Hollands & Blair 3-0 Lordswood - I need a reaction because people are playing for their future at Lordswood and I'm here to get out of this league and I'm not here to feed people's pockets, says frustrated Lordswood boss Scott Porter

Hollands & Blair 3 – 0 Lordswood
Location	Star Meadow, Darland Avenue, Gillingham, Kent ME7 3AN
Kickoff	23/08/2025 15:00

HOLLANDS & BLAIR  3-0  LORDSWOOD
The Isuzu FA Vase First Qualifying Round
Saturday 23 August 2025
Stephen McCartney reports from Darland Avenue

LORDSWOOD boss Scott Porter has promised to axe players next week if they don’t prove to him that they are good enough to play for him, admitting they’re not good enough and are using the club to feed their pockets after failing to lay a glove on Hollands & Blair during their poor performance as they exit The FA Vase at the first hurdle.

Hollands & Blair made six changes to their side following a lacklustre performance during their 1-0 home extra time defeat to Knaphill in The FA Cup Preliminary Round Replay on Wednesday night.

The Gillingham-based outfit comfortably sealed their passage through to the Second Qualifying Round of The FA Vase with their highest victory of the season, courtesy of second half goals from Ian Draycott, Joe Thomas and substitute Vincent Bowman.

Lordswood suffered their first relegation after 29 years in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division/Kent League top flight, as Porter’s arrival came too late and seven games wasn’t enough to beat the drop last season.

However, they arrived at Darland Avenue in second-place in the First Division table, having picked up seven points from their opening three games as Porter bids to win promotion at the first attempt.

But all they got from their outing at 12^th placed Premier Division side Hollands & Blair (three points from two games) was £160 in losers prize money from The Football Association and a post-match dressing down from Porter, who has promised several of his players that they have Monday’s home clash against Sheppey Sports to prove to him that they are good enough to stay.

“Men against boys second half,” admitted Porter during the post-match press conference.

“I thought first half we competed really well, a couple of decisions making in the final third and at the back maybe.

“I thought we could’ve worked on that but you have the chat at half-time, turn the wrongs into rights to make us better for the second half and we conceded a very, very poor goal which then set the tone.

“We just hid then went into a shell and it became men-against-boys.  They dictated the game, the sin-bin didn’t help, frustration (from) Harvey (Welford).

“The goals we gave away, every goal we’ve conceded, seven goals in four games and every goal has been straight down the middle and it’s not good enough!

“It’s not what I expect from the teams I manage.  I’ve said it to them in there, I need to make changes.  I can’t do anything about it for Monday. There will be players’ coming in to make the team different but yes, not good enough at all!

“I’m not here to feed people’s pockets. The buck stops with me and I need men in there. I need men who want the ball, get on the ball and play and not hide, not concede cr*p goals, put their neck on the line, die for me and I’ve found that out in four games that I need to make changes!”

Hollands & Blair manager Darren Blackburn added: “I’m in a better mood than after the game on Wednesday.

“Needed a reaction from the boys and I know we had a few changes but that’s what the squad game is all about.  We thought we would freshen the legs up a little bit and give people an opportunity.

“We knew they would be a tough team to break down and you’ve just got to match them for heart and desire and hope the bit of quality we’ve got in that squad comes through and it did in the end.”

“Dan Ellis had an x-ray (on his injured foot) on Friday.  Luckily enough, nothing was broken but obviously taken precautions.  Brooksey (Harry Brooks) was available, which is brilliant for us. He’s a great lad. I’ve known him a long time, so a no brainier when you can replace someone like Dan Ellis with Brooksey.

“The rest of them were either players I decided to rest just because they looked a bit leggy after Wednesday or changes I wanted to make just tactically.

“I knew they’d be like a physical side, so we had to match them for that, so we went a little bit big and a little bit physical for this one and it’s worked out.”

Hollands & Blair created their first opening after four minutes and 14 seconds when recalled left-winger Tyresse Bundu-Kamara cut inside Lordswood’s right-back Ellis Shadwell and put in a cross for Draycott to glance his free header across the keeper and past the far post from 12-yards.

Blackburn said: “He was unlucky. We’ve brought in Tyresse. He’s been really patient on the bench, hasn’t had loads of opportunities, haven’t played much at this level. He’s only a young lad.  I thought we gave him a chance. He did well against Lordswood in pre-season and he’s good.  He’s got a bit of a groin issue as well, so he’s not quite ready to go 90’s but it’s good to give him minutes.”

Blackburn was without goalkeeper Daniel Ellis, who suffered a foot injury on Wednesday night, so in came Harry Brooks, on dual-registration from Sheppey United, playing in Kevin Watson’s 9-0 home win over Eastbourne United in The FA Cup Preliminary Round last weekend.

Striker Kane Rowland made his debut, having signed from Herne Bay and dominant midfielder James Jeffrey also impressed, having signed on dual-registration from Sevenoaks Town. 

Winger Fred Obasa was ruled out through an Achillies injury, while Bundu-Kamara (groin) and Draycott (hamstring twinge) were taken off with knocks.

The Football Association only allowed club’s to play dual-registered players in this competition last season – today was an example of players coming in from one level higher and making a positive impact on an under-fire side.

“Yes, definitely. It’s not difficult as well when you’re bringing in the likes of James Jeffrey and Kane Rowland into your team,” admitted Blackburn.

“They’re quality lads, for me they’re good lads at Step Four. I’ve worked with both of them at Step Four in fairness so the fact that I’ve got them both in my team playing for me at Step Five is ab absolute privilege and I think they showed that today.  They’ve got that quality on the ball and they’re great lads as well.”

“I thought Kane (Rowland) and JJ (Jeffrey) were equally as good.  I thought if anything, provably Kane might just about edged it in terms of if you had to vote for man-of-the-match, I thought it might be a really tough call but there were several other candidates as well.”

When asked their contribution for the home side, Porter revealed he is looking for similar players for Lordswood.

“Because they’re old heads and they’re experienced. They’re good on the ball, they talk and they’ve been around and that’s something I need.”

Right-winger Jeffrey, often cut into the middle of the park and Hollands & Blair dominated the middle of the park, as Samuel Bailey, Ethan Stewart and Billy Horley often went missing for Lordswood.

“Yes, of course we did (lose the midfield battle). Our midfield three, our rotation wasn’t good enough.  We didn’t want the ball. We didn’t work hard enough off the ball and it’s not hard. Our 10 picks up their four, our four picks up their 10. The other runs around and if you can’t do that job and be disciplined, they’re not my players,” said Porter.

Jeffrey fed the impressive Rowland, who got in behind slow Lordswood centre-half Charlie Plummer, had time inside the box to take a touch before stroking his right-footed angled drive across the keeper and past the far post.

Blackburn admitted: “I never expected him to shoot from there to be honest with you.  I thought he was looking to get his head up for a cross but there wasn’t anyone really in the box and the shot was there to be taken, so fair play to him.  Kane’s got that in his locker to shoot and score from there. I’ve seen him do that before.”

Lordswood created just the one chance in the first half and it arrived in the 16^th minute, courtesy of good link-up play down the left involving full-back Jonathan Harris and Welford.

Welford cut into the box and dinked in a cross towards the back post where fellow winger George Miles’ free header at the far post looped just over Brooks’ crossbar.

“I thought we (cancelled) each other out. They didn’t have a lot, they didn’t create an awful lot and we didn’t and we were in the game.  You’re away from home, so yes, you’d take that and you sort everything out at half-time and try to progress and push on and we just went the complete opposite way,” admitted Porter.

Blackburn added: “Harvey’s a good player. He was here before. I’ve seen him at Larkfield and he’s a good player. He’s a young lad, got some really good qualities.”

Blackburn brought in Matthew Gething to partner Charlie Weston at the heart of his defence.

“They Probably found it tough against our defensive unit today.  I’m taking pride in the fact that the boys are really organised and they’re taking the messages on board about our defending, taking it seriously.  We’ve limited them to a few chances, which was nice to see.

“Gething went out on loan the other week to (Kent County League Premier Division side) Cuxton, got 90 minutes under his belt.  It’s been tough for him to get in because Luke Exall’s been superb.  Charlie Weston’s been superb.  Kristian Wigg’s a young lad but he’s going to university soon, so the three along the back four is going to be Gething, Luke and Charlie and they’ve all been brilliant.

“It’s a long old season, the longer we stay in these cup competitions it gets even longer, so you need a bigger squad.

“It’s hard to keep all of the lads (in my 22-24 man squad) happy, but I can only try and be honest with them and that’s what I do.  I’m honest with them all of the time.”

Bundu-Kamara stabbed the ball inside to Thomas, who cut inside Bailey along the 18-yard line drilling his right-footed drive flashing just past the foot of the left-hand post in the 18^th minute.

Hollands & Blair continued to dominate when just 134 seconds later, a poor clearance from Harris went straight to Blair’s central midfielder Thomas, who cracked a deflected left-footed drive towards the bottom right-hand corner, which was comfortably held by visiting goalkeeper Samuel Grant, diving low to his left.

“There were a few bits and pieces in the first half, pretty similar to the other night in fairness,” said Blackburn.

“A lot of us having a lot of possession of the ball now, which is nice, different from when I came in last season. We had to play a different way when you’re down the bottom of the league but when you’re winning matches and you’ve got a bit more quality available, then you can play a bit more football.”

Both sides then cancelled each other out in typical local derby fashion but the home side continued to boss possession and Porter often barked out encouragement and tactics to his young players.

Stewart floated in a deep free-kick in from the left touchline and Plummer came up from the back to knock his header across goal but Lordswood failed to call Brooks into making a save as the ball bounced past the left upright.

Hollands & Blair counter-attacked in the 41^st minute with holding midfielder Reece Gillies rolling the ball out to Rowland down the right channel and he delivered a deep cross towards the unmarked Bundu-Kamara inside the box but his bullet header screamed past the near-post, as Shadwell failed to mark his man.

Welford cut in from the left before cracking a speculative right-footed drive sailing harmlessly over the crossbar just 31 seconds later at the other end.

Plummer dinked a clearance out of Lordswood’s defence and was met by Rowland’s head before the centre-half clattered into Draycott and almost made the price with 44:00 on the clock.

Grant lined up a four man wall and Draycott got up and stroked a right-footed free-kick screaming just past the top of the right-hand post from 25-yards.

“He nearly scored one of them the other night and we all thought, I think the keeper included, thought that was in but he’s just nudged it past the post, which was unfortunate for him but I think he deserves a goal for the effort he’s putting in off the ball at the moment,” said Blackburn, who was asked what the 37-year-old brings to the party.

“I’d like to think he’s played a slightly higher level, a league or two higher than I did but I’d like to think it’s similar to what I gave Paul Piggott when Piggy was here as manager.

“You’ve got a bit of an organiser. He understands what I want. He’s part of the management structure, as we talk to each other about set-pieces and defending and attacking. He understands the shapes that we try to achieve on and off the ball, so it’s like having a coach and a second set of eyes on the pitch.

“But it’s just not him. We’ve got in the spine of the team today, we have Harry Brooks, normally we’ve got Dan Ellis. We’ve got Matt Gething, who played centre-half today, played well but we’ve had Luke Exall whose been brilliant with Charlie Weston and Dracs in the middle and now we’ve got Kane Rowland up top as well, so we’ve got a real good balance and around them we’ve got some really young and enthusiastic quality young lads that want to stake a claim at this level.”

Both manager’s were asked their thoughts following a goal-less first half.

Blackburn said: “Just don’t get frustrated! They’re trying to frustrate us. I said they’re trying to do to us what we did to Herne Bay and Phoenix here (winning 1-0).

“They want us to come out and make a mistake and maybe make an error, so what we’ve got to try to do is keep our discipline, keep our shape and keep working hard for each other.”

Porter added: “Just be better on the ball! Get on the ball. You’re playing on a lovely pitch. In training everyone wants the ball. You get on a matchday and they go hiding and it frustrates me.

“I wanted them to be better in the final third and make the right decisions and be more competitive – win your battles and we didn’t do any of that, did we?

“You know me, you’ve known me long enough now and my teams – and that’s not my team and we’re unbeaten in our division but we haven’t played well and then you come to places like this, a team in the league above and you’ve got to be eight, nine out of 10 and that’s everyone collectively and individually and we was way below that in the second half!”

An example of Hollands & Blair’s midfield dominance came when they took a deserved lead, just 149 seconds into the second half.

Rowland dropped deep into the centre-circle before sweeping the ball out wide to the left to Thomas, who cut in and his low shot was parried by Grant and the ball fell at Draycott’s feet, tapping the ball over the line with his right-foot from just a couple of yards out into the centre of the goal for his second goal of the season.

“I think JT (Thomas) is brilliant.  He’s got that sort of personality where for an opponent he’s right in your face. He does everything right on the edge with everything he does. Sometimes he goes over the edge and I have to drag him back which I think he doesn’t always appreciate but he understands,” said Blackburn.

“We communicate with each other a lot. He’s a good lad. He’s young, he’s only 20. He’s got loads of years’ ahead of him. Sometimes I think he worries that he’s got to do it all a bit too quick. He’s got loads of time.

“The timing of his run today is what I’ve been able to teach him from that eight or 10 role is the timing of the run. It’s not just about running in there mindlessly. It’s about the timing of the run and when the person he’s got good possession and making a good run into those spaces and he did that and it was good that he ended up setting up the goal.”

Porter admitted: “It’s the easiest goal Dracs is ever going to score! We’ve let a runner come through.  The goalkeeper should deal with it and then Dracs sitting there, ‘thanks very much’, so yes, poor goal again.”

Grant made a comfortable save low to his right to deny Jeffrey scoring from a left-footed drive from 25-yards, with 180 seconds on the clock.

Referee Oliver Storey threw Welford in the sin bin (10:30-21:41) and this gave Hollands & Blair the momentum to try to add to their lead with a flurry of chances against the ten men.

Recalled Blair left-back Folarin Awoleke stroked a left-footed drive from 25-yards, which Grant parried low to his right before the keeper used his legs to prevent Thomas scoring from the rebound.

Gilies then floated in a free-kick from just outside the centre circle inside Lordswood’s half and Rowland flicked his header past the left-hand post from 15-yards.

Rowland cut in from the left before Thomas released right-back Simon Kabamba in behind Lordswood’s left-back Harris, who took a touch before drilling in a cross and Grant was rather fortunate when he allowed the ball to slip through both of his raised hands and the ball just went past the foot of the far post.

Hollands & Blair substitutes failed to deliver against Knaphill on Wednesday night but a couple of them made an impact during this game.

Awoleke’s long throw was cleared out to Vincent Bowman, who cracked a right-footed dipping drive, which was comfortably caught by Grant in his midriff, before Blair’s final attempt against 10 men saw Rowland cut in and clip the near-post from 16-yards in the 66^th minute.

Blackburn said: “Sometimes it’s easy for the boys for their heads to go and not do the right thing because you want players to cheat and stay higher and not attack from the right position but we encourage them not to do that, to respect the fact that you’re still playing against a very good team and a very good club, who won’t roll over so it’s important we keep doing the right things. They kept doing it and kept creating chances.”

Porter made a couple of changes with right-winger Rameses Meseorisa (25:10) and attacking midfielder Lenny Atherton (24:52) coming on and Hollands & Blair killed the game off by scoring two goals for the first time this season, with 25 minutes and 38 seconds on the clock.

A driving run from Jeffrey saw him cut through four Lordswood players like they weren’t there before slipping in Thomas, who clinically drilled his left-footed drive into the roof of the net into the left-hand corner, giving Grant no chance.

Blackburn said: “Again, JT’s timing of the run and that’s why he came over and celebrated that one with me because I’ve been telling him off. I’ve been giving him a b*****king) for getting in too early, getting in too late, taking players into positions, taking defenders into one-v-one situations that we don’t need him in and it’s just about him just learning that side of his game.”

Porter added: “You expect them to do that (create chances when we were down to 10 men).  I just wanted to keep it at 1-0 to get Harvey back on but I think Harvey came back on and they’ve scored with another ball, a runner straight through the middle.

“Ok, it’s a good finish but yes it’s just another, not going with runners, it’s just not doing that dirty work in football.

“Definitely, we’ve gone then and it’s another goal that could’ve been dealt with.”

Attacking midfielder Atherton impressed when he came on for Lordswood, often driving forward with the ball and looks certain to be one player to avoid next week’s cull.

“Lenny’s busy, he’s lively and to be fair he’s been the same as everyone else. He’s been a bit hit and miss but someone like Lenny, he trains hard. He’s got a good engine and he does give you everything and he’s one of the lads that does do that,” said Porter.

Atherton fed the ball through to Welford (who at this point had replaced hooked Tommy Davey as the central striker) dragging his right-footed angled drive flashing across the keeper and past the far post, as the game entered the final 15 minutes.

“We tried to change it up.  Tommy Davey ran himself into the ground but he didn’t have a lot of service, didn’t have a lot of stuff to deal with,” said Porter.

“We changed it. I was going to put Ben Brown on when we were 1-0 (down) but I’m not going to waste him. He’ll start on Monday, so it’s no good putting him on there to just run around and destroy him for Monday, so he will be playing on Monday, without a doubt.

“I might bring a 23 in for Monday, which I like of, which I should’ve brought him a bit earlier – changes will be made!

But this Lordswood outfit was not your typical ‘Scott Porter team’ and when asked whether his Lordswood team ‘is too young?’, Porter replied: “I think so, yes. I think you’re right. You can have legs but you need experience.  You want people to get on the ball and not hide and we’ve got that.

“We have got people hiding and if people aren’t talking, people don’t want the ball and if you haven’t done that in your career, you ain’t going to do that now, so I need to find players who want to get on the ball and make things happen and I will make that happen, don’t get me wrong.

“They’ve got a game on Monday to show me what players can stay here because I will make changes because they’re not good enough!”

Hollands & Blair went route-one as they scored their third goal with 37:05 on the clock.

Brooks launched a long ball upfield with his left-foot, the ball was flicked on by Rowland, before Bowman and fellow sub Kian Scott got involved in and around the edge of the box, before Bowman swept his left-footed shot towards goal.  Grant dived to his left and got a hand to the shot but the ball trickled over the goal-line.

“I mean Kane’s a dream to play with if you’re in a 10 or an eight or a wide player because he doesn’t lose too many headers, so in that respect, where I’ve played with players’ like that over the years’, all you’ve got to do is time your run and the pleasing thing was that they listened,” said Blackburn.

“I pushed Vinnie inside a little bit.  Kian was up there running alongside. Kian is a handful as well. I thought he was good when he came on today.

“Our subs didn’t make an impact at all when they came on (against Knaphill on Wednesday), so that was something we spoke about before the game.

“I expect the attitude of all of the players’ to be the same whether you start the game or finish the game. You’ve got to act like you want the shirt. You’ve got to come on and make a difference and we didn’t do that on Wednesday and today they did.

“Kian was unlucky. The thing I liked about Kian and Vinnie is they held the defenders off, they worked with each other, worked as a pair and they get a goal. They got the team a goal.  They wasn’t fighting for the ball, they were actually holding defenders off and got the finish, so it was good from both of them.”

Porter added: “The third goal. Brooksey actually called it. It’s too straight and it’s gone straight down the middle. We’ve missed the first header, the ball’s come over, it’s just poor, poor defending from all parts.

“You know the game’s over. You just want the final whistle to go, deal with everything after and go and have a pint and that’s as simple as that.”

The goal silenced Porter for the first time during the game, standing in his technical area with his arms crossed, looking at the character of his players and whom he wants to stay and be in the trenches with him moving forward.

Rowland tried to score with a right-footed chip from 45-yards, which was flicked over the crossbar by Grant, to deny Rowland floating the ball into the top right-hand corner deep into stoppage time (49:47).

Blackburn said: “He’s got that in his locker.  That was right in front of me. I thought at first when it left his foot, I thought it was a miss-placed pass but then I looked up and saw where the keeper was.

“All Kane’s going to do is bring us more experience, a bit more quality in certain areas of the pitch and the young lads like Kian and JT and a few others can hopefully learn off the likes of him as well.”

Hollands & Blair host Chatham-based First Division side SE Dons here in the Second Qualifying Round on Saturday 20 September.

“That will be a really tough one. In these games the league’s don’t really mean much to me to be honest with you,” said Blackburn.

“These cup games, like Lordswood proved today, you’ve got to go out and earn the right to play. You’ve got to work as hard, if not even harder than some league games because there’s more on it.

“It will be interesting. They’ve got a big following and another great home draw, a few more fans through the door, hopefully we get a good crowd that day and hopefully we can get another result.

“It is a bit of a derby. I know a lot of their players. I’ve seen them around. They’re a quality team, they play good football and they’ve got plenty of flair and stuff, so we’ll see how that goes.”

Hollands & Blair host Kevin Stevens’ unbeaten fourth-placed Bearsted here on Bank Holiday Monday, 25 August (15:00).

Bearsted – who produced Euro double-winner Alessia Russo – have picked up seven points from their opening three games.

“Bearsted are good. They’ve got loads of experience. They’ve got some good players in there without a doubt, they can hurt you and that will be a good contest,” said Blackburn.

Porter gave a message loud and clear to his players for Monday’s home game against Sheppey Sports – a side third from bottom in the table after losing their only league game and the Batten brothers saw their side lose 4-0 at Soul Tower Hamlets in The FA Vase today.

“Another tough one, another tough one, another tough one and then we’re at home and I need a reaction because people are playing for their places, for their future at this football club,” admitted Porter.

“I’m here to get out of this league and I’m not here to feed people’s pockets at this football club. It’s a great football club, it’s run properly, the facilities are great. The committee and the chairman are great.

“The players’ get everything they possibly want and all I ask of them is to run through brick walls for me and at the minute they’re not doing that so there will be changes made because unless we have a miracle of a performance, which turns my head on Monday, then yes it’s a situation I’m in but at the minute after that performance and the last three games in the league, that’s not my team and I need to get players’ in who play the Scott Porter way.

“Football’s changed now. I want people to go and play and express themselves but you’ve got to do the hard stuff and you’ve got to die for me and I haven’t got that at the moment.

“I probably need three players, three proper footballers, experienced lads with old heads who can do the stuff I ask.”

Hollands & Blair: Harry Brooks, Simon Kabamba (Datiel Jackson 82), Folarin Awoleke, Reece Gillies, Charlie Weston, Matthew Gething, Tyresse Bundu-Kamara (Artem Kuchkov 62), Joe Thomas (Bailey Catherick 82), Kane Rowland, Ian Draycott (Vincent Bowman 50), James Jeffrey (Kian Scott 81).

Goals: Ian Draycott 47, Joe Thomas 71, Vincent Bowman 83

Lordswood: Samuel Grant, Ellis Shadwell, Jonathan Harris (Keegan Wickham 82), Samuel Bailey, Max Provan, Charlie Plummer, Harvey Welford, Ethan Stewart (Lenny Atherton 70), Tommy Davey (Sam Wright 73), Billy Horley, George Miles (Rameses Meseorisa 71).
Sub: Ben Brown

Booked: Scott Porter 67 (manager)

Temporary Dismissal:  Harvey Welford 56

Attendance: 107
Referee: Mr Oliver Storey
Assistants: Mr Max Doyle & Mr Andy Howard
Referee Coach:  Mr Darren Blunden