Stansfeld 2-0 Lewisham Borough - We worked really hard, we gave everything we had but we just weren't good enough on the day, says Lewisham Borough manager Lloyd Davis

Stansfeld 2 – 0 Lewisham Borough
Location	Badgers Sports Ground, Middle Park Avenue, Eltham, London SE9 5HT
Kickoff	14/10/2026 19:45

STANSFELD  2-0  LEWISHAM BOROUGH
Southern Counties East Football League First Division
Wednesday 14 October 2026
Stephen McCartney reports from Middle Park Avenue

LEWISHAM BOROUGH manager Lloyd Davis admits his hardworking side just weren’t good enough on the day after conceding two goals in the opening 15 minutes to a Stansfeld side now in third-place in the Southern Counties East Football League First Division table.

 

Stansfeld, who lost on penalties to Premier Division side Tunbridge Wells after a goal-less FA Vase First Round tie at the weekend, bounced back and claimed the three points courtesy of Jack Calvert’s sublime 35-yard strike and Harvey Mead heading home a corner to swiftly settle the local derby at Middle Park Avenue.

“We were just sleeping in the first half,” admitted Davis.

“There’s things we should be doing in the early moments of the game that we knew that we just didn’t do today.  I think we were a bit lacklustre in the first half and to be fair Stansfeld made us pay for it.

“Stansfeld are an experienced side, well-organised and they were ruthless when they needed to be.

“I said to them at the end of the game, it’s frustrating because two halves we’re looking at two different teams. We worked relentlessly. We didn’t let their 2-0 deficit get to us and I think we worked really hard. We gave everything. We just weren’t good enough on the day.”

Stansfeld manager Billy Shinners added: “It was a great performance, a really, really professional performance. The first half, we scored a really good goal, credit where credit is due. Calvert scored a great goal and then a corner, as a manager, you work on corners and when it comes off as a goal, it’s always very pleasing.

“We probably had another one or two chances throughout the game but the reality is 2-0, defensively solid, so I’m very happy.

“Of course, it’s very important to bounce back. I thought we were very unlucky on Saturday. Like I said to you on Saturday, I thought we were probably the better team, however, that’s football especially with penalty-shoot-outs. It could be 50-50 but we’ve got good characters in the changing room, dust it off and went from the first minute today, so it’s very, very pleasing and pleased.

“I was very impressed, very, very impressed (with Lewisham Borough tonight). I knew they would be a very fast attacking team. I just thought we scored two good goals and after that we was in control really.”

Lewisham Borough created their first opening (8:58) when winger Chandler Kasai played the ball out to attacking midfielder Boluwatife Odutan, who lacked quality and drilled his left-footed drive over the crossbar from 30-yards.

Stansfeld – who only had two of their 10 chances on target at Culverden Stadium at the weekend – were ruthless and took the lead with 10 minutes and seven seconds on the clock.

Obinna Igwe played the ball in from the right to striker George Porter (who launched 20 long throws into the Tunbridge Wells penalty area at the weekend and only three in this game tonight), played the ball to Harvey Mead, who fed Calvert, who cut the ball onto his left-foot and cracked a screamer across the keeper into the top far corner of the goal from 35-yards to score his fifth goal of the season.

“Jack Calvert, he’s got that in him! That’s not the first time he’s done that for us and it will definitely won’t be the last,” said Shinners.

“As I said to you on Saturday, we did miss a few chances (against Tunbridge Wells), so it was a bit of a relief that we can score in the first 15 minutes (tonight).

“We didn’t take our chances on Saturday and to score 11 minutes into the game is very pleasing for everyone really.”

Davis added: “By the time I blinked, it was in the back of the net. It was a great strike – it was a great goal!

“It was awful for us. We’ve made a bit of a habit of conceding early and chasing games this year, it’s quite frustrating.”

Stansfeld doubled their lead with their third attempt on goal, timed at 14 minutes and 30 seconds on the clock.

Winger Igwa delivered a deep corner from the right and Mead steered his header into the near corner from inside the six-yard box.

“Again, that’s something that we work on at training, so it’s always very pleasing as a manager to get goals like that, so I’m very happy,” added Shinners.

Davis added: “I’d say it was an in-house error, a mistake from us. We was there and we just didn’t compete for the ball. It was a good delivery, it’s an area where we know that we have to defend well and I think we just switched off and they punished us again.”

Lewisham Borough were to be denied a goal by the woodwork with 23 minutes and 40 seconds on the clock.

Winger Nfonkeu Noel charged down the right and reached the channel and put in a floated cross, which was headed away by Stansfeld’s right-back Glen Bain.

Lewisham Borough’s left-back Chukwuxavier Nwobani-Akano cut inside and onto his right-foot and from 20-yards aimed for the top left-hand corner, only for the ball to smash against the crossbar.

“That would’ve been a great response from us. He done well on his weaker foot and it was just sods law it doesn’t go in. It was a great strike and we were all begging for it to be different.”

Porter’s final long throw came in from the right and the ball was headed away by Lewisham’s third defender at the near-post and Porter recycled the ball back in and Calvert lashed a first-time right-footed drive high and wide from 18-yards.

Stansfeld linked up down the left with Mead and Calvert before the ball was laid off by Porter to Calvert, whose attempted cross from the left was retrieved by Igwe on the other side  of the pitch and the winger cut inside Nwobani-Akano and his left-footed shot from 16-yards was comfortably held by debutant goalkeeper Nathan Boamah, low to his left, to prevent the ball nestling inside the bottom near corner (34:07).

Boamah has been drafted in on dual-registration from Corinthian-Casuals as Davis’s other two goalkeepers, James Boughtflower (dislocated finger) and William Barker (work commitments) were ruled out.

Davis said: “Nathan’s done us a good job today. Nathan’s a good goalkeeper. He’s played at a good level. He has good standards, I think he did well. I think he was unlucky for the first goal. It was a just a great shot. I don’t think there was anything he could do about it and I think we kind of let him down for the second.”

Porter received a lucky break inside the Stansfeld half and played the ball in behind Lewisham’s centre-half Cairo Duhaney-Burton to send Mead charging down the slope.

However, Mead’s poor touch inside the penalty area forced him into a much tighter angle and Boamah stood tall at his near-post and got down low to his left to flick the ball around his near-post with a strong left hand.

Lewisham Borough’s right-back Elijah Pinder travelled over the halfway line before releasing Odutan down the right and space opened up and instead of trying his luck at goal, he chose the wrong option and set up six-goal striker Harry Bunclark instead and the former Sevenoaks Town reserve player got it all wrong and hooked his shot harmlessly wide of the right-hand post.

“We just had to be calmer. We created some really good chances, especially in the second half,” admitted Davis.

“That was one of a few for us in the first half. We should be calmer. We worked so hard to get in those situations sometimes and then we sort of rushed it.

“I felt he (Odutan) should’ve taken that chance and he knows that and I think he doesn’t make the same mistake again.”

Both manager’s were asked their thoughts at the interval.

Shinners said: “I thought in the wide areas, they’re very, very lively, very quick. We needed to make sure we were aware of that, support our full-backs if and where we can and also try to be nice and compact but essentially it worked.

“I think we dealt with their wingers a little bit better, supported our full backs a little bit better so yes, the game plan worked and defensively as a team at the minute, if you look at our last five games, I think we’ve conceded one goal, so that kind of says a lot how we’re going with our defensive shape at the moment.”

Davis added: “I said, ‘we have to go for it now!’  There’s a little bit of a slope on the pitch that helps us. Sometimes that probably helped them in the first half. We have to be ruthless and just keep going until we get something and that swayed the way the game was going and to be fair to our boys we didn’t do that. We just didn’t find the target. We had a few more chances.”

With the game won earlier in the encounter, Stansfeld shut up shop for large chunks of the second half and Lewisham Borough bossed possession but their patterns of play were replicated and ended in no end product.

It was both centre-halves exchanging passes before working the ball out to left-winger Noel but Stansfeld were a well-organised outfit and hard to break down with centre-halves Louis Birch and William Cook resilient.

“They protected their central areas, as they should, that’s where the goal is.  They protected it really well. They put their bodies on the line.  I just thought they were well-organised.  I do feel we had the ability to unlock them. I just think the chances we created, we didn’t have the cutting edge in the end,” admitted Davis.

Shinners added: “You don’t get (possession) stats at this level of football but they had a hell of a lot more of the ball but we kind of dealt with it.

“We kind of let them have the ball in not very dangerous areas and as soon as they tried a dangerous pass, we were well-organised and stopped it and ran the game out, so to speak.”

Boamah launched an overarm throw to release Noel, who spun a very high Bain inside the Lewisham half before charging down the slope and playing the ball inside to Odutan, who fed substitute central-midfielder Toby Corner, who cut onto his left-foot and inside the D before dragging his low shot across the keeper and past the far post (7:50).

“Again, I think we just rushed it. Again, we need to be ruthless there. One of many chances in the second half,” admitted Davis.

Lewisham Borough created a similar chance on the hour-mark.

Substitute right-winger Daniel Thomas fed Noel, who played the ball inside to Thomas, who beat Frederick Warwick before the ball was worked into Bunclark, who drilled his right-footed shot on the turn across the keeper and past the far post from inside the D.

“One thing we know Harry is going to work for us. He had a great chance in the second half as well, a sort of snap-shot,” said Davis, who refused to throw his striker under the bus for a quiet night.

“I think he done well. When we defend like that early on, it’s hard for the attackers because it swings the momentum and we was on the back foot for quite a while but I think he done really well.”

Nwobani-Akano pinged a diagonal out of defence from his left-back role over to the other side of the pitch where Thomas cut into the box and from 10-yards, his left-footed drive towards the top right-hand corner was palmed away by Stansfeld keeper Charlie Cottrell, high to his left.

“Their keeper was top drawer today. He made a couple, a few saves, some crucial saves,” said Davis, knowing Cottrell would be no where near the tenth-tier if he had a bigger frame.

“I think we need to be calm and put it in the corner. We could argue and made him work but I felt their goalie done really well today.”

Stansfeld ventured out of their resilient defensive shape and Calvert held his head in his hands in despair (24:14) when he cut in from the left and lashed over from 15-yards after Frederick Cray played a first time through ball along the deck into his path.

“Yes, quite frustrating, especially when you see your first goal.  His main strength is cutting inside onto his left-foot. He’s got that in him.  Nine times out of 10 he scores,” added Shinners, when asked about Calvert’s second half chance.

Bain drove down the line and played the ball into the right-channel to Porter, who held the ball up before reversing the ball back to the Stansfeld right-back, who slipped over as he kicked the ball and saw it roll across the keeper and past the far post.

Lewisham Borough kept their control of a more-than-less one-sided second half but they couldn’t break down an excellent Stansfeld back four, as the away side often went to pieces in and around the Stansfeld penalty area.

Noel was often the creator of their openings and he cut in from the left and fizzed in a low cross into the middle where sub midfielder Yannick Vochyan took a touch before drilling his right-footed shot over the crossbar from 20-yards.

Stansfeld gave attacking midfielder Billy Bennett his debut in a seven minute cameo role, playing his first game since March following a dislocated knee injury.

“Me and Minter (Joe, assistant manager) have got a long list of friends who play football and don’t mind playing for us,” Shinners said of Bennett’s capture.

“How long it lasts, we don’t know. One game at a time. Obviously, we’re happy to have Bill. He’s been injured for quite a while. We’ve just got to make it work for us, as well as Bill.”

And when you see Ryan Hayes at the end of the match, you think to yourself is the former Dartford winger and Phoenix Sports midfielder looking to come out of retirement at the age of 41 for Stansfeld soon?

A toothless Lewisham Borough attack created a couple of stoppage time chances.

Vochyan played the ball out to Pinder, who ran down the right before cutting the ball into the middle where Noel was and the winger drilled his right-footed drive past the diving Cottrell and just past the foot of the left-hand post from 25-yards.

Lewisham’s holding midfielder Motel Williams’ downward throw came into the penalty area from the right and substitute striker Bryan Zepo leathered his left-footed drive straight down Cottrell’s throat, the highly-rated keeper clawing the ball away high to his right while positioned in the centre of his goal.

“Noel is a talented player. He can do that. Sometimes it’s a bit hard to keep him under control. I don’t think they contained him really well but I think we were rushing it a little bit,” said Davis.

“Bryan has leathered it – that was a great save! The goalie’s guessed the right way and he’s pushed it around. I think he (Cottrell) did really well.”

Shinners, who said centre-half Macey Malyon was ruled out during the warm-up due to a back injury, added: “You can’t say no more. I can’t say enough good things about Charlie. He’s good on the pitch, as you’ve said, making good saves but off the pitch as well. He’s an asset to the club.”

Rochester United returned to the summit following their 4-2 win over Staplehurst Monarchs last night.

The Spartans have picked up 25 points from their 12 games, the most played in the 18-team division.

The four play-off places are held by Lordswood (22 points from 10 games), Stansfeld (20 points – six wins, two draws and three defeats), unbeaten Hythe Town (19 points from seven games) and Croydon (18 points from 10 games).

Next up are Sporting Club Thamesmead (17 points from 10), Lewisham Borough (17 points – five wins, two draws and five defeats) and newly-promoted side Minster are in eighth-place with 17 points from 11 games.

“I think we’ve dropped too many points. Seventh is not too far down the table. I think there’s a good building spot for us. We’re not too disheartened, disappointed but not too disheartened, we’ll go again on Saturday,” said Davis.

“Our aspirations are to do as well as we can, finish as high as possible. You know me, you’ve interviewed me enough times. One game at a time, finish as high as we can.

“The last four weeks we’ve been riddled with injuries, no excuse, that’s why we haven’t spoken about it but slowly we’re getting people back. We’ve still got two goalkeeper’s out. Nathan’s done a good job today. It’s good to see our skipper back (Nick Harvey) but slowly but surely, I think over the next couple of games I think you’ll see us at full-strength.”

Reflecting on his side’s third-place position tonight, the Stansfeld manager said: “One game at a time. I said this to you on Saturday. You have got to be realistic as well. There are going to be games where you’re not at it, a bit like Elmstead where we did lose 2-0.

“We’ve just got to keep going at it, one game at a time, keep showing performances like that. Who knows where we are at Christmas and at the end of the season?”

Both sides are on the road on Saturday, against their First Division rivals in the Go Cardless Kent Senior Trophy First Round.

Shinners takes his side to Lordswood and said: “We got to every game to win. I weren’t there earlier in the season when we played against them, I was at a wedding, so I haven’t actually seen Lordswood play but I heard we didn’t really turn up, so we’ve got something to prove on Saturday.

"We've got a good unit, have good togetherness. Stansfeld has always had good togetherness but it's really slightly to come through with the performances now."

Davis, who takes his side to Croydon, added, “It was a good battle when we went there last time. I think it will be another good game but we’ll be looking to go through.”

Stansfeld: Charlie Cottrell, Glen Bain, Teddy Green (Ryan Fowler 77), Frederick Warwick, Louis Birch, William Cook, Jack Calvert (Billy Bennett 83), Frederick Cray, George Porter (Jordan Patterson 77), Harvey Mead, Obinna Igwe (Alfie Raishbrook 63).
Sub: Macey Malyon

Goals: Jack Calvert 11, Harvey Mead 15

Lewisham Borough: Nathan Boamah, Elijah Pinder, Chukwuxavier Nwobani-Akano, Montel Williams, Mamadaliu Balde (Nicholas Harvey 60), Cairo Duhaney-Burton (Toby Corner 46), Nfonkeu Noel, Tyresse Webb, Harry Bunclark (Bryan Zepo 67), Boluwatife Odutan (Yannick Vochyan 55), Chandler Kasai (Daniel Thomas 46).

Booked: Daniel Thomas 75

Attendance: 93
Referee: Mr Darren Stock
Assistants: Mr Yusuf Dogan & Mr Amir Badrashi Loddo
Observer:  Mr Ian McGrath

Match Duration:
First Half: 46:06
Second Half: 50:05