Holmesdale 1-3 Punjab United - I would love a top five finish, says delighted unbeaten Punjab United manager Jugjit Sian

Holmesdale 1 – 3 Punjab United
Location	68 Oakley Road, Bromley, Kent BR2 8HQ
Kickoff	01/10/2024 19:45

HOLMESDALE  1-3  PUNJAB UNITED
Presence & Co Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division
Tuesday 1 October 2024
Stephen McCartney reports from Oakley Road

PUNJAB UNITED manager Jugjit Sian says he would love a top five finish at the end of their fifth completed campaign in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division.

The unbeaten Gravesend based outfit rose a couple of places into second-place in the table with 22 points from 10 games, while their Bromley based hosts slipped down a place into fourth with 20 points from 14 games, having played the most games in the 20 club division.

Holmesdale grabbed the lead on a wet night at Oakley Road, through striker Jack Church’s eight-goal of the season before Punjab United swiftly restored parity through an emphatic finish from left-back Stephen Ratcliff.

Punjab United controlled the second d half with attacking midfielder Bradley Ryan finishing off a three-man move before central midfielder Ryan Hayes, 38, scored direct from a 22-yard free-kick.

Stand-in referee Dylan Wood – who arrived at the ground 45 minutes before kick-off as Jack Mottram’s car broke down in nearby Farnborough (Kent), sent off two Punjab players for second yellow cards, striker Reece Deakin and left-back Kyden Lewin-Thomas going for a shower towards the end of the game.

“A great performance, I thought, from start to finish. I thought we deserved that,” said Sian, 48.

“Not the best (conditions). I thought we were outstanding from start to finish. I thought we were brilliant.  It’s just a shame we didn’t score a bit more earlier but we dominated the ball better.

“It was a bit scrappy, wasn’t it, a bit hot on both sides but I thought once we settled a little bit, we looked good.

“We’ll give the boys a night off on Thursday because it’s been a bit of a tough one today.  That weren’t easy against Holmesdale.  You can tell why they are where they are because they run and they hussle and they give you nothing. They don’t give you an inch, they don’t give you a second to sort of relax and I can understand them doing quite well this season as well.

“We were a bit short today.  We’ve had some disappointing news. Lea Dawson has done his ACL.  We sent him for a MRI.

“He’s our captain, he’s our inspiration and the boys’ love him and he’s had a good start to the season as well.

“Listen, a lot of clubs have come in for hm and offered him silly amounts of money. He loves the club and he loves the people around it and he’s part of the family, so he’s never been convincing to go anywhere else, so it’s a shame. We’ll look after him and we’ll get him back playing.”

After sealing back-to-back 1-0 wins away to Fisher and Corinthian, Holmesdale have failed to win any of their four home games against Sutton Athletic (1-2), Whitstable Town (2-2) and Snodland Town (3-3 on Saturday).

They came away from VCD Athletic with a point in a 1-1 draw in a top-of-the-table clash seven days ago.

Holmesdale manager Reece Parara has won five, drawn five and lost five of his 15 games in charge of the club in all competitions.

“First half, very good. I thought it was a really even game in the first half. The draw at half-time was probably a fair reflection on how the game was going,” said Parara.

“Second half we told the boys to stay calm, stay composed.  Second half we lost all composure, got bullied, got out-fought and second half performance was nowhere near the level that we expect from ourselves.

“We’re in a bit of a bad run after a great run that put us in the play-offs and we need to turn it around quickly starting Saturday.”

Holmesdale’s naïve playing out from the back almost cost them a goal after only 186 seconds.

A poor goal-kick from goalkeeper Archie Aldous towards centre-half Cameron Smart saw him give the ball away to Hayes, who cracked a left-footed drive high, high over the crossbar from 25-yards.

Holmesdale took the lead with six minutes and 44 seconds on the clock following the second of their six corners.

Central midfielder Sam Bayford swung the ball in towards the back post where Wilfred Evans’ header was parried by goalkeeper Owen Bushell and Church swept the ball over the line in a goal-mouth scramble.

“Churchie’s scored again, I think he’s top goalscorer in the league at the moment. He’s flying at the moment and doing well,” said Parara.

“He gives us a platform to build from. He secures the ball really well, he’s able to link and when he gets in front of goal, he’s ruthless.”

Sian criticised his goalkeeper for only the sixth league goal that they have conceded this season.

“I feel like he should’ve come out and punched it and that was one of the things.  I think they were setting him up, trying to lob it in the air.  We should’ve done a lot better anyway,” said Sian.

“Look, it was a bit of a poor goal. We sort of called over and we said ‘look, they’re trying to hit you,’ and Owen said ‘yes, I totally understand’ and next time after that he came out and punched everything.”

However, their lead was short-lived as Punjab United also scored from a set-piece, following their first of five corners, nine minutes and 17 seconds on the clock.

Hayes swung the ball in from the right and Holmesdale’s right-back Avobami Lugboso headed the ball away at the near post, only as far as Ratcliff, who took a touch inside the box before emphatically drilling his left-footed shot into the roof of the net (over a crowd of players) from 16-yards.

Sian said: “We’re good at what we do on those set-pieces. I think we’ve got a bit of height in there, we’ve got a bit of muscle in a sense we don’t get bullied in there now and it was a great finish, a great strike. We deserved that straight away to be fair. It was a very good response.”

Parara added: “In the build-up we’ve had two opportunities to clear the ball, haven’t done it and then, look fair to them, they got the corner and they’ve done well and got a goal from it.”

Bayford’s third corner of the night also came in from the left and visiting goalkeeper Owen Bushell spilt the slippery ball and six-goal Holmesdale striker Lewis Heywood-Oriogun hooked a half-volley towards goal, only for it to be headed off the line from underneath the crossbar by Punjab United’s emergency centre-half Wayne Bushell.

“First half was a really even game, both teams, I thought played well. We weren’t clinical enough in terms of taking those chances but they had a couple of opportunities as well,” added the Holmesdale manager.

Holmesdale were a threat from set-pieces and another chance came their way in the 33^rd minute.

Bayford’s left-channel delivery was whipped deep towards the back post where centre-half Donald Macauley steered his free-header while off balance past the near stick from a tight angle.

Punjab United went route-one when Owen Bushell launched a big kick upfield, the ball was headed away by Holmesdale left-back Anthony Musoke and Hayes cracked a first-time left-footed volley flashing past the foot of the far post from 35-yards.

Holmesdale centre-half Smart played the ball out to high right-back Lugboso, who split open Ratcliff and Wayne Bushell to play in winger Aidan Ward in behind.  The goalkeeper originally went for the ball, stopped as he was expecting an offside flag from assistant referee James Beadle and Ward’s swept shot was cleared off the line by Punjab’s Lewin-Thomas.

Sian’s men have only conceded six goals in their 10 league games this season, pleasing Sian.

“Our defensive shape has been brilliant.  I think bringing Chris (Edwards) in the right-back and Lea Dawson got injured the other day and we brought Wayne Bushell in at centre-half from centre midfield just gave us that little bit,” explained Sian.

“We’ve been really good as a unit. We’ve been working with that in pre-season and I think we’ve done well there. We’ve got a good unit at the moment.

“Last year we conceded a lot of goals (65 in 40 games, finishing in ninth-place in the table), we conceded a lot of poor goals.  We’ve worked on it. We brought Kayden Lewin-Thomas through the summer. We wanted a dominant centre-half.  Kayden and Jack Barry have been instrumental the last three or four weeks and Barry stepped out today and Wayne Bushell stepped in and it was like they’ve both been playing together for years.”

Holmesdale’s holding midfielder Evans was penalised for fouling Andrew Allassani and up stepped Hayes, who stroked a left-footed free-kick towards the near-corner from 35-yards, forcing Aldous to fly to his left and use both of his fists to push the ball away.

“I think on free-kicks we’ve got Haysie and we’ve got Chris Edwards and it’s two really good dead-ball situations. We’ve got two good players,” said Sian.

“Ryan was unlucky.  I thought he should’ve got a couple, the first one when he tried to hit it first time that was unlucky as well. It was coming to be fair, I thought once we scored, it was coming.”

Parara added: “Archie’s done well in terms of that save but overall there’s not many positives to be honest after that second half performance.

“Half-time was just about staying composed, staying in the game and our quality will show but our quality on the ball in the second half completely went out of the window!  They got a bit more physical and our boys just didn’t deal with that challenge.”
 

Punjab United came out with all guns blazing at the start of the second half, with Holmesdale often giving possession away while playing out from the back.

Sian said: “Our press was really good. They struggled to get out of it and we caught them a few times in the first half like that, so I just said carry on the same, make sure you don’t do nothing silly but don’t try to overplay.

“I thought we started the second half on fire again.

“We’ve got to take it in certain games. Some games a lot of people don’t play from the back. You see a lot of teams will just hit it long and try to hit you in the last third and a lot of people do like to try to play and we have to put that pressure on but you’ve got to do it with the right players and if we can get the right players out on the field we can press.

“It’s all about personnel on the day but we’ve been practising that in pre-season. We’ve been practising a lot of different stuff and you can see in the last few games we can mix it up and match it.”

Parara was also asked about gifting possession away while playing-out-from-the-back.

“It’s been a massive part of how we’ve played this season and why we’ve been successful,  Our quality on the ball was nowhere near the level that it normally is in the second half.

“If you look at the first half, we done the same thing and we got out many times.”

Punjab United’s right-back Edwards threw the ball into the box, the ball was cleared back out to him and he cut in before drilling a right-footed shot from 12-yards on the angle, which was pushed away by Aldous, diving to his left.

Right-winger Hudson Scuffer then whipped in the recycled ball into the middle for Hayes to poke his deflected shot past the foot of the right-hand post from six-yards inside the opening seven minutes.

“He (Hayes) was unlucky, pretty unlucky. Hudson’s been brilliant as well, only an 18-year-old kid, he’s been fantastic,” added Sian.

Hayes floated in his fifth and final corner from the right and Aldous punched the ball out towards the edge of the box, the ball was controlled by Ratcliff, who dinked his left-footed shot into Aldous’ midriff for a comfortable catch.

Holmesdale’s players need to learn that playing out from the back on ninth-tier pitches in winter will often lead to goals being conceded.

Evans was sloppy as his square 20-yard pass was intercepted by Ryan, whose left-footed dink was comfortably blocked by the busy Aldous.

“Bradley Ryan came in one-on-one, you probably heard me shouting at him because we’ve missed a few like that recently and you end up someone will punish you,” revealed Sian.

“I just felt that he should’ve smashed it rather than trying to do a cheeky chip over him but I thought the keeper read him. I was a bit disappointed with that and then he goes and does something else.”

Parara added: “Archie’s made some good saves to keep us in the game. We were on the ropes because our quality was poor but overall, it’s disappointing.”

Punjab United took a deserved lead with 16 minutes and 3 seconds on the clock.
 

Edwards was 15-yards from the halfway line inside his own half and he clipped the ball down the line past a flat-footed Musoke to play Scudder, who whipped in a cross from the by-line towards the back post and Ryan had the easiest of task to tap the ball over the line at the far post from a couple of yards out.

“Listen, Bradley’s a good boy but we’re trying to get him out of the little system of trying to….and actually get in behind the back,” said Sian.

“I had a go, I said to him at half-time you keep dragging yourself in. if you stay behind on that side and you come late and you do a late run you’ll get one and he actually got one after a little bit of a b******ing from me. He actually stayed in his position, disciplined, listened and banged it in.”

Parara added: “We haven’t followed runners, we haven’t tracked our runners and overall that’s not good enough and it’s cost us.”

Holmesdale hit Punjab United on the counter-attack and they missed a glorious chance in the 67^th minute.

Left-winger Makhaya James broke before playing a sublime through ball along the wet turf to split open Wayne Bushell to put Church through on goal.

Church took a touch, skipped past the advancing goalkeeper Owen Bushell but went to pieces as his right-footed shot was cleared off the line by Wayne Bushell at the near-post.

“I wouldn’t say he’s lacked composure. He’s done well, he’s skipped round the keeper, got it on target and the lad’s got back on the line to clear it off,” said Parara.

“We didn’t deserve another goal. Punjab fully deserved the win tonight. We look at ourselves. We’ve had some stern words in the changing room and we need to prepare and go and get three points against Kennington on Saturday.”

Holmesdale have scored 24 and conceded 24 goals in the League so far this season.

“Yes, we’re conceding too many goals. We’re one of the top goalscorers in the league but we need to look at ourselves defensively but at the moment we’re shipping too many goals,” admitted Parara.

“We’ve got experience in Tom McNamee. When he plays, we’re a lot more secure but he’s injured at the moment. He should be back soon, which will add to that level of experience.”

This was to be a two-minute flurry of Holmesdale chances as Church laid the ball off to Evans inside a crowded penalty area but Evans took too many touches and his shot was smothered at the near-post by Owen Bushell.
 

Bayford went close with a right-footed dipping free-kick from 25-yards, which only just cleared the crossbar, aiming for the top left-hand corner.
 

Holmesdale certainly didn’t do their homework as left-wing-back Deandre Williams slid in to bring down Allassani on the edge of the D, earning a booking.
 

There was only going to be one outcome as Hayes (who was pushed further forward in the 10 role behind Deakin for the second half) produced another special goal, stroking his left-footed free-kick beyond the diving Aldous to find the left-hand corner from 22-yards with another quality strike out of his repertoire, to give Punjab United a deserved 3-1 lead with 27 minutes and 28 seconds on the clock.

Sian said: “Listen, what can you say about Ryan Hayes? That was unbelievable! He’s had a few this year and they’ve all gone a bit weird but that one, he looked good today, he looked really, really good today. That was a beautiful free-kick, side netting. He ain’t going to save that!

“He’s settled in well here (following his summer move from Isthmian League South East Division side Phoenix Sports). He’s a good lad and he’s a senior member of the team now which we need and you could see his experience later on when he held the ball up and played it in right areas and he deserved that.”

Parara added: “Naïve. The lad’s going nowhere and we’ve slid in when it’s not necessary and they’ve scored from the resulting free-kick.”

Punjab United lost their discipline towards the end as Lewin-Thomas’ name was written in Dylan Wood’s notepad, along with Holmesdale substitute Emmanuel Yeboah following a melee.

Deakin, who was booked for a 43^rd minute challenge on Smart, was warned another couple of times and was shown a red card in the 87^th minute, going over after being sandwiched by a couple of Holmesdale players by the corner flag.

Sian said: “Anyone watching the game, it’s a joke! That was never a second yellow, that was never a second yellow!

“No, he (the referee) said he’s dived and the lino (Thomas Sansom) on my side actually said ‘no he’s pushed him in the back but he goes ‘I can’t say nothing,” claimed Sian.

“I don’t know what the ref’s told the lino’s…. but it’s all wrong! It was two blatant pushes in the back from both (Holmesdale) players so how can he (Deakin) not stay on his feet? 

“It’s a shame, it’s a shame because it just spoilt it.”

Parara was asked about both red cards and replied: “Red cards, they happen. It’s not for me to discuss, it’s not my team, so the opposition manager will say that.”

Punjab United finished the game with nine men as Lewin-Thomas drilled the ball high over the roof of the main stand (49:32), as he cleared the ball from within his right-channel with a free-kick.

Sian added: “How can you book Kayden for a second yellow when he’s cleared the ball?  We’ve got the free-kick but he’s booked him, how?

“He’s not wasting time. It’s our free-kick. If that was their free-kick, I totally agree (with the second yellow card) but he’s blown it. He’s kicked it, so he hasn’t even given him time to have a look. It’s just a quick instinct and he’s just booted it, cleared the lines.  You can’t justify it at all.”

Corinthian moved into ninth-place (14 points from eight games) following their 2-1 home win over fourteenth-placed Stansfeld tonight.

VCD Athletic remain at the summit with 29 points from 11 games, while the four play-off places have Punjab United (22 points from 10 games), Faversham Town (21 points from nine games), Holmesdale (20 points from 14 games) and newly-promoted side Larkfield & New Hythe (17 points from nine).

Holmesdale welcome second-from-bottom side Kennington (seven points from 11 games) to Oakley Road on Saturday.

Dan Scorer’s side are two points clear of bottom side Rusthall, who have a game in hand.

Parara said: “That doesn’t mean anything in this league! Everyone’s capable of beating everyone and we’re on a bad run ourselves at the moment in time, even though we’re in the play-off positions, so we need to make sure we’re ready for the game and focus properly for a tough game.

“Listen, when you look at our resources and what we’ve got compared to other teams in the league, we’re punching well above our weight so we’re really proud of that but we’ve set a standard and over the last three or four games we’ve kind of haven’t met that standard, so it’s important that we get back to it quickly.”

Sian, meanwhile, takes his side to Whitstable Town, with Jamie Coyle’s side underperforming in tenth-place with 14 points from 11 league outings.

“I think that puts us second. We’ve seen Punjab go second in the league and we’re still unbeaten, it’s amazing, it’s amazing to see. We’ve got a good unit. I think we’re just trying to get to a certain number of points first, it keeps you safe and you never know what happens in football. We just keep going,” said Sian.

“Yes, it’s amazing, listen I’m delighted. It’s an amazing start. We’ll just keep going. We’re not the big boys in this division but we’re here to compete and we’re here to do well. We’ve got some good lads, good management team. Everything seems to be clicking in the right direction at the moment.

“It’s going to be a tough one. Whitstable is always a hard one to go to.  I keep saying in this division, as I keep saying, everyone can beat everyone on their day.

“We’re taking this like we are playing (title-favourites) Faversham, so that’s every game we’re playing against the top-of-the-league, so we’ll go there and we’ve got to be professional. 

“We know Whitstable is going to be tough, so we’ll take every game as it comes. We’ve got a big month of football as well.

“I would love a top five finish. That would be great for the club, for everyone, all the hard work that’s going on behind the scenes.”

Holmesdale: Archie Aldous, Avobami Lugboso (Oguosa Williams 82), Anthony Musoke (Micquelle Murray 89), Wilfred Evans, Cameron Smart, Donald Macauley, Aidan Ward (Emmanuel Yeboah 74), Sam Bayford, Lewis Heywood-Oriogun, Jack Church, Makhaya James (Deandre Williams 71).
Sub: Adrian Brown

Goal: Jack Church 7

Booked: Deandre Williams 72, Cameron Smart 81, Emmanuel Yeboah 84

Punjab United: Owen Bushell, Chris Edwards, Stephen Ratcliff, Jack Hopkins, Kyden Lewin-Thomas, Wayne Bushell, Andrew Allassani (Jordan Campbell 68), Ryan Hayes, Reece Deakin, Bradley Ryan, Hudson Scudder.
Subs: Ashley Probets, Paul Vines, Jayden Hussain, Jack Barry

Goals: Stephen Ratcliff 10, Bradley Ryan 62, Ryan Hayes 73

Booked: Reece Deakin 43, Chris Edwards 45, Kyden Lewin-Thomas 84, Jugjit Sian 89 (manager)

Sent Off:  Reece Deakin 87, Kyden Lewin-Thomas 90

Attendance: 42
Referee: Mr Dylan Wood
Assistants: Mr Thomas Sansom & Mr James Beadle
Observer:  Mr Stephen Down