Sevenoaks Town 2-3 Lordswood - I left a year too early, admits Lordswood boss Jason Lillis

SEVENOAKS TOWN  2-3  LORDSWOOD
Southern Counties East Football League
Tuesday 15^th April 2014
Stephen McCartney reports from Greatness Park

LORDSWOOD manager Jason Lillis says he has agreed to stay in charge of the club next season.

Lillis left last summer to become Nicky Southall’s number two at Whitstable Town but he left the Ryman League Division One South club on 26 February.

But he returned to Lordswood as temporary manager until the end of the season on 19 March following Simon Halsey’s sudden departure three days’ earlier.

Lillis took charge of his seventh game of his second spell tonight winning an entertain game between two young sides at Greatness Park.

Tom Box, 19, capped off an impressive display for Lordswood by scoring the first goal, before playing a part in their other two goals as the Medway side remained in eleventh-place in the Southern Counties East Football League table with 36 points, with two games remaining.

Sevenoaks Town, who remain rooted in the bottom two with 20 points with three games remaining, levelled through skipper Jordan Broome, 18.

Lordswood regained the lead early in the second half through Sam Hallett, before Sevenoaks Town striker Harry Smith, 18, headed in his 22^nd goal of the season.

But Lordswood claimed their eleventh league win of the season when Rob Norman chipped home the winner.

When asked his thoughts on the game, Lillis replied: “Entertaining! It was end-to-end stuff.  Two young sides enjoying a game of football and I think they did in the end.  I think our endeavour and our workmanship maybe just edged it.

“As soon as I came in there was nothing to play for.  All it was to see the season out and if I can get a team out.  Up until this morning I only had seven players really available so it’s all hands on deck a little bit so I brought the youngsters in and that’s what they’ve done – they’ve got a result for me so it’s great.

“I’m pleased for the young lads. They’ve showed that they can actually cope at this level. I’m not saying that they’re they finished article at all but it’s a good experience for them to come out and play.”

Sevenoaks Town’s manager/chairman Paul Lansdale was almost speechless after his young side suffered their nineteenth-league defeat of another season of struggle.

“I think we deserved at least a point out of that,” admitted Lansdale.

“I think we played, second half in particular, the boys really dug in. They listened to their instructions and for me they came out and they did everything bar get enough goals and let in two cheap goals and it’s killed us really but I’m disappointed, very disappointed.”

Sevenoaks Town, who went into their penultimate home game of the season on a run of eleven games without a win, created the first chance inside the opening five minutes.

Sam Manktelow whipped in their first corner from the right which found its way out to Broome unmarked just inside the penalty area and the midfielder hooked a right-footed volley over the crossbar.

But Lordswood forced Sevenoaks keeper Charlie Mann into making a fine save when poor defending gifted Box a chance and his right-footed drive was pushed away by the keeper, diving to his right.

Lansdale said: “Charlie’s been awesome this year, absolutely fantastic. Shame about the third goal, which I think he feels he could have done better on but all credit to Charlie. He’s been a star player for us this year.”

Norman whipped in the resulting corner from the left which fell at Gabriel Luckhurst’s feet at the far post, but the right-back sent his first time volley over the bar.

Lordswood drew first blood by taking an eleventh minute lead.

Left-back Imran Englefield played the ball out of defence and Hallett clipped a long ball forward for Box to turn left-back Manktelow, leave Sean Johnson on his backside before slotting a left-footed shot into the bottom right-hand corner.

“I’ve been a little bit critical of Tom about his hold up play and his positional play but I can’t be critical of him today – he was awesome tonight,” said Lillis.

“He was a different player tonight. If he keeps playing and showing that kind of spirit and work rate and the touch he’s going to be alright.  He’s going to have a good future ahead of him.

“He had a hand in the other two goals as well somewhere along the line so he’s had a great evening!”

Lansdale added: “Poor defending on that one! We left him on a one-on-one. Sean slipped over and he was free on goal. It was poor defending. You can’t afford to do that.”

Former Chatham Town striker Smith swept a speculative shot into Matt Byott’s gloves as the Lordswood keeper made a comfortable save, before Sevenoaks squandered an excellent chance to draw level.

Smith’s pass played in right-sided midfielder David Green but after cutting inside he dragged his left-footed shot agonisingly wide of the foot of the right-hand post.

Lordswood’s holding midfielder, Adam Hooper, whipped in a free-kick into the Sevenoaks penalty area, which was headed away and Richard Styles brought the ball under control with his chest before cracking a left-footed volley wide from 30-yards.

But Byott, who followed Lillis back to the club from Whitstable Town, excelled in the 26^th minute by making a fine save.

Former Bromley Academy player, Kyle Farrar, who formed a five man midfield, played the ball inside to Jamie Davis, who drilled a low right-footed drive towards goal from 30-yards, which forced Byott to dive to his right to tip around the post, with the ball destined to nestle into the bottom left-hand corner.

Sevenoaks Town went close again just five minutes later when Davis swung in a corner from the left and Smith sent his towering header over the crossbar, before Green turned his man inside the box but was denied by a fine save from Byott, who dived to his right to parry before gobbling up the loose ball.

Lillis said: “Matt’s Matt. He’s always going to be a good goalkeeper and he will improve. He just needs a good pre-season under his belt to get sharper.  He’s lost his sharpness at the moment but he’ll definitely get better.

“That’s what goalkeeper’s are there for.  I mean every team you play against have a right to have a chance and have shots on goal.  Yes, he’s made two good saves but I think their goalkeeper was busy as well, he’s made a couple.”

Lordswood broke away and Hooper released Norman down the right but the striker dragged his shot across Mann and past the far post.

Sevenoaks Town deservedly equalised with a sweeping five-man move with six minutes to go before half-time.

Green, Davis and Farrar were influential in the move in midfield before the ball was swept out wide to Manktelow out on the left.

The full-back played the ball inside to Broome, who was given time and space by the men in orange to drill a right-footed drive from 30-yards beyond Byott’s dive to find the right-hand corner.

Lansdale said: “Jordan’s one of our under 18s from last year. I don’t know many eighteen-year-olds with the captain’s arm band at this level. I have a lot of time for Jordan.  I think he’s a fantastic player.  He plays with his heart all the game and I’m glad he got a goal. He deserves that.

“We’re a young side but we have a lot of faith in Jordan and he’s learning what to do at this level and I’m really pleased for him.”

Lillis added: “With youngsters, they’re going to be naïve with defending at times and you expect that.  They’re going to switch off.  Once they’ve done that we re-grouped and we got in front again. I’m not going to nick-pick about defending at any point. What we’ve got to do now is try to teach these youngsters how to defend and how to play the game properly.”

Both managers were asked their thoughts at half-time.

Lansdale said: “We just asked David Green in particularly when he got the ball out wide to actually go wide instead of coming in. We felt we could have a go at their back four out wide and get the ball into Harry, which is where our second goal came from and to keep the tempo high, not to concede to early, which unfortunately we did, but they never gave up. They never gave up at all even when we were 2-1 down.”

Lillis added: “I just said it was a soft goal that we gave away.  We just needed to keep plugging away and just stop them coming away with the ball too easy.

“We played Adam Hooper in midfield today who’s a left-back. I had to play him in there. He just kept gallivanting forward so we sort of put the reigns back on him and he sat in midfield a little bit deeper and we picked up pieces and they weren’t coming at us as much and that was the key. We kept our shape better.”

Lordswood took the lead for a second time inside the opening four minutes of the second half.

Box picked the ball up on the edge of the Sevenoaks penalty area and played a reverse pass inside left-back Manktelow to the unmarked Hallett, who stroked a right-footed shot across the exposed keeper to find the bottom far corner from 12-yards.

“He just side-foots one in there and he had one later in the game in a similar situation, he tried to hit it with the outside of his foot but it went wide,” said Lillis.

“Boxy done ever so well to get on the ball and it was a great ball inside the full-back and a good clean finish.”

Lansdale added: “It was bad timing. We didn’t close them down quick enough. It’s very frustrating. Frustrating for the players because I think they know what they need to do but sometimes they get distracted. Their minds go away from the game and those seconds they get punished at this level.”

When asked whether he has too many youngsters in the same team, the Sevenoaks Town boss replied: “That’s where you learn experience.  We play, I’m not sure how many we had out there tonight, it must have been five or six eighteen-year-olds.

“There’s always going to be a risk if you’re playing youngsters but they’ve got to learn somewhere and we believe this is an opportunity for them to learn and we’ve stuck by them.”

Sevenoaks Town went agonisingly close to equalising again when Manktelow ventured forward to crack a first time volley with his left-foot which curled agonisingly over the crossbar from 25-yards.

Lordswood went close too, when hard-working striker Norman cut in from the right and set up a chance for Hallett, who swept a first time shot just wide from sixteen-yards.

Sevenoaks Town missed a couple of curling chances through James Wortley and Davis before they deservedly equalised again in the 63^rd minute.

Right-back Wortley raced towards the by-line before whipping in a precise cross into the penalty area and Smith rose to plant his header from ten-yards across Byott, which dropped into the left-hand corner.

“He’s been terrific this year,” Lansdale said of striker Smith.

“He’s bagged a lot of goals, worked really hard and when he’s not in our team we know it – he’s a big loss for us.

“He’s great, he’s a terrific lad and I think he’ll progress as he gets older.”

Lillis was naturally disappointed in the manner that Sevenoaks Town pegged his side back.

“That could have been stopped,” he said.  “From a throw in we should have people in front of the forward.  It’s too easy for him to get the ball out of his feet and knock it to the full-back to get a cross in and if we done that then they don’t get a cross in.

“Again, naivety on our part. Our youngsters don’t speak quickly enough. They just watched it happen but again they’re young, they need to get that experience but when the ball did come in the box maybe we could have dealt with it a bit bitter but the kid finished it well.”

Lordswood should have scored when Norman’s pass was latched onto by Hallett, but his weak shot rolled past the keeper but Jack Miles got back to clear the ball away before it crossed the line.

But Lordswood won the game with twenty minutes remaining, courtesy of route one football.

Byott pumped the ball straight down the middle of the pitch, the ball was flicked on by Box and Norman chipped the ball over the advancing keeper into the empty net.

“Rob’s one of those players that he just works and works and works,” praised Lillis.

“He’s a dream to have because you know what you’re going to get with him week in week out.  Even if he’s having a bad game and things won’t happen, the one thing you will have from him is his work-rate. It’s phenomenal.

“I think he got his just rewards with his hard work. Boxey, again, a great game, flicks him on and then the goalkeeper made it easy for him, had a bit of a rush of blood to the head but he’s still had to finish it and it was a good clean finish as well.”

Lansdale added: “Big shame that! I think Charlie probably regrets coming for it but we should never have let that ball bounce.  We should have won it at the first attempt and we paid a price again.  Is that because we’ve got young players that are naïve? I can’t believe that goal went in.  I couldn’t believe we conceded it like that so cheaply.”

Sevenoaks Town pressed forward and created a couple of decent late chances.

Davis started the move which released pacy winger Jermeel Jno-Baptiste down the left to reach the by-line before he cut the ball back to Davis, who stung Byott’s fingers with a right-footed drive from 30-yards.

Byott preserved Lordswood’s three points with a brilliant save in the final minute.

Green whipped in a corner from the right, which came out to Manktelow, who drilled a left-footed volley towards the bottom corner, but Byott made the block with his feet before gathering the loose ball at his near post.

Lansdale was cursing his side’s luck and said: “He made a cracking save from Sam Manktelow towards the end. I don’t know how that didn’t go in but all credit to their keeper, he was awesome!

“We had chances but you have to take your chances and we’ve struggled with that most of the season.”

Both manager’s reflected on the outcome of an entertaining game.

Lansdale said: “I really thought we would push on and get at least a point from the game. It was a great game, very entertaining but we should have got a point from that at least!”

Lillis said: “Maybe I’d say they deserved a point but I think our endeavour and our will and hunger and what we’ve had we deserved a little bit of luck and we got our just rewards.”

Lillis revealed that he will stay as manager next season after recently meeting with club officials to discuss his future.

“When they asked me to come back here just to finish off the season with them, I mean it was little what can you do? I had no players!

“The players I wanted to use, I couldn’t use because the players were in a semi-final of a cup and if they played then they couldn’t play in the final so it was a bit of a mixed team so I brought some old faces back in.

“We had no expectations with what we were going to do this year. It’s what happens next year.”

When asked whether he will be in charge next season, Lillis replied: “It all got sorted this week. Yes, I will be taking over again next year. It’s all been agreed.

“I think the players were a lot to do with that as well. I’ve had a lot of response from a lot of players that have asked what I was doing next year and seem keen that they would like to join me, which was quite a major factor.”

Lillis guided the club to their highest ever position in the Kent League (fifth-place) last season, as well as losing 2-1 to Tunbridge Wells in the Kent Senior Trophy Final and earlier on losing to eventual winners Spennymoor Town in The FA Vase Fourth Round.

“There was a lot of hard work getting the club where it was before I left and for a matter of eight or nine months it looked like it went back four years when I first started,” he said.

“That upset me a little bit, watching week in week out thinking what’s going on, what’s happening?

“The youth set-up was not the same as it was when I had it so it was a little bit hard but when they asked me it was a tough decision but it’s probably my heart that says ‘go on, give it another go’, but I think I left a year too early.

“We all make decisions. We all make our mistakes and maybe that’s one I did but we live and die by that but now I’m back. We move on. Fresh start. Everyone seems to have a little bit of a buzz in their step again and hopefully we can compete next year.”

With three games left of the season, Lansdale admitted it’s been a tough first season in charge of the first team after being involved within the club’s youth structure previously.

The Sevenoaks Town boss said: “It’s been tough. It’s been difficult. Clearly we didn’t set out to be where we are. We were certainly hoping to be three or four places higher, if not midtable.  Things just haven’t gone our way for a number of different reasons but we’re positive we’re moving forward.”

Sevenoaks Town: Charlie Mann, Sam Manktelow, James Wortley, Sean Johnson, David Green, Jack Miles, Jordan Broome, Jamie Davis, Kyle Farrar, Harry Smith, Jermeel Jno-Baptiste.
Subs: Toby Lansdale, Kayis Derbel, Oli Miles, James Coppins, Russell Johnson

Goals:  Jordan Broome 39, Harry Smith 63

Booked: James Wortley 55

Lordswood: Matt Byott, Gabriel Luckhurst, Imran Englefield, Sam Lovage, Brady Lillis, Richard Styles, John Huston (Will Mawson 46), Adam Hooper, Tom Box (Al MacKay 83), Rob Newman, Sam Hallett (Dominic Elmes 76).
Sub: Ben Hilden

Goals:  Tom Box 11, Sam Hallett 49, Rob Norman 70

Booked:  Imran Englefield 79, Al MacKay 90

Attendance: 63
Referee: Mr Adam Bakalarz (Bromley)
Assistants: Mr Danny Geary (Maidstone) & Mr Jair Guzman (Southfields, London SW18)