who won the corner count by five-to-nil, went agonisingly close inside the final seven minutes following their final flag-kick.

Wood cut the ball back from the left to substitute left-back Tariq Ossai, who put in a cross, which was cleared back out to the unmarked Campbell, who cracked a stunning right-footed drive towards the top left hand corner from 30-yards, only for the ball to whistle just wide (38:25)

“Honest. I think when you strike a ball that cleanly from that distance, if the goalkeeper doesn’t move a muscle, generally you think it’s going to end up in the back of the net,” said Collin, who has scored many a goal like that during his career.

“That’s maybe why I appreciated it a bit more but he couldn’t have caught it any sweeter but it’s whistled just wide and we take it and we move on.”

Sevenoaks Town almost snatched the victory following a sweeping move (42:03) which involved Diomande, a sublime flicked pass from Mfula which put substitute Rodney Eruotor through on goal but the ball bounced up and he nodded his header straight at Russell, who had advanced off his line to make a comfortable catch.

“We knew Rodney would just need one moment and I thought it was going to drop for him but I thought Rodney done really well to kind of feel his way into the rhythm of the game off the bench,” said Franks.

“When it was so end-to-end, those tiny moments, the ball just bounced a bit too high didn’t it and I think any lower and he gets his foot to it first and I think he gets on the end of that and he finishes.

“We were still creating. We were still looking threatening.  We had so many good entries, we just missed that finishing touch.”

Collin added: “Probably miss-communication between us, definitely. He shouldn’t be getting in there and I think he’s got contact and Jacob’s half-read it so he’s managed to get there.

“Look, another time, another stage of the season, coming here when they’re on a good run and getting a draw isn’t a bad result but obviously at the business end, the win was what we came here for and unfortunately, we’ve had to take a point.”

Jamie Crellin’s Three Bridges will be playing Isthmian League Premier Division football for the first time next season, having picked up 95 points (30 wins, five draws and six defeats, scoring 122 goals).

Danny Kedwell’s AFC Croydon Athletic – who came away from the champions with a 3-3 draw today – remain in second-place on 84 points, while Ennio Gonnella’s AFC Whyteleafe are in third-place with 82 points.

Jersey Bulls sit in fourth-place with 81 points and Reece Prestedge’s Sittingbourne are in the final play-off berth with 76 points.

Sittingbourne host second-from-bottom VCD Athletic (32 points, eight wins, eight draws and 25 defeats) and lost 4-1 at home to Eastbourne Town in their last home game before closure, which was watched by a crowd of 210 at Oakwood today.

VCD Athletic have already downed tools and have a ZERO PERCENT chance of winning at Woodstock Park next weekend, while Faversham Town sit in sixth-place with 73 points (20 wins, 13 draws and eight defeats), the Brickies do have a better goal-difference of plus three.

The Lilywhites welcome Three Bridges to Salters Lane for their final League outing.

“Look, from our point of view, when we first came in from where we were, if you would’ve said to us going into the last game you’re still in with a shout – it might be a long shout but you’re still in with a shout, I think everybody would’ve taken that,” admitted Collin.

“We would’ve loved to have got the win today. We would’ve loved for it to be even closer or maybe Sittingbourne dropped points or whatever but credit to them, they’ve gone and done their jobs so we go into the last game.

“I think it’s a good chance for the boys to put a marker down for next year playing against a team that have just won the League and rightly so. Three Bridges have probably been the best team we’ve seen this season, so I think it will be what it will be.

“We’ll do exactly the same, with the intention of winning the game. If we win the game and we may get a bit of luck elsewhere.   We’ll try to win the game and then at five o’clock we’ll see what happens.

“Look, the last two games before this we’ve got the win and then we’ve looked online and results have gone our way. Today, it’s gone the other way.  Is there one last twist or turn in it? Maybe? Possibly. You never know but we’ve got to do our job next week and we’ve got to try to win a game of football and regardless of where we finish, I think in front of our fans on our pitch, there will be a decent crowd there I’d imagine as well and we’ve got to go and put a performance in.  Some of our home performances have maybe not been good enough so we want to finish on a high regardless.”

When asked about the chairman’s future plans and whether he would like to continue in the manager’s hot-seat at Salters Lane, Collin, who is currently on the sidelines with a raptured Achillies, replied, “It’s a case of babysitting the group a little bit.

“It was just a case of taking these four games from a players point of view to seeing what reaction we can get.

“For me as well, I’ve never done it before. Obviously Watty has. For us to have a look at it as well and see if it’s something that we want to do and then look once we get to the end of the season, we can sit down. If this club wants to go in a different direction, fair enough. If we want to go in a different direction, it’s all things to discuss but I’ve enjoyed the games.

“I think today maybe you could see points in the games where we’ve probably dropped out of the play-offs in terms of when things have gone against us in games we’ve not responded in the right way a little bit and heads have dropped and teams have been able to have a spell in games, so maybe that’s something that we need to look at.

“In terms of next season, we’ll sit down, we’ll have a chat with the chairman and it will be in his hands, shall we say.”

When asked whether he would do the job permanently, Collin replied: “If I’m being honest, maybe at some point. If you would’ve said to me before I got injured, will you be looking to do it some point this season? Absolutely not!

“If you said to me then in October, I would’ve said ‘absolutely no chance!’ But look it’s unfortunately this is how generally people get chances, somebody loses their job but yes it’s something possibly at some point happening but it’s come a little bit sooner than I thought maybe but that’s life, that’s football. You have to take opportunities when they come your way.”

Sevenoaks Town, meanwhile, go into their final day trip to Eastbourne Town (eleventh-place, 55 points – 16 wins, seven draws and 18 defeats) sitting in 12^th place with 54 points on the board (16 wins, six draws and 19 defeats).

“Eastbourne is always a very tough game. They’ve done very well this year, really, really competing. They’ve had a fantastic run a couple of months ago didn’t they. They’re a really good side. It’s going to be a test,” warned Franks.

“I think we adjust very well to grass pitches. I think we went there last year in a similar sort of time where their pitch is a little bit harder, a little bit dustier, so we can adjust to the pitch.  We’ve been good at playing both ways lately.

“It will be the same as all the other games against Eastbourne. We’ve generally came out on top the last few, a couple of times the scoreline hasn’t reflected the game.

“They’ll be very competitive and we’ve kind of got this mini-league haven’t we in the middle of the table, so it will be nice to come on top of that little mini-table league with Eastbourne right on our tails, I think.”

Franks praised chairman Paul Lansdale for keeping faith with Nimani, especially when the club were battling against relegation before Christmas.

“Credit to the chairman and the board for that for sticking by us. It was a really miserable time. They have that trust in him. They know the teams that he can produce.

“We didn’t quite get it right in the first half of the season but it’s a lesson to learn.  I thought last year, given our constraints and the brilliant late run we had, I think we kind of gave ourselves a good reputation how we did last year (finishing ninth with 62 points (17 wins, 11 draws and 14 defeats) from 40).

“We tried to evolve that, didn’t quite get it right but since Christmas I think we’ve done a fantastic rescue job in 2026.  Our start to the (Calander) year was brilliant, kind of started to put some of those wrongs from earlier on in the year right and in the grand scheme of things, yes midtable is probably where we need to be.

“We want to take a lot of this squad with us. We’ve really got something really good building. I think we can see that in days like today, where we can stand up and match the teams with some sensational footballers and big resources, so yes, I think establishing ourselves in a really strong midtable position sets us up well for the summer into next year with a new clubhouse.

“It’s another year where our average attendances have gone up, our average at the moment is 209 (the fifth lowest in the division). The club is growing, there’s such an upward trajectory.

“We’ve got a really good makings of a good group here. I think next year is exciting, attendances are building, the club is growing. The new stand is looking brilliant. It’s a really good place to be.”
 

Sevenoaks Town: Jordan Perrin, Hanson Itauma (Rodney Eruotor 75), Charlie Dickens, Ayomide Majekodunmi, Ryan Sawyer, Toluope Jonah, Kevin Diomande, Jaden Perez, Warren Mfula, Jed Borders, Daniel Duncanson.
Subs: Archie Howard, Harry Bunclark, Nana Arthur

Goals: Warren Mfula 62, Jaden Perez 73

Booked: Marcel Nimani 27 (manager), Warren Mfula 83, Daniel Duncanson 88

Sent off: Marcel Nimani 27 (manager)

Faversham Town: Jacob Russell, Bradley Simms, Frankie Smith (Tariq Ossai 82), Tommie Fagg, Dexter Peter, Matthew Newman, Kieron Campbell, Joshua Ajayi (Eniyelayefa Amgbaduba 64), Tashi-Jay Kwayie (Michael Salako 86), Ethan Smith, Nathan Wood.
Subs: Ben Gorham, Harrison Pont

Goals: Tashi-Jay Kwayie 5 (penalty), Tommie Fagg 76

Booked: Matthew Newman 42

Attendance: 282
Referee: Mr Patrick Nixon
Assistants: Mr Thomas Reed & Mr Matthew Pollington