greenwich090205

Local rivals cancel each other out

Beckenham Town travelled to Harrow Meadow knowing full well that a very tough contest awaited them.

Past history showed this was not a very good ground in as far as results went. There were no surprises in the team selection and the side that  had the good win against Whitstable Town two weeks ago was picked.

As with the previous encounter with Greenwich the game got off to a very high tempo.

Possession was vital and space very limited.  The match got bogged down in midfield with both sides cancelling each other out with their pressure on the ball.

Beckenham Town took the initiative and constantly fed wing-back Ahser Edwards who managed to out pace the home side on the left flank.

The visitors were just beginning to get on top when after some good work down the flank the impressive Greenwich winger got behind his marker and floated over a cross that fell to an unmarked forward who had time to side foot the ball into the net.

Beckenham Town then lost Edwards with a stomach strain and he was replaced by Smith.

Beckenham Town struck back minutes later when Hall put Vines through and his fierce long range shot was tipped over the bar by Borough's keeper.

The strong wind blew in favour of the home side and passes were constantly being over hit. With the half-time whistle approaching the Paul Vines and Lewis Wood partnership struck again with Wood outpacing his marker to smash home an unstoppable shot from the edge of the area into the top corner of the net.

Beckenham Town just  shading the second half and had it not been for the home side's keeper would have gone home with all 3 points. His acrobatic backward dive to prevent Vines scoring was the save of the season so far, while at the other end Hopper dived low at the feet of an advancing player to prevent a certain goal.  

In the dying seconds Adam Heaselwood nearly got on the end of a Nathan Paul cross to fire home but the ball was always running away from him.

Beckenham Town's travelling supporters had mixed feelings after the game, some felt it was scrappy whilst others felt it was a hard fought point against one of the fastest teams in the Kent League.

Beckenham Town: Gary Hopper, Nathan Paul, Asher Edwards (Paul Smith), Tony Sinclair, Martin West, Dean Forbes (Grant Watts), Matthew Belton (Capt), Adam Heaselwood, Paul Vines, Lewis Wood (Daniel Beszant), Darren Hall Sub: Russell Kirkby