Greenways 1-3 SE Dons - Today proved to me that my squad are really hungry this season to challenge for everything, says SE Dons manager Antonio Gonnella

Greenways 1 – 3 SE Dons
Location	Rede Court Road, Strood, Rochester, Kent ME2 3TU
Kickoff	11/09/2026 19:45

GREENWAYS  1-3  SE DONS
The FA Vase Second Qualifying Round
Friday 11 September 2026
Stephen McCartney reports from Rede Court Road

SE DONS manager Antonio Gonnella says The FA Vase is a trophy he believes his side can go really far in after putting in a professional performance to beat a together Greenways side.

A crowd of 256 were at Rede Court Road in Rochester to see ninth-placed Southern Counties East Football League First Division side Greenways (eight points, two wins, two draws and three defeats) give their unbeaten Premier Division big-hitters (ninth-placed, seven points, two wins, one draw) a scare.

Greenways winger Max Cutler dinked in his fourth goal of the season to give the tenth-tier hosts a shock lead six minutes into the second half.

SE Dons – who hit the woodwork on four occasions – restored parity through substitute striker Aaron Watson, 45, before his strike-partner Joshua Bohui slotted in his seventh goal of the season to equalise with 20 minutes left, before Dominic Morgan Griffiths used the outside of his right foot to kill the game off with a sublime finish to book Gonnella’s side - unbeaten in their first nine outings in all competitions - a First Round place.

“All credit to Greenways. I thought that’s the first goal we’ve conceded in open play for a while, I think maybe since the first game of the season, I can’t remember but it’s been a while, so fair play to Greenways,” said Gonnella.

“But I think we dominated the game.  First half we were in full control, probably didn’t hurt them enough.  We hit the post first half and then second half we changed the shape at half-time and it was way more effective.

“We hit the post twice, hit the bar and finally got the win, so overall, pleased, obviously room for improvement but we dominated the game and we’re in the hat and that’s the most important thing.

“Greenways are a very aggressive side, very direct but they’re very good at what they do and their togetherness is very good and that’s why they’ll have a good season. They’re very together as a group, a good management team and they’ve done really well tonight.

“But I think the quality of our side probably shone through a little bit towards the second half and that’s it.”

Greenways manager Jack Clark, 34, was full of pride with his side’s performance full of heart and desire but the difference in class between the two sides was evident, especially during the second half.

“One hundred percent.  Before the game, it was massive. We really hit home about belief. We had pictures in the changing room before the game. I done a little speech with the boys. I said the late Willie Miller, who founded the club, he’s no longer with us.

“Rob Jeffery and Leslie Harpley, co-chairmen, have gone through difficult times in the last few years and they’ve worked hard to get us into a sustainable football club now, where we’re able to push for these play-offs.

“I said to the lads, we’ve come up against a tough opposition tonight but when things get tough, it’s about believing and working hard. If you don’t work hard, nothing’s going to be achievable.

“I said to the lads’ before we went out, I’m looking around, it looked as though they (SE Dons) didn’t really want to be here and I said to the boys at half-time, I said, ‘well done, just keep doing it, keep doing it,’ but you’ve got to whether the next 20 minutes.

“But look, they’ve come out and they’re a very well-drilled side and I’ve known Antonio a while and looking at the way they played tonight, that’s fantastic. That’s coming from a lot of hard work behind the scenes, a lot of hard work from their manager as well and also with the players as well, believing in their manager’s philosophy.”

Greenways were without Ben Davisson (cut shin), Fraser Walker (back operation) and Lewis Cook has been ruled out for up to 10 weeks with an ankle ligament injury.

SE Dons were without goalkeeper George Kamurasi (personal), Zack Ansah (Achilles), Ryan Palmer (ankle) and Alex Teniola (back).

Gonnella’s direct side dominated the possession stakes but they found Greenways to be in resilient mood, with the hosts giving their all, all over the pitch.

Greenways created the first chance of the game with 10 minutes and 8 seconds on the clock.

Holding midfielder Harry Beech played a diagonal from midfield out to left-winger Harry Baptiste, who easily cut inside 37-year-old SE Dons’ right-back Anthony Cook, before his initial shot was blocked and the ball came out to striker Taylor Bowley, whose right-footed angled drive was comfortably saved in Sam Freeman’s midriff.

“Taylor’s come back in, he’s a fantastic footballer but Taylor’s always got injuries, so he’s trying to play through them, which I love because his hearts in the right place but I said to Taylor ‘ take four to five weeks out, let’s get it right so we can consistently get you playing,” revealed Clark.

“He started on Saturday (1-0 defeat here to Hythe Town), started again tonight so he’s feeling a little bit in there now but in front of goal that will come with a bit of match sharpness.”

When asked whether he challenged his side to get at Cook down his side of the pitch, Clark replied, “So with Baps, he likes to sort of cut in. We said to the boys tonight, we can get at him (Cook) and to be fair he did have the better of him for about 5-10 minutes and then I don’t know what they changed differently but the right-back then had him much better.

“These are little, small things that we have to take advantage of when you come across these sides like this. If you’re on top for five minutes, you’ve got to try to grab one but we didn’t.”

Gonnella added: “It was on the transition where we were probably doing one too many passes, got caught out and then it was a ball over the top, over Cookie’s head and they were finding gaps there but I thought we dealt with it quite well.”

SE Dons raided down the left but Greenways had plenty of bodies back and the ball was cleared out to centre-half Michael Kamara, who cracked a right-footed drive from within the centre-circle and goalkeeper Shaun Wicks made a comfortable save to prevent the ball nestling inside the bottom left-hand corner (17:08).

Wicks received a huge slice of luck (23:00) when the impressive Bohui played in winger Andre Coker and his right-footed dink went above Wicks and pinged against the base of the far post, rolled along the goal-line and Wicks grabbed hold of the ball as it fell in his hands beside the opposite post.

“A great bit of football from us and Josh Bohui has been on fire and he reversed it to Andre Coker, who hit the post. I actually thought it went in. it would’ve been a hell of a goal but a good move and an unfortunate finish,” admitted Gonnella.

Clark admitted: “Night’s like tonight, you need something to go for you. I think that’s Willie Miller to be honest. They hit the woodwork a couple of times but we’ve been a little bit up against the rub of the green for the last few performances but tonight we had a little bit of luck on our side.

“But at the end of the day, they deserved to come away (with the win). They were a lot fitter than us but full credit to my boys, outstanding!”

SE Dons winger Palace Francis charged down the right and put in a low cross from within the channel and Eric De Melo Calheriros stabbed his first-time shot past the post.

Morgan-Griffiths right-footed ball over the top straight down the middle of the pitch released Coker, who hooked his right-footed shot over Wicks (who had rushed outside his penalty area) and the ball dropped wide of the right-hand post as a dominant SE Dons kept knocking on the door (34:15).

“I felt AC was probably waiting for a bit of contact, more than probably trying to find the back of the net,” said Gonnella.

“It’s a hard finish from there but any contact and the keeper would’ve been off. I think he got away with it there.”

Both managers’ were asked their thoughts at the interval, with the score goalless.

Cook said: “I just said to them ‘superb, I was super proud of you all!

“But look, it you think the first half was going to be hard, the next 20 minutes, the next 45 is going to be even harder and I’m going to find out a lot about you boys tonight.

“You can’t slip down, you can’t drop five percent because that’s when they’re going to score and for me they didn’t.  There were some tired legs towards the end. We were 2-1 down and conceded a third one but overall, I’m over the moon with how we played.”

Gonnella added: “It was more like stay calm. We’ve dominated the game. I felt like we needed a bit more, more entries into the box.

“We changed the shape, so we changed the shape and it was a bit more effective for us and it proved second half because we was dominating and creating chances, whereas first half we were just dominating and not creating too many chances, so it worked overall, so really pleased with the change at half-time in terms of shape.

Watson came off the bench and scooped the man-of-the-match award by ensuring the now Crayford-based big-hitters avoided slipping up on a banana skin.

Greenways came out with all guns blazing at the start of the second half and they produced a well-worked move which saw Cutler stun their visitors’ with a sublime dinked finish, five minutes and 42 seconds on the clock.

Beech, Baptiste and Simon Walton traded one-touch passes with one another just over the half-way line on the right and Walton switched the ball into the middle for Bowley, whose through ball put Cutler through on goal and his right-footed dink bounced into the centre of the open goal.

SE Dons were down to 10 men temporarily at the time as Morgan-Griffiths pulled a muscle after failing to cut out Joey Fray’s pass for Bowley, whose woeful cross/shot from the right sailed over in a previous attack.

“There’s some little partnerships linking up well now but these take time,” highlighted Clark, who is in his first managerial job.

“These take a lot of work in training and boys being fit and since Max has come in, I believe he was training here for Rochester in pre-season but he’s come in late pre-season, come in with a fantastic attitude. He listens to what we want from him. He works hard. He’s still a young lad but my god, he knows where the net is, so it’s good to have someone like that!”

Clark was barking out more noise from his technical area than the entire Greenways contingent watching the game – but a shock result was on the cards at this point.

“The thoughts are going through my mind but as an experienced ex-player, I’ve got to take it into management now, so I had to gather my thoughts and make the boys understand the next 10 minutes let’s try and keep it tight. Let’s stay 1-0 up and unfortunately, I think we got to (56 minutes) and we did concede but that’s football.”

Gonnella said: “Really good finish from the Greenways player. It came from us being sloppy in the middle third, our build-up phase.  We didn’t set the ball properly; they put two and three passes together and were through. A good goal, a really good finish.

“I mean I always have faith that we were going to get back in the game.  This year, I think that was our, after tonight, we’re on 30 goals in nine games, so we were always confident we was going to get a goal and I’m glad it came quickly after their goal to be honest.”

Greenways had a couple of chances to extend their lead but 35-year-old visiting keeper Freeman made a couple of comfortable saves.

Cutler’s through ball from within the Greenways half of the pitch split open SE Dons’ left-back Patrick McKay to release Baptiste but his left-footed shot was comfortably held by Freeman, throwing himself to his left (10:22).

Baptiste then intercepted a sloppy defensive pass and tried to find the bottom far corner, only for Freeman to dive low to his right to make a comfortable save.

“They were all comfortable saves. I don’t think he was in a position where he was really tested but routine saves from Sam,” admitted Gonnella, who was asked what Freeman brings to the side.

“He’s a character. Unfortunately, George (Kamurasi) is not available for a few weeks, so we brought Sam in on a dual-reg from Whitehawk and I’ve known Sam since I was 13-14 and Sam’s a fantastic keeper and very experienced.

“He brings us experience. He brings us almost similar to what George brings in terms of he’s a great character, a good leader and really pleased he’s come in for us during George’s absence.”

Clark felt Baptiste should have extended their lead with those chances.

“In pre-season, he’ll score them all day long, every single chance outside the box, he’s whipped in some fantastic goals in pre-season.

“But he’s been out. This is his third game for us. He’s been out for quite a while with a back injury, so it’s about getting these boys back, not rushing them.

“We’ve got a squad which we firmly believe in. I know it’s difficult having boys not playing and not making the squad but like I said to them before the first game of the season, we had a meeting and I said it’s impossible getting 21 into 16 and 21 into 11 but they’re fully behind us.”

However, just 19 seconds later, SE Dons restored parity (10:59) with Greenways goalkeeper Wicks at fault for hesitation.

A long ball was played over the top of Greenways centre-half Luke Mercer by SE Dons’ holding midfielder Ralfi Hand to put Watson through on goal and the striker clinically found the net with a right-foot shot as the keeper made the wrong decision to hesitate for a split second instead of charging forward and closing the angle.

“Azza in front of goal, nine times out of 10, it’s a goal. His movement was quality and he composed himself and you knew it was going in,” said Gonnella.

“That’s why it was really important to get Azza on at half-time. He was actually rested today because he had a knock. He had a sore ankle so he didn’t train on Wednesday, so we thought let’s rest him tonight because we’ve got a big month coming up and he came on at half-time and made that impact, like he always does.”

Clark refused to throw his goalkeeper under the bus.

“That’s something I can’t comment on too much until I actually see the Veo back.

“In live play, I did say to the boys at half-time, I said ‘there’s going to be times when you have to put your head in the way and take a whack.’ But that’s what happens if you do take a whack and you obviously end up with the result.

“Look, heat of the moment, I’ve got to look back at it but I haven’t caught up with Wicksy yet but he’s an honest guy. He’ll tell me whether he should’ve done better but in terms of that one, I need to see it back and have a proper look at it and have a chat with him.

“Going 1-0 up against the Dons, at the back of your mind, you always think they’re going to score because they’ve got an unbelievable threat all over the park.

“But at half-time, I said to the boys, I’ve never seen their fans sort of rattled as we walked off the pitch. They were giving us a lot of stick, that’s fine. I’m all about that. The boys are all about that. They’re all on board with that.

“But look, they’ve come away with the win. They’re an experienced side and they’ve been here many times before and I’m sure they’ll do very well this year and go far in this competition.”

SE Dons upped their intensity and desire levels after the hour-mark and kept knocking on the door, with the woodwork hit on three occasions during this time.

Bohui whipped in a free-kick from within the right-channel and centre-half Michael Kamara flicked the ball on at the near post and the ball deflected past the far post.

Bohui fizzed in a great low cross through a crowd of players towards the back post where Kamara swept his shot against the far post (16:23) and another cross from Bohui was met at the back post by Francis, who placed his first-time shot past the left-hand post (16:42) as a goal from Gonnella’s side looked likely.

“We dominated but it was kind of like a bit of a wake-up call (Greenways scoring). I thought ‘boys we need to start turning our dominant performance into chances and yes we got the goals in the end,” added Gonnella.

“I was just waiting for it to hit the net and it hit the post.  I think as soon was we got the first goal, we had so many chances. We hit the post twice, hit the bar and it was just a matter of time we got the second and the third.”

Clark admitted: “Like I said, someone was looking down at us tonight and I can’t thank them enough but look, it’s one of those things. The woodwork’s there for a reason and it saved us to be fair.”

Greenways could have won some respite following their second and final corner of the game (18:08).

Winger Baptiste swung the ball in from the right, which was met by left-back Luke Hearn, who steered his free header across Freeman and past the far post, despite Clark revealing that his side have been working on corners at training.

Game changer Watson was released down the left and he fizzed in a cross towards the back post where substitute winger Walter Figueira cracked the underside of the crossbar and the rebound struck the post before Wicks grabbed hold of the ball once more (23:30).

Dominant SE Dons finally took the lead with 24 minutes and 33 seconds on the clock when a lovely pass from Cook released Bohui, who produced a clinical right-footed finish across Wicks to find the bottom far corner.

Gonnella said: “Anthony Cook had an outstanding game today. He’s been out injured with a groin injury. First game back and was outstanding. He put the ball through for Josh and Josh does it again.

“Josh is another one who doesn’t miss at the moment. I think he’s scored, it might be six consecutive games now, so he’s on fire and yes, we’ll keep him.”

Clark added: “It’s a great finish, a great finish. They obviously work on these little patterns of play in their training and when you’re up against it, you trust your process and your patterns of play and that’s exactly what they’ve done tonight, so a great finish overall.”

SE Dons were playing a direct style of football with left-sided centre-half Harry Sargent often drilling long balls with his left-foot and Greenways failed to press and the home side ran out of steam.

Switching from four at the back with centre-halves Luke Mercer and Daniel Ashton outstanding during the first-half and going to three at the back and pushing Ashton as an emergency forward backfired for Greenways as they were much more open.

Gonnella said: “I felt they were going to chuck the kitchen sink at it, if I’m honest.  They put the centre-half up front (Ashton) and he used to be a winger. He used to be very good out wide and he’s at the back at the moment.

“In terms of us, because we take the sting out of games because we keep the ball so well and I think we had most of the ball again, so it’s kind of really hard when you’re chasing the game and the other team has got the ball in terms of mentally and trying to get back in the game and I thought we were professional to see out the game.”

Wicks launched a big free-kick up field and skipper Walton brought the ball down and drilled his speculative right-footed drive past the left-hand post from 30-yards.

Greenways substitute striker George Wady fed Walton, who shrugged past Francis, before slicing his left-footed shot harmlessly wide.

“He done really well to be fair, god bless him,. He’ll probably not be happy, he’s either 35 or 36, he’s actually older than me but the last three games he’s been outstanding, he’s lead the team,” Clark said of his captain Walton.

“It looked like a pull of a shirt but Simon’s clean though and he didn’t quite connect with it but its small margines. Could that be the difference? Maybe. Unfortunately, it hasn’t happened so that’s something that we need to work on but it’s fantastic to get into that position.”

Harley Gorse, another sub, recycled the ball back into the SE Dons box and Ashton steered his header across the keeper and past the far post.

But SE Dons killed the game off as a contest – silencing Clark who was kicking every ball from the edge of his technical area – by scoring their third goal of the night with 42 minutes and 5 seconds on the clock.

Morgan-Griffiths started the move from inside the SE Dons half and released Watson charging down the left wing and no one in green tracked Morgan-Griffiths’ run and his near-post finish was sublime, using the outside of his right-foot to flick his shot across Wicks to find the bottom far corner.

“Unbelievable finish from Dom.  Dom MG has got an unbelievable engine and he’s had a fantastic season,” said Gonnella.

“We encourage the boys, from the beginning of the game, to start making those third-man runs and he started his run from within our half and made the box and that’s the desire we want and he’s got the quality to finish it, outside of the foot into the bottom corner.

“Dom’s an unbelievable player and Azza made a difference coming on at half-time as well. 

“I think this is a hard game, a hard ground to come to, a team that we know was going to be really excited for the game and gave their all.

“I think sometimes being in the FA Cup still can come into play. We’ve been on such a high coming here, you really have to stay professional and I think we did stay professional and today proved to me that my squad are really hungry this season to challenge for everything!

“I’m pleased about the boys’ mindsets today and yes, the reaction of going 1-0 down, which we haven’t experienced yet this season, to them go and win a game, I’m pleased, very pleased.”

Clark added: “Of course, it’s a great finish. With seven minutes to go, we looked at it, let’s go for is, so we went to a three-at-the-back and they’re very pacy and very lively up there and we went for it.

“There’s nothing I’ve come away tonight not thinking we could’ve done this different, could’ve done that different. It’s football. When you chuck everything at it, you leave yourselves exposed at the back and that’s what happened.”

Freeman lined up a four-man wall for a Greenways free-kick from 25-yards, which Walton drilled low and Freeman dived low to his left to hold to prevent the ball finding the bottom right-hand corner (44:41).

SE Dons welcome Ajay Ashainke’s Fisher to Old Road, Crayford on Tuesday, before travelling to sixth-placed Southern League Premier Division South side Chichester City on Saturday in The FA Cup Second Qualifying Round.

Gonnella said: “Tough game, really tough game, Fisher are a really top side. I think it’s going to be a complete contrast from today, where they’re going to have a lot of pace and energy and keep the ball as well as us but we’re ready for it and then we go into our FA Cup game next Saturday.

“Really excited. I mean, if we’re honest, the Vase is more of a trophy that we believe we can go really far.

“The FA Cup, I didn’t think we expected to get this far. We’re not going to win The FA Cup, we know that, but we’re really pleased with the boys and the club getting to this point, so next week, I don’t want to say it’s a free hit because we go into every game to win it, but we know that journey is going to come to an end at some point but we’re excited for next week, really excited.

“Since I got into management in my first job (Croydon) and joining Dons, I’m here to win as much as I can.  I think I’ve learnt a lot about myself, when I’ve been at this club in terms of what I want and whatever game we play, I want to win.

“Our aspirations are to keep winning and hopefully get promoted again and hopefully make some cup finals and get some more trophies, that’s what we want, that’s what I want.

“I think the (22-man) squad understands that the squad is very strong and we’ve got a good close unit where the boys want to be in and around playing for me, the management team and this club and I think what’s important is keeping everyone happy, so training is competitive, so the boys like coming to training and I mean everyone wants to play but they understand if the team’s winning, they’re winning, so that’s what we’ve got here.”

The challenge for Greenways on Monday evening is can they replicate the same desire levels for a trip to bottom-side Sheppey Sports?

“I see in terms of the players and the way how they carried themselves against (SE Dons tonight), when you’ve got a lot of fans watching you and there’s a lot of things being shouted at you, how they carried themselves and how they carried themselves after the game with their attitude, who gets around who,” said Clark.

“Like I said to them in the changing room, I said when you go in the bar, it’s not about sitting on separate tables, you all stick together because there are lads who will need an arm around them and we’ve got some experienced players there.

“I’ll be honest, they’re absolutely out on their feet. I went in there; I’m the world’s worst in terms of sitting here and criticising because there’s always something to moan about or something to improve on. There is to a certain extend tonight but their performance, their attitude and their belief, they worked so hard as a unit.”

Maybe Greenways keeping to four at the back instead of throwing Ashton further forward may have taken the game to penalties and that was a tactical mistake from Clark tonight - and you can’t get it wrong in big Cup ties like this one.

“They are a little bit down but we have had a few little laughs and jokes whilst they were getting showered and changed but they are in the bar now and they’ll be in there proud of themselves.

“I’ve said a few bits and Rob just come in and said ‘I’m so proud of you all’ and that means a lot to me.”

“It’s always difficult when you go to Sheppey. In terms of where they are (in the table) I don’t believe they should be there. Obviously, stats don’t lie, but look, they’re a fantastic outfit, there a well-drilled side, they’ve got a lot of youngsters and some experienced heads down there and they’re not going to be there at the end of the season.

“It’s about getting that win and then pushing forward. We know they’re going to be right up for it and we can only be right up for it as well. It’s a game of football but they are a good side and we’ll look forward to seeing them on Monday.”

When asked about his aspirations for the season – Greenways finished in sixth-placed last season – and his playing budget, Clark replied, “We’ve lost a couple, we’ve strengthened really well, so I don’t believe in one target because if you do get off to a bad start, it can always be difficult to motivate the changing room and the last thing you want to do it lose the changing room.

“So we’ve got three targets. We’ve got end of October we’ve got to be in the top seven and that’s easily achievable and that’s something that we can tick off together.

“Christmas is to be in the play-offs and at the end of the season, hopefully be in the play-offs and we’ve improved from last year.

“The boys are all firmly behind it. They believe we can do that, so that’s massive.

“The budget is always a difficult one. I’ve had to pull a few favours in terms of a few people, who give me a few bits and pieces.

“It is what it is. For me, earning money through this level of football and actually quitting your job is never going to happen. It’s about the boys wanting what we can play with, understanding the situation what we have.

“Every single one of those lads, when they do get their little bit of money and I’ve got seven lads who get nothing and no one mentions money. They’re well firmly behind it and the club are working really hard with new sponsors’ to try to get everybody something, even if it’s a bit of petrol money but our budget is very, very, very, very small , so it is difficult.”

Greenways: Shaun Wicks, Joey Fay (Freddie Bull 66), Luke Hearn, Harry Beech, Luke Mercer (George Wady 73), Daniel Ashton, Harry Baptiste (Michael Paton 67), Aaron Sanderson, Taylor Bowley (Harley Gorse 59), Simon Walton, Max Cutler (Tommy Whitnall 82).

Goal: Max Cutler 51

Booked: Michael Paton 76, Harley Gorse 84

SE Dons: Sam Freeman, Anthony Cook, Patrick McKay, Ralfi Hand, Michael Kamara, Harry Sargent, Palace Francis (Liam Nelson-Martin 79), Dominic Morgan-Griffiths, Joshua Bohui (Billy Crook 82), Eric De Melo Calheiros (Aaron Watson 46), Andre Coker (Walter Figueira 60).
Sub: Ryan Johnson

Goals: Aaron Watson 56, Joshua Bohui 70, Dominic Morgan-Griffiths 87

Booked: Anthony Cook 89

Attendance: 256
Referee: Mr Mitchell Rolfe
Assistants: Mr Joshua Hussey & Mr Max Holliman

Match Duration:
First Half: 47:08
Second Half: 51:37