Kentish Football 
Soccer Shorts: Kentish Football Family rally around for Tommy Sampson
Friday 28th March 2008
Tonight's Soccer Shorts brings you details on a benefit night in Rainham next Saturday for Tommy Sampson. We also bring you news on Ashford Town, Dartford, Dover Athletic, Folkestone Invicta, Maidstone United and Whitstable Town.
FORTHCOMING COVERAGE:
Saturday: Tonbridge Angels v Chelmsford City - Ryman Premier League
Wednesday 2nd April: AFC Sudbury v Ramsgate - Ryman League Cup Final at Princes Park, Dartford
Friday 4th April: Dulwich Hamlet v Sittingbourne - Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 5th April: Dover Athletic v Burgess Hill Town - Ryman League Division One South
The Green Lion Public House, High Street, Rainham, whose landlord is Simon Halsey, the assistant manager at Ryman League Division One South club Whitstable Town, will be packed with Kent football stars to raise funds for Tommy Sampson.
Sampson, 53, whose managed the likes of Tonbridge Angels, Herne Bay, Deal Town, Ashford Town and Dartford, suffered a heart attack last December and hasn’t been able to return to Redhill, his current club.
Keith McMahon, the manager of Kent League leaders Thamesmead Town, is one of many who is helping organising the event.
“Tommy has lost the feeling down his left hand side and because of this he has had to spend the last few months in hospital in London and go through a lot of hard work with the physiotherapist,” McMahon told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.
“You will be glad to hear that Tommy is recovering, but the process is a long one.
“To allow Tommy back home there has to be some alterations made to his house and that comes at a great expense, something that Tommy and his wife Sandy could do without worrying about at the moment.
"We have arranged a benefit evening for Tommy, it starts at 8pm and goes on until late to raise money for Tommy.
“Tommy has given a lot to football over the years and this is football’s chance to repay a little of what Tommy has done.
“Tommy is a proud man who would not want, or expect, anything like this, but as we all know he would be the first person to organise something like this it is was you or me that this had happened to.”
The night itself should be a very good evening. A who’s who in football will be there, so it will give everybody a good chance to come and have a chat and catch up on some old friends that you haven’t seen for a while.
There will be a disco for you to dance the night away and there will be an auction with some very good memorabilia to purchase, like signed shirts from Alan Shearer, Michael Own and Kevin Keegan and lots more.
There will also be a few special guests. It would be great if you have anything that you may wish to donate for the auction.
You can purchase tickets on the door. There are a couple of hotels close by if anyone wants stay in Rainham overnight.
For further details please contact Keith McMahon on 0777 929 0928, mentioning that you read this article on www.kentishfootball.co.uk.
McMahon added: “I know Tommy and Sandy will appreciate it very much.”
DESPITE DROPPING a division in a bid to find first-team football, Ryan Briggs has impressed in the heart of the Ashford Town midfield, and he is now looking forward to a bright future at Homelands, writes Sam Dixon.
Briggs arrived at Ashford from Folkestone Invicta soon after Steve Lovell took the Homelands reigns, and he reveals that he came close to joining the club on loan before his permanent move.
“I wasn’t getting much of a look-in at Folkestone and a chance of a temporary move to Ashford came up, that didn’t quite come off but when Steve came in I had no hesitation of joining a club that are going places,” Briggs told www.ashfordtownfc.co.uk.
“I heard good things about the gaffer from various people and that it was an ambitious club, so it was an easy decision to make in the end.”
Manager Lovell was obviously a main influence on the Briggs move and the 26 year-old revealed some unorthodox pre-match tactics used by the gaffer.
“To get us prepared for a match Steve is into yoga, he’s big on yoga sessions before the game! Only joking, he installs great confidence in the players and believes in us, this helps greatly because it allows us to go out on the pitch and play with great freedom.”
After a slightly sticky start, Briggs believes the bedding-in period for all of Lovell’s signings is over and the fans can look forward.
“The fans have been great to us, because we have being getting to know each other on the pitch and haven’t really been firing on all cylinders.
“There has been a lot of change and naturally it takes time to get the squad playing the way we should be. But I’m sure that very soon everything will click into place and god help the team that has to play us when we do start firing properly.
“Steve is well-known for wanting his teams to play football and we will get there. We just have to give it time and I’m sure we will get to where we want to be.”
Briggs is still looking for his first Nuts and Bolts goal and is hoping a change in boots will do the trick.
“They seem to fly in, in training but not in a match yet! Mind you though I have setup a few. I’m hoping the new white boots will provide the magic. Saying this though I am not trying to emulate the Walid Matata boots, no-one can emulate Walid Matata!”
With seven games remaining this season the Nuts and Bolts still harbour slight dreams of promotion but Briggs is sure if they can’t live that dream this term, the next campaign will be a successful one.
Briggs said: “We would all love to be up there at the end of this season but that may be just out of our reaches, the most important thing is that we get as many points as possible in the remaining games as it will put us in a confident mood for next season.
“We have to be challenging next season. The players have had there bedding in period and now it is time to produce the goods on the pitch.”
Lovell, however, spoke about the busy Easter period of football and a battling point at the champions-elect, Dover Athletic last Monday.
With four points the target from the two Easter games to realistically keep any play-offs hopes alive, the Nuts and Bolts failed at the first hurdle when they lost 2-1 at home to Whyteleafe on Good Friday and Lovell was understandably disappointed with the result.
“I thought the performance was Ok but in the end the conditions done for us,” he said.
“The wind and the pitch stopped us from the playing the football we like to play. They only really had two chances and they took them.
“We didn’t really do enough in the game to get a positive result and that was disappointing because if we had got the win, with the results going the way they did around us , then we would have been in a great position.
“We put plenty of effort into the game but in the end we didn’t create enough chances and we got punished.”
Ashford Town responded superbly on Easter Monday to hold runaway leaders Dover Athletic on their own turf in front of a bumper 1,324 crowd and Lovell, despite being happy with the performance, thought they could have done even better.
“On Monday the conditions were totally different and the pitch was in great shape so we were able to play football and it showed,” said the Welshman.
“At the end of the game Dover knew they had been up against it. We played very, very well in the first half and could have gone in at a break a couple of goals up.
“In the second-half I thought we didn’t pass it as well as we could have and when we got into good areas we gave it back to them too easily. But saying that everything went against us in the second-half.
“After the debate around the Lye goal I thought the referee tried to even it up and we didn’t get any decisions going our way. How it wasn’t a penalty when Walid was brought down I will never know.
“I was talking to the players, fans and even (Dover Athletic player) John Keister after the game and they all said it was a definite penalty and probably a sending off because Walid was in.”
Lovell changed the side and the formation around a bit for the Dover game, recalling Walid Matata to the frontline, with Mark Lovell playing in the hole and reverted to three centre-backs and the manager thought everyone played their roles well, especially the backline.
Lovell said: “We knew Dover would come at us in the second-half and they did but we stood firm. And I have no doubt that there is no better defensive duo than Sean Ray and Danny Lye in this league, they were immense along with Daniel Brathwaite, all three were solid and gave the rest of the team confidence.
“I changed it up front so that Walid and Jonah (Paul Jones) would run the channels with Mark (Lovell) linking up play from midfield and I thought it worked. With a bit of luck we could have had a few more goals in the first-half.”
A battling point for Ashford Town and one that Lovell thinks will stand them in good stead for the future.
“It was a good point and one that we can build on, but if we could have been a bit brighter at the start of the second-half and capitalised on their slow start we could have won the game,” said Lovell, whose side welcome Ashford Town to The Homelands, Ashford Road, Kingsnorth, Ashford, tomorrow (3pm).
DARTFORD boss Tony Burman has warned his players not to take anything for granted as they lead the Ryman League Division One North table.
The Darts welcome a Brentwood Town side to Princes Park tomorrow that have got play-off aspirations and the Kent giants must win their remaining five games to secure the title.
AFC Sudbury’s 3-1 defeat at Bury Town in midweek has given Burman’s side a nine point lead at the top of the table, although Sudbury do have two games in hand over them.
And Burman, speaking to www.dartfordfootballclub.co.uk , said earlier today: “Regardless of any results that occurred this week our situation has not changed.
“We have five games to play and we will do our best to win them, starting with the most important game, which is tomorrow against (sixth placed) Brentwood.”
With the finishing post so close, Burman has warned his players about complacency and that they must perform to confirm their place in the Ryman Premier League.
“I have spoken to the players and stressed to them that football can be a fantastic game and a very cruel game, especially if you start taking things for granted,” warned Burman.
“I have told them that they must be as professional as a non-league team can be.
“They have worked so hard to get us into a good position and must continue with their good habits to achieve their goals.”
Brad Potter and Eddie McClements, meanwhile, remain on the sidelines through injury.
But Burman revealed: “I have not signed any new players but that might change over the weekend. With the (transfer) deadline on Monday I feel that I should cover any unforeseen circumstances before that deadline.”
Matthew Clements, writing on www.doverathletic.com, reflects on the ups and downs of following Dover Athletic.
DOVER ATHLETIC fans can smell it. It's there, unfamiliar and almost unrecognisable. The scent of success is wafting under the club's nose, ready to be tasted.
It's been a long time since Dover supporters have had something to really celebrate. There have been a few highs in this decade, amongst all the lows, but none as exciting as the prospect of seeing the team winning a league title for the first time since 1993.
15 years is a long time to wait. It seems a lifetime ago that I jigged round the Crabble turf behind Barry Little and co. with the Beazer Homes Premier division championship shield.
In those 15 years though, we have been fortunate in many ways. Out of those seasons, how many have been boring mid-table affairs? Less than we'd like perhaps but one of the reasons for our large fan base is probably the fact that life is rarely dull around Dover Athletic. We have moved leagues four times in that period and experienced life at the highest and lower reaches of the pyramid.
Whether it's been admiring the great Dave Leworthy in his pomp, getting to the FA Trophy semi-final, seeing arguably the best midfield in non-league form and then split up in a matter of a few months, reaching the First Round of the FA Cup at last, suffering the humiliation of missing out on the newly-formed Conference South, or enduring the agony of financial woes and near-misses on promotion; it's rarely been predictable at Dover Athletic Football Club in the last 15 seasons.
And so the roller-coaster continued with the arrival of Andy Hessenthaler last summer. Having been at possibly their lowest ebb following the play-off semi final defeat to Hastings, Whites fans were given a bright ray of hope. Hopefully the Hess-Express is still only pulling out of the station on a long journey at the club.
But the job of gaining promotion is not yet done. Tooting & Mitcham United could yet still win their remaining seven matches and Dover's last five opponents are all top half teams going for the play-offs. That could work in Whites' advantage though. All their opponents need wins rather than draws so the team is less likely to face 10 men behind the ball, as the lower sides in the division have often lined-up again Athletic this season.
Whatever the opposition though, Whites just need to keep up the level of discipline and professionalism that has poured out of them in the last few months. Last weekend in the horrid conditions at Leatherhead and in the local derby against Ashford, Hessenthaler's team showed no signs of cracking.
Only Ashford's handled goal truly unsettled the team over the course of both games, and even then the ship was soon steadied. The superb defensive record in the last 14 unbeaten games remains intact. Just four goals conceded in that many games has set the club apart from all others in Ryman South.
Whites fans will be keen to see Saturday's game at Worthing go ahead but a pitch inspection has been requested in the morning due to the heavy rain there this week. If the game is called off, Tooting could play twice before Dover's next game at home to Burgess Hill on Saturday, April 5.
Tooting are scheduled to play Met Police at home tomorrow and Walton Casuals away on the evening of Friday, April 4. The scenario Whites fans would rather not happen is for Tooting to hand the title to Athletic without the team playing. Greedy perhaps, but a post-Dover-match celebration would be the icing on the cake of a tremendous season.
As usual with Dover Athletic, nothing is simple. Saturday could be a damp squib, a 'nearly there' moment or the full fireworks. But that's one of the reasons we keep coming back - nobody knows what's going to happen.
Boss Andy Hessenthaler hopes his team can get over the finishing line soon.
Hessenthaler said: "It would be nice to win it as soon as possible because then we can really start planning for next season, but we have just got to worry about what we do and be as professional as we have all season."
FOLKESTONE INVICTA manager Neil Cugley knows the perfect response to last Monday’s disappointing defeat at Hastings United would be securing all three points this weekend against play off chasing outfit AFC Hornchurch at the Buzzlines Stadiu, writes Tom Marchant & Andy Bown.
The Seasiders left Bridge Avenue back in December empty handed as a controversial late penalty secured all three points for the home side who had been a goal down up until the final ten minutes of the match in a spirited Invicta performance in Essex.
Folkestone have not lost at home since late January (against Carshalton Athletic) and the points picked up at the Buzzlines Stadium have ensured the Seasiders have generally stayed out of the relegation zone.
With four home matches left that form will be crucial as the Ryman Premier League season draws to a close.
Cugley told www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk: “We have to roll our sleeves up and work hard against Hornchurch. We haven’t turned into a bad team overnight and I’m confident of picking up points on Saturday especially as we seem to play a lot better against the bigger sides in this league. The lads have trained well and I will have them in early on Saturday to discuss exactly what I want from them.
“We need the fans to keep coming along and to support us and to try not to moan if we make a loose pass because it does affect some of the younger lads and we just need to regain some confidence after Monday to get the points we need to stay up.
“The fans do make a big difference without a doubt, especially at home and to be fair our record is quite good since December.
“We started well against Hastings and our fans really spurred the team on and I really want them to do the same on Saturday so we can end the season on a high.”
Has Monday’s result dented the manager’s optimism about the chances of his side retaining their position in the Ryman Premier next season?
“Not at all”, he responded. “I’m in no doubt we’ll stay up. Maybe it’s blind faith but we have four more home games left and our form at home has been good and it is all still very much in our own hands. We probably only need another seven points to be safe and we certainly want to get those before the last game of the season.”
AFC Hornchurch make the trip to Folkestone tomorrow very much the in form side and having trounced relegated Leyton 9-0 at home last Monday.
The Urchins can boast several particularly impressive victories in 2008; defeating runaway league leaders Chelmsford City 4-0 at home and beating Kent sides Ramsgate 3-1 and Margate 2-0, both at home.
Cugley said: “Well they certainly have scored a few goals recently and they’ve won four on the trot now against Leyton, Harrow, Margate and Maidstone and they have a few lads in the scoring charts.
“It’ll be a tough game and we have to be weary of the threat they pose going forward but we have to concentrate on what we do well and work hard to get a result.”
Folkestone Invicta yielded three points out of a possible six over the Easter period after they defeated Harlow Town 1-0 at the Buzzlines Stadium on Good Friday and succumbed to a 6-1 thrashing by a very ordinary Hastings United at The Pilot Field on Easter Monday – a performance everyone associated with the Club will be keen to put behind them as the Ryman Premier League season nears its end.
Speaking about Friday’s victory, Cugley reflected: “It was a very important win especially after what happened against Hastings and we wanted at least three points over the Easter period, if not more and we got them.
“I thought we played alright; it wasn’t a very good game but we dug in well and it was very important that we got the goal in the first half because second half we didn’t create anything”.
Leigh Bremner had picked up the only goal of the game after 17 minutes when he got up his reward for working the Harlow goalkeeper Jason Hassell after he looked to pick up a loose ball across the penalty area from his defender.
“I wanted a few more goals by half time because I knew it was going to be a struggle against the wind in the second half. We tested their keeper well in the first half and we played pretty well during the opening forty-five”, remarked Cugley.
In a decent first half performance from Folkestone chances fell to strikers Bremner, Tom Webb and Lloyd Blackman.
Webb had seen his free kick from the left hand side touched over the crossbar by Hassell ten minutes before half time as the Seasiders sought to increase their lead before heading in at the interval.
It was Invicta’s turn to cope with the windy conditions in the second half which had a significant bearing on the performance from the home side with chances few and far between after the interval.
The Invicta boss said: “Well it was very hard in the wind and people can see we were giving the ball away a lot but it was difficult and it was going all over the place whenever you tried playing anything it in the air.
“Luke (Stonebridge) was very good on Friday and dealt with all the crosses exceptionally well considering the wind and that really set up the win. I thought his positioning throughout the game was excellent”.
Stonebridge continues in goal in place of the injured Charlie Mitten (broken hand) and the young goalkeeper will surely be looking to get as much experience as possible in these final matches of the season as he looks to stake a strong claim for a regular starting place next season.
Cugley and the Invicta management team have no qualms about the credentials of the teenager goalkeeper as it looks to be a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ he takes up a regular position in the starting eleven.
Victory over Harlow on Friday completed another League double for the Seasiders after they had produced one of their best away performances of the season back at the end of August, with a 3-0 victory courtesy of goals from Bremner, Roland Edge and Kevin Watson.
“We marked them up well from corners and defended well and even though Harlow were the better side second half with lots of possession we looked comfortable because they didn’t look like hurting us”, stated the Folkestone boss.
Monday’s result and performance against Hastings will be one that Invicta will need to erase from memory by the weekend as Ryman Premier survival still remains unsecured.
The visit of AFC Hornchurch tomorrow should provide a much sterner test than that posed by Hastings and Cugley will be looking for a positive response from his side after the events on Monday afternoon.
In contrast to what the final score suggest the visitors started the game brightly at The Pilot Field with on loan striker Tom Webb showing his class with several instinctive runs and shots in the opening twenty minutes, one of which flew just wide and one which was tipped over by home goalkeeper Lee Worgan.
And Cugley said: “We did do well in first twenty minutes and which is probably one of the reasons why we were so fed up at the end because in that opening period we were dangerous.
“I thought Tom Webb was outstanding and he looked a quality player. In that opening spell we had shots on target, their keeper has made one terrific save and it was a bright spell for us and one in which we should’ve scored."
Somewhat against the run of play Hastings were to take the lead through Sam Adams after Samuel Kola Okikiolu misconnected with a ball in from the left hand side leaving the Hastings forward to poke past Stonebridge.
“Kola’s swung at it and he didn’t get a connection on the ball and it just fell to the lad to slot it home. It looked a sloppy goal and Kola really should’ve stopped the cross.
“I think that as the half went on and we were pushing forward we were leaving more space in the midfield and Mev (Micheal Everitt) had said at half time Hastings were picking up a lot of second balls and getting forward. I think as the game wore on Hastings won the midfield battle and that was where their goals started from.”
Cugley sent his side out early after the interval as Folkestone sought an equaliser. The best chance fell to in form midfielder Micheal Everitt whose shot flew just wide of Worgan’s right hand upright.
In the absence of the injured Ben Sly, the younger Everitt brother James took his place in the midfield for a second successive match.
The Folkestone boss remarked: “We felt we had a lot more to give second half and I wanted the players out early to get switched on and I think they responded at the start of the second half.
“I felt we got at Hastings early and Tom Webb has switched the play well a few times and we had a few chances.”
However, Adams was to pick up his and Hastings second goal of the game just after the 70 minute mark had passed when Steve Elliot put the ball in from the right hand side from a position which the Invicta defence were certain was offside.
Cugley said: “When the second goal went in it killed us really and that was disappointing because it was a few yards offside easily and that gave them the impetus. Even so, after that we were very poor and we went far too flat.
“Our experienced players did not lead from the front and it ended up being an absolutely disgraceful display and instead of rolling our sleeves up and sticking at it, we just gave in and that was a huge disappointment.
“I see no point in singling out players because it won’t help anyone. We need to get over Monday quickly and recover our confidence”.
Hastings were to score five goals in the space of about twenty minutes with teenage substitute Frankie Sawyer snatching three goals in eight minutes after replacing Adams, in what was a quite unbelievable display by the visitors.
James Everitt snatched a late consolation for his side in the final minutes of the match, sending the ball home from a John Ovard cross from the left hand side.
Cugley said: “I certainly let the players know how I felt at the end and I told them they can’t expect to be in this league next season if we play like that.
“I feel I let the fans down and the players let me down and that is not acceptable. We had a good travelling contingent go down there Monday and they got behind the lads first half but I felt I let them all down and that’s not a nice feeling.”
MAIDSTONE UNITED face another crucial weekend as they aim to put a gap between themselves and the Ryman Premier League relegation zone.
As ever, injuries will once again have an impact on team selection for the visit of Wealdstone at Bourne Park tomorrow, but joint-manager Alan Walker remained confident.
"We obviously go into the game with a great deal of confidence particularly after a good performance last Monday, but we certainly don't go in to this game over-confident, as Wealdstone are themselves fighting against relegation and have also had some good results recently so we will have to earn the right to win,” Walker told www.maidstoneunited.co.uk.
“That said, we showed a mix of guile, strength and pace up front last Saturday with Tiesse and Erskine up front and a good performance from Freeman, who won us the penalty has softened the blow from losing Hegley through injury.
“We will also be without Ben Lewis again and that's a big loss in terms of his presence on the pitch, but Lee Shearer is now available having completed his suspension and I'm sure he will come back stronger than ever as the time off has given him time to get over the niggling injuries which he had."
Sam Tydeman and Nick Hegley remain major doubts ahead of the weekend as they try to shake off injury and definitely out is Chris Smalling who is away on international duty.
In other team news, the club also announced today that they had released Rob Owen.
Commenting on his release, Alan Walker said: "He wasn't selected for the squad last week and there was little chance for him this weekend so we agreed to allow him to try and get first team football elsewhere before the transfer deadline closes.
“He may well return to the club at a future date but for the moment we felt this was the best way forward for him.
“He has obviously been a great player for the club this season and we obviously hope he can play a part in the future as well."
WHITSTABLE TOWN captain Marcos Perona was delighted that the Belmont Road club secured their Ryman League Division One South status with their 3-2 win at local rivals Sittingbourne in midweek.
Marc Seager’s side had sealed their third successive win at Bourne Park and Perona, speaking to www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk was delighted that the club, playing at this level for the very first time this season, maintained their status despite criticism.
He said: "There were people who not only question my position as captain, an honour I might add to captain Whitstable, and one I am immensity proud of, but also my place in the side.
“I have kept my counsel along with the rest of the players and we have answered them in the best possible way, with results on the pitch.
“Of course we knew it was going to be a tough season but all us players know we have the backing of the manager and that is so important when week in week out you go onto the pitch trying your best to get the right result.
“I can only play my game with the right players around me, for me the addition of Clint Gooding has made such a difference, but that’s not just me, it’s the same for all the lads.
“Look at the results since we have had a settled side, I think that’s four games in a row Marc has named an unchanged side, tough on the lads sitting it out but again, look at the strength on the bench, players that can come on and change the game.
“Marc set us a safety target of 40 points, we have achieved over that with five games to go and are aiming to finish as high as we can come the last day of the season.”
Whitstable welcome Burgess Hill Town to Belmont Road tomorrow.
Visit club websites:
www.ashfordtownfc.co.uk
www.dartfordfc.co.uk
www.doverathletic.com
www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk
www.maidstoneunited.co.uk
www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk
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