Erith & Belvedere 4-4 Cray Valley - A great advert for Kent League football, says Micky Collins

ERITH & BELVEDERE  4-4  CRAY VALLEY (PAPER MILLS)
Kent Hurlimann Football League
Tuesday 25^th September 2012
Stephen McCartney reports from Park View Road

ERITH & BELVEDERE manager Micky Collins has revealed he has submitted a seven-day approach for Rochester United’s prolific striker Stuart Zanone after his side leapfrogged over Erith Town to move one point clear at the top of the Kent Hurlimann Football League table after this eight-goal thriller against Cray Valley (Paper Mills).



Erith & Belvedere’s largest crowd of the season were treated to an exciting local derby, which neither side deserved to lose and the home side gained the point they needed to reach the summit after ten league games.

Central defender, Steve Hanson, 25, who was making only his second appearance for Erith & Belvedere, following his loan move from Ryman League Division One South newcomers Herne Bay, grabbed a hat-trick and the home side felt they had won it with seven minutes remaining when Kieron McCann scored directly from a corner.

But Joe Matthews’ emphatic injury-time penalty sealed a deserved point for Cray Valley (Paper Mills), who scored three first half goals courtesy of strikers Mo Conteh (who’s two goals tonight took his tally to seven for the season) and Chris McGinty.

The Eltham-based side stretched their unbeaten run to five games and are undefeated on their travels this season, but Rochester United’s 3-0 home win over Lordswood tonight means Cray Valley remain in fourth-place after Rochester climbed above them.

Collins said: “Disappointed that we never got three points.  I thought Cray Valley played really well.  I thought they played some good stuff.

“My main problem with the evening was the refereeing decisions. There were two of them that were blatant penalties that everyone in the ground saw and he’s not seen it so that’s disappointing.

“Disappointing that we’re 4-3 up with a minute to go and we conceded a sloppy penalty.

“I think that’s 33 goals that we’ve scored in ten games now, but we keep letting silly goals in. Their third goal was a great goal, really good football from Cray Valley.  I thought they were excellent and you can’t defend that, that’s top notch.”

Cray Valley (Paper Mills) manager Steve Chapman summed up the night when he said, “Great game for a neutral, not a great game for a manager!

“I’m disappointed that we gave a few goals away in the second half.  I expected a bit more of my team second half but highly-delighted that we came back and got the late penalty, which I think was highly deserved.

“Although the defence had a bad game because we let four in, when you think none of their forwards scored, we kept Andy Constable and Richmond Kissi quiet, I think our defenders done well. You just don’t expect a centre half to come up and bag three and take the spoils.”

Erith & Belvedere got this enthralling night underway by opening the scoring after just 97 seconds into the game.

Right-back Allan Matthews hurled a long throw into the box and Andy Constable flicked the ball on and Hanson looped his header over visiting keeper Jack Carthy to score from six-yards at the far post.

Collins said his side have been working on set-pieces this season and they are a major part in their armoury.

“We work on that,” he said. “We’ve always said when you’ve been at levels higher set-pieces count whether you’re in the pro game or higher non-league a lot of teams will play percentage football and look to work set-pieces and we’ve scored four goals from four set-pieces tonight so it works.

“Fair play to Cray Valley because they’ve defended well and we haven’t scored anything from open play.”

When asked whether he thought his side relied too heavily on set-pieces tonight, Collins replied, “We’ve scored six goals from open play (at Beckenham Town) on Saturday. I’m not looking at it thinking we’ve got an issue there because we were the top goalscorers in the league last year and as I’ve just said we’ve got 33 goals in ten games. It’s not a problem.”

Chapman added: “Poor marking!  But we know what Erith & Belvedere are about.  They like to just put it in to the box and it’s a learning curve for us.  We just know we have to deal with those situations better when we play them again.”

Carthy pulled off a fine save when he dived to his right to parry Adam Burchell’s right-footed swerving drive from 25-yards after Jamie Wood’s through ball.

Cray Valley’s opening chance saw James Golding whip in a cross from the right and McGinty towered his header wide.

Poor defending from Cray Valley’s left-back Steve Springett, when his clearance looped up rather than away, saw Erith & Belvedere striker Constable turn and crack a sweet right-footed volley which forced Carthy into diving swiftly to his left to parry.

But Cray Valley levelled proceedings after sixteen minutes, although there was a big hint of offside.

Richard Morgan’s corner from the left saw Steve Springett’s bullet header saved by Scott Chalmers-Stevens high to his left and the keeper blocked the follow up shot from inside a crowded penalty area and Conteh appeared offside when he tapped the ball over the line from close range.

Chapman added: “It came back off the post. Two good headers from Steve Springett. It came back off the post and Mo got there just in front of Billy Parkinson to just tuck it away.”

But Collins insisted the goal should not have counted.

He said: “Offside! Offside!  It’s an offside goal!  There’s no-one on the post. There’s no-one behind on the goal-line.  Their bloke passes it to him, he’s on the goal-line, there’s no-one there, he taps it in. It’s offside!  Poor officials’ again!”

Former Sittingbourne midfielder Tunde Aderonmu – who scored twice on his Cray Valley debut against Sevenoaks Town at the weekend – was desperately unlucky not to give his side the lead in the 21^st minute.

Aderonmu screamed a stunning right-footed volley from 30-yards towards goal and Chalmers-Stevens produced a world-class save, diving full-length high to his left to claw the ball around his post and out for a corner, which brought a ripple of applause from the crowd.

Chapman said: “It’s a fantastic strike and we know what he’s all about. He just gives our team a different dimension.”

Cray Valley produced another moment of excellence to take a 2-1 lead within three minutes.

Morgan played a precise through pass in between the two Erith & Belvedere central defenders (John Wilfort and Hanson) to put Conteh through on goal and the striker slotted his right-footed shot past the advancing Chalmers-Stevens from sixteen-yards.

Chapman said: “I think we opened them up. James Golding did extremely well. He pulled out side and the left-back pulled out as well and that left the space through the middle and it was a great ball through from Richard Morgan and well tucked away by Mo.”

Collins said: “The second one was a mistake and we’ve not cleared our lines and they’ve played it through the middle, he’s gone through and scored.

“That was a mistake from us. We’ve not cleared out lines, they’ve retrieved the ball, played it through us and he’s gone through and scored. Fair play. Good finish!”

But Cray Valley failed to cope with the home side’s aerial power during the first half and Steve Springett headed Constable’s downward header off the line after Jamie Wood’s outswinging corner was played out to McCann, who clipped the ball onto Constable’s head.

But Erith & Belvedere inevitably scored from the resulting corner, to claw themselves back into the game in the 29^th minute.

McCann swung in the corner from the left and Constable flicked the ball across the face of goal and Hanson steered home his right-footed volley into the near corner from three-yards.

Collins said: “Listen, we work on it. That’s it. It works!  It works!  We’ve got four or five lads in the side that are over six foot. You’re going to utilise that and use it to your advantage.  A lot of people don’t like that but there’s a time and a place to play football.  If people had been there on Saturday they’d see how much football we’d played.”

Chapman added: “More poor defending from our defenders. I think we played zonal in the first half and I think they countered that with their height in both their defenders and attackers and we just couldn’t deal with it!”

Erith & Belvedere’s set-pieces were causing the men in green problems during the first half and McCann swung in another corner and Hanson’s downward header brought a fine low block from Carthy.  Wood delivered the resulting corner in from the right and Constable’s downward header narrowly missed the target at the far post.

Erith & Belvedere striker, Richmond Kissi, who was later forced off with a groin injury, went close when his right-footed curler from a tight angle was palmed away by the diving Carthy, to his left.

Cray Valley went into the interval 3-2 up when former Bromley striker McGinty scored his fifth goal of the season.

Conteh was released down the right and the striker whipped in a perfect cross towards the near post and McGinty caressed his left-footed shot past Chalmers-Stevens from two-yards out.

Chapman revealed McGinty, who was booked when he kicked the ball away after being flagged for offside, could be playing for his country.

“He’s deaf. Yes, we didn’t tell the referee before the game that he’s partially deaf and so he got a booking for kicking the ball away when he didn’t hear the referee’s whistle so I think I’ll pay that (fine) on his behalf because it’s my fault for not telling the referee.

“He plays for an England team as well and we lose him for a couple of games on the 13 October when he goes away training with the England squad. 

“We’ve got some big named strikers in this league but we’ve unveiled two names, Mo Conteh and Chris McGinty, which other teams are looking at them now. Hopefully I can look after them and keep after them but they are banging the goals in.”

Both managers were asked what they told their players during the interval, which gave the supporters a chance to catch their breath and reflect on an outstanding first half.

Collins said: “Disappointed with some of the things we’ve done, conceding a couple of the goals.  We told them not to bother with the officials because I think the young lad that was running it tonight, it was too much for him. He couldn’t cope with it and he got the big decisions wrong.  I told them not to get involved with the referee. 

“Obviously we had a game plan and told them to stick with it and I always thought if we got the third and equalise we’d go on and take the lead and we did.”

When asked what he told his players, Chapman said: “Just play the same way in the second half. We had a chat about how we could defend the corners and the set-pieces better and we did man-to-man marking from the corners and the throw-ins but they still had the aerial power to come back and get two goals.

“They’re a very good and strong team, that’s why there up there, second in the League. They’ve got a particular style of play.  It’s for other teams like ourselves to try and counter that. I think today we showed we were the better footballing team.”

Cray Valley created the opening chance of the second half when Conteh’s left-footed drive from 22-yards screamed past the near post after twisting and turning his marker.

Erith & Belvedere substitute Sam Hasler sent his left-footed free-kick narrowly over the crossbar from 30-yards.

But Erith & Belvedere levelled for the second time in the 69^th minute with a goal any striker would have been proud off.

Yet again it came from another set-piece, a long throw from the right from John Wilfort, which was flicked on at the near post by Constable and big central defender Hanson brought the ball under control with his chest before he turned and volleyed a right-footed shot past Carthy and the hat-trick hero sunk to his knees before being mobbed by his team-mates.

Collins praised Hanson, who helped Herne Bay win the Kent League title and reach the semi-finals of the FA Carlsberg Vase last season.

He said:  “I’m really pleased for Steve, because he’s come in from Herne Bay.  Simon (Halsey) has let him come over to us to get some minutes so we’ve got him for a month and he’s come in and he was immense on Saturday when we beat Beckenham and he’s come in tonight and he leads by example.

“He’s a big lad and he puts his head in there when he has to and he’s got three goals and fair play to him.

“Steve’s played at a level, he’s a good lad and that’s why we wanted him.  We knew he wasn’t playing every week at Herne Bay and you need those contacts in football to be able to do it. We don’t run on a big budget contrary to what people believe and I use my contacts as much as I can.

“It was a great finish, a really good finish and to be honest I think a forward would’ve been proud of that and looking at him today you think he’s got a touch of a Paul Warhurst about him.”

When asked whether he’d consider putting Hanson up front, Collins laughed and replied, “I don’t need to!  He’s good enough at the back and if he keeps going up there for set-pieces and keeps scoring I’m quite happy to keep him at the back!”

Chapman added: “Again, I think that one was a bit different because we didn’t get close enough to him in the box and to allow a centre half to turn and have a free shot is very disappointing.”

McCann’s free-kick from the left was punched away by Carthy and Wilfort’s shot on the turn sailed just over the Cray Valley crossbar, before the home side scored what they thought had been the winner.

McCann whipped in a brilliant corner from the left with his right-foot and no-one managed to get a touch and the ball went in off the far post.

Collins said: “Another great delivery!  It’s just a good delivery!  We work on deliveries and he’s put it into the right area and it’s gone straight in. Someone could’ve touched it but they haven’t. 

“I’m well pleased at 4-3. I think we have to shut the game out now and the game’s won and we got done by a diagonal ball and our boy, who has just come back from holiday off a beach yesterday got caught under it and that’s the end of it.”

Chapman added: “Again, from our point of view, I’ve just had a word with our defenders, we always have two on the posts and the one time for whatever reason that we don’t, we didn’t have two on the posts and the corner went straight in off the far post.  If we have a defender on the post I’m pretty sure that he saves it but it was all immaterial, we got the equaliser anyway.”

But Cray Valley deserved to maintain their unbeaten away record when last season’s players-player-of-the-year Matthews kept his cool to score a last-gasp penalty, 22 seconds into stoppage time.

Ben Healy clipped a brilliant diagonal to pick out Conteh, who was fouled inside the box by Sean Johnson and Matthews stepped up and smashed his right-footed penalty into the top right-hand corner, giving the home keeper no chance.

Chapman said: “Mo done very well to get the other side of the centre half. A blatant penalty, even Micky Collins can’t complain about that one and a very cool penalty from Joe Matthews under the circumstances.  He is our regular penalty taker and he showed why. A lot of pressure but he’s a maturing young player.  He has been immense in the last three games for us. I’m glad that he got the equaliser tonight.”

Reflecting on the thriller, visiting manager Chapman said: “Both managers probably would be feeling their team should’ve won.  It’s not many times you see a four-all draw. Generally they are good games and I think this one must have been a fantastic game, plenty of action.

“Disappointed that we picked up five bookings. I think referee Isaac Searle did well and he’ll learn from this. It was a big game for him to referee for such a young ref but he will learn from this and generally I think he did well.”

Table-topping Collins added: “It was a great game for the neutral.  It’s just disappointing that we’ve let them back in but listen those were two sides out there that wanted three points and that was a great advert for Kent League football. Both sides were trying to play and do their best to get three points.

“I suppose if I was sitting in the stand and I was an Erith Town or VCD manager I’d be enjoying it but it’s disappointing that we were 4-3 up and we gave it away.”

Collins revealed that Kissi, Wood and Matthews were all withdrawn through groin injuries and that he has put in a seven-day approach for Rochester United’s fourteen-goal striker Stuart Zanone.

“We have made a seven-day approach for Stuart Zanone, yes,” revealed Collins.

“Good goalscorer, really not just the goalscoring ability that I like. I think he brings an awful lot to the table.  He’s a good lad.  He’s an intelligent footballer and he knows where to be.  I think he’s done really well and I think he’s done Rochester proud and the next few days we’ll wait and see.

“We have had three or four conversations on the phone and there’s also another club who are a lot higher than us that have put a seven-day approach, which is Bromley.

“That’s a joint-effort that’s between me and Jerry Dolke, the owner of Bromley.  We’ve had those discussions with Stuart, we’ve had another discussion today with him.  Hopefully he’s gone out and stopped Lordswood getting three points for us tonight and we’ll discuss again with Stuart tomorrow and see how he feels and we’ll see where it goes.”

Erith & Belvedere: Scott Chalmers-Stevens, Allan Matthews (Sean Johnson 46), Richie Davies, Paul Springett, John Wilfort, Steve Hanson, Kieron McCann, Jamie Wood (Carl Cornell 87), Andy Constable, Richmond Kissi (Sam Hasler 49), Adam Burchell.
Subs: Karl Knight, Luis Regis

Goals: Steve Hanson 2, 29, 69, Kieron McCann 83

Booked: John Wilfort 25, Andy Constable 61, Adam Burchell 66, Sean Johnson 90

Cray Valley (Paper Mills): Jack Carthy, Ben Healy, Steve Springett, Joe Matthews, Billy Parkinson, Tunde Aderonmu (Danny Hunt 73), James Golding, Jamie Miller, Mo Conteh, Chris McGinty, Richard Morgan.
Subs: Mark Allen, Ryan Sawyer, Harry Dolby, Ashley Bourne

Goals: Mo Conteh 16, 24, Chris McGinty 45, Joe Matthews 90 (pen)

Booked: Richard Morgan 5, Jamie Miller 53, Chris McGinty 59, Joe Matthews 72, Billy Parkinson 90

Attendance: 87
Referee: Mr Isaac Searle (Herne Bay)
Assistants: Mr Wally James (Sidcup) & Mr Adam Back (Sidcup)