Sevenoaks Town 1-2 Ashford United - It's tough but ultimately that's what sport is, it's a replication of life - when you go through tough times, you learn to grow from it, says Sevenoaks Town manager Marcel Nimani

Sevenoaks Town 1 – 2 Ashford United
Location	Greatness Park, Mill Lane, Seal Road, Sevenoaks, Kent TN14 5BX
Kickoff	12/11/2025 19:30

SEVENOAKS TOWN  1-2  ASHFORD UNITED
Isthmian League South East Division
Wednesday 12 November 2025
Stephen McCartney reports from Greatness Park

ASHFORD UNITED manager/chairman Lloyd Hume admitted his side’s position in the Isthmian League South East Division is not good enough after deservedly winning a poor relegation scrap against fellow strugglers Sevenoaks Town.

Warren Mfula notched his sixth goal of the season – from the penalty spot – to give the home side an early lead, before he was forced off with a groin injury, while left-back Charlie Dickens was taken to hospital after the game with a broken nose.

Ashford United - five games without any win before this game - lost 12-goal hit-man Gary Lockyer to a hamstring injury during the warm-up and he was replaced by Danny Parish, who lasted 17 minutes before suffering from the same injury.

The Nuts & Bolts were also without Jack Dixon (family commitments), William Moses, Miquell Scarlett (personal) and Joey Taylor.

Sevenoaks Town put in a lacklustre performance – watched by 257 at Greatness Park – just seven days after putting in a vastly better performance to beat Sittingbourne 1-0.

Ashford United dominated this game, creating seven shots on target to the home side’s two and striker Louis Collins, 24, came back to his boyhood club and put in a man-of-the-match performance – watched by his father, Micky, the former successful Sevenoaks Town manager.

With the home side hanging on, Collins won and scored a penalty with 12 minutes to go and headed home a deserved winner just 13 seconds before the end of stoppage time to score his 18^th goal of the season.

Hume said: “I ask you how you sum it up Steve? I saw that as a game that we dominated, I think, possession, most of the game.  I think we created really good opportunities, without creating enough really good chances in the first half.

“In the second half, we created lots of good chances, didn’t take them. I was getting more and more frustrated as the evening went on.

“Louis (Collins) wins us a penalty from good work and I’m worried that we don’t score the penalty because that’s where our night went right from the start of the game when Gary (Lockyer) pulled up in the warm-up but that’s alright, we’ve got Danny Parish and then Danny Parish pulls up in the first 10 minutes and now we’ve not got a centre forward now, we’ve only got a couple of people on the bench.

“It made it really, really difficult but we didn’t win that game because of our quality.

“I’ve always said and I’ll repeat, we’ve got enough quality in our dressing room. What we haven’t got is enough work-rate, enough desire and I said if we don’t out-work Sevenoaks tonight, we won’t get anything from that game.

“I generally think, as honest as they are and I love Marcel’s teams. They are an honest team and we outworked them tonight and we pressed them really high. We put pressure all over the pitch and we got a lot of opportunities and I think we deserved the win.”

For Sevenoaks Town manager, Marcel Nimani, he reflected on the two big stoppage time moments that lost them this poor Kent derby.

“Sum it up? Right ok, so 95 minutes we created a chance, slight lack of quality and we don’t score to make it 2-1.
 

“Then, 97^th minute, they create a similar chance, slight lack of quality to defend that, they get the winner so you’re talking two minutes difference, two mirrored opportunities, they have the quality to score and we don’t have the quality to defend. We don’t have the quality to score ours and they have the quality to defend so the quality in both boxes ultimately define the game.

“I would say over the 97 minutes, they controlled the game in possession more, so I wouldn’t want to discredit Ashford in terms of that.

“The only thing I will say is that although they kept the ball more and controlled, it’s not like Jordan (Perrin) was up and down. It’s just a case of they controlled the game and we sat in our shape but yes I won’t disagree that Ashford would feel more pleased with the performance than I am.”

Ashford United created their first opening after only 110 seconds following their first of seven corners.

Michael West swung the ball in from the left towards the back post where Parish knocked his downward header past the right-hand post.

Sevenoaks Town swiftly went up the other end (3:24) with holding midfielder Jahmal Howlett-Mundle poking the ball short to winger Dadigildo Carvalho, who cut into the box before putting the ball into the box, which was knocked down by Mfula and right-back Hanson Itauma drilled his shot past the foot of the near-post.

Sevenoaks Town took the lead with four minutes and 51 seconds on the clock – and referee Jonathon Wilks was positioned on the edge of the D for both penalty decisions.

Winger Aaron Jenkins played a low cross from within the right channel and Mfula turned Craig Stone before being tripped by the Ashford centre-half and the referee pointed to the spot.

Debutant goalkeeper Harry Brooks dived low to his right but Mfula’s emphatic right-footed penalty was cracked into the top-left-hand corner.

“We started with very good intent, didn’t we. We wanted to go ahead first because Ashford are very open when they play football. We wanted a goal and we wanted to sit in shape,” said Nimani.

“Good move, good individual play from Warren, won the penalty and scored a penalty.

“Warren’s still struggling with that groin and we felt that bringing a young striker could give Warren a rest for Saturday and we can keep up the high tempo at the top end.”

Hume added: “Look, I think he’s brought the penalty but for me it’s a penalty. It’s a clever run. It’s the only moment for me in the first half that we never really defended well and I also talk about football being moments.

“At 1-0 down, I thought we started brightly but we gave away a cheap penalty but I felt we’d get back in the game.”

Ashford United were playing an archaic brand of football – hitting it long out of defence and into the channels, although a lot of these long balls were either going out for throw-ins or to home goalkeeper Jordan Perrin.

Simply put, the first half was awful to watch but when Ashford United did put the ball on the artificial pitch, they played some good stuff and they created a decent chance in the 18^th minute.

With Parish now off the pitch, Collins stepped up and showed why he shouldn’t be playing in the eighth-tier of English football – he is just too good!

Noah Carney slipped a fine 20-yard deck pass in behind Dickens and Tom Hanfrey to put Collins through on goal and his right-footed angled drive from 15-yards was comfortably caught in Perrin’s midriff.

A sliced clearance from Harrison Hume went backwards and into the Ashford penalty area and Mfula took a touch before stroking his right-footed drive from 25-yards, which was comfortably saved by the last-gasp keeper signing, Harry Brooks, who was second-choice goalkeeper to Adam Molloy at their league rivals.

“His signing went through today at somewhere around eleven o’clock this morning and Sheppey have done us a real favour by waive the seven-days (approach to sign a non-contracted player) and they’ve released him last night after 11 o’clock,” revealed Hume.

“I’m glad they won yesterday (2-1 home win over Herne Bay), he’s (Kevin Watson) probably in a better mood and they let him go, so yesterday afternoon I’ve never spoken to Harry Brooks before today.

“I thought he was outstanding for us. He was a real difference in goal for us tonight and I’m really pleased for him as well.”

Dickens fouled Carney on the half-way line and holding midfielder Samuel Hasler’s quickly-taken free-kick floated towards the top right-hand corner, only for Perrin to step to his left to control the ball with his chest before gathering.

Carney played the ball out to Collins out on the left, who cut into the centre of the pitch but he took too many touches before laying the ball off to Harrison Hume, whose left-footed drive from 20-yards was comfortably gathered by Perrin.

Nimani added: “I was a bit frustrated for the first 30 minutes. I felt we didn’t keep the ball, we got drawn into wanting to counter-attack all of the time and we’d win the ball and then we go into counter-attack and they’d get the ball and they left us open.

“But I felt last 10 minutes of that first half we started putting the ball down and start passing it, so we were a little bit better in the last 10 minutes of the first half.”

The recalled Tom Hanfrey opened the gate as Hasler’s long ball over the top put Collins through on goal. He skipped past the advancing Perrin but his right-footed shot skimmed the outside of the foot of the near-post (45:05).

“We had one in the first half when Louis was in on goal and he goes around the keeper, his touch is a little bit heavy and he hits the outside of the post and you go one-all there and hopefully you kick on,” said Hume, who answered the question of his side’s direct approach during the first half.

“I think in the first half, if you look back at it, I don’t think we kicked the ball long from the goalkeeper once.

“I said at half-time, sometimes we have to do that and we haven’t because if you consistently play out to your centre-halves, it becomes easy for them to press high then but we didn’t really do that.

“So our game-plan was to play out from the back. If we can play through the midfield by playing forward, we want to do that but if they press high and there is no good option, then put it into good areas and make them run towards their own goal, which is what we tried to do.”

The Sevenoaks manager added: “That was a mistake from us really. We went long to Warren, Warren lost possession. We had four of our players run in behind Warren and then we left ourselves exposed. That was not necessarily Ashford creating the chance, that was us going long and losing possession.”

Ashford United’s players came out for the second half and it was like they had changed the mindset of all 10 outfield players because they mainly ditched their ugly brand of direct football and realised they could play some football on the artificial turf.

Hume added: “I said at half-time, I don’t care how many shots we have. When we have the option of taking shots or being direct at goal, try and score that goal yourself. Don’t pass the responsibility. I needed people to be brave.

“I said I don’t care if we hit 10 out of the ground, take the opportunities and take the shots and we didn’t do that enough in the first half but second half we kept going.

“I don’t think a lot changed. I think we dominated the first half, we created lots of chances and we controlled in the same vein but we had to change personnel, so it’s going to change the way you play. We had a lot of people coming off.

“George Brooke is an 18-year-old kid, who hasn’t had a lot of senior football yet and he’s a centre midfielder and we asked him to go and play left-wing and we had to do that, so when he comes into the game, that’s a really-high pressure game that’s pretty fast paced. It’s really hard to catch your breath in that and by half-time he composed himself and he did better.”

Nimani added: “At half-time, I heavily spoke to the players’ about when we win possession from Ashford, don’t directly try to hit them on the counter-attack because we’re not getting control of the game. Get the ball down and play it and build our chances so then we can get control of the game.

“I felt in the lateral parts, when we did keep the ball, we actually created some good chances but instead we got drawn into win the ball, go long, so we can hit them on the counter and that gave Ashford opportunities to win the ball and keep the ball and create momentum.”

Ashford United missed a glorious chance to equalise just 52 seconds in, following their third corner.

Hasler delivered a quality ball in from the right with his left-foot towards the near post where unmarked right-back Barry Fuller steered his header across goal and past the far post from six-yards.

“When Barry misses that – Craig Stone had a free-header in the first half as well. Barry normally scores them as well,” added Hume.

“In those moments, you don’t think it’s going to be your night but we kept going, we kept working hard and we got what we wanted.”

Nimani added: “Poor marking, but then again, you are talking about a guy who’s played (at a much higher level than this).

“Yes they did (dominate the game).  One of the reasons why they did, you say dominated, it was all in front of us.  They controlled the ball but the chances they created, they were all in front of us.

“We lost a game of football in 12 minutes. We were winning by the 77^th minute – but the quality was missing. I felt that the effort was there and the desire to run back, run forward, keep the shape. I wouldn’t question that, just quality.”

Sevenoaks Town’s attacking players – Jenkins, Daniel Duncanson, Dadigildo Carvalho – the striker who came on to replace Mfula (Muumbe Chiagi) all failed to make any impact in the game and will have been marked two or three out of 10 tonight, as Collins stood out with an outstanding 10 out of 10 performance.

Ashford United left-back Kane Penn played the ball down the line to release substitute left-winger George Brooke, who reached the channel and put in a deep cross with his left foot and Carney’s header from a tight angle was caught by Perrin.

“If you ask me the biggest frustration and I don’t want to talk ill of him, my biggest frustration tonight was Noah Carney because I watched him for 90 minutes tonight and he was absolutely outstanding,” said Hume.

“He caused them problems from the first minute to the last minute and I said to him as he walked off the pitch, I grabbed him and had a minute with him and that’s what he’s got to do every week because that Noah Carney gets in my team every day of the week but what he’s got to do is take that into Saturday and the following week and so on and that’s how you become a permanent fixture.”

Three different players wore the Ashford United captains arm band with West (00:00-59:54), Hasler (59:54-69:04) and Collins (69:04-98:17) all taking it in turns.

“Three captains, do you know what? What I will say about that, we had 14 captains.  I thought they all did their jobs tonight. They all worked hard, they all fought for each other and I haven’t said that in every game and I’m really pleased with them,” added Hume.

With Sevenoaks Town hanging on, it was no surprise when Collins won his side a penalty, after taking a touch and being brought down by Joshua Wisson inside the box and the referee was once again well positioned just outside the D and pointed to the spot.

There was going to be only one outcome.  Collins stepped up and sent Perrin the wrong way with a clinical right-footed penalty, just right of centre, to restore parity with 32 minutes and 34 seconds on the clock.

“Listen, Louis Collins, the thing with Louis, he’s outstanding most of the time, so when Louis has an off day, I can even myself be critical of him because he’s so good but when he plays poorly, it really shows out because he’s so good and tonight he was outstanding – he becomes unplayable against teams,” said Hume.

“It’s another two goals for Louis, that’s 18 already, as a striker already, in a side that hasn’t been performing as well as it should and we’ve still got 60 per cent of the season to go, big expectations for Louis to kick on and continue.”

Whilst in my notes I had written down that he had tucked away the penalty even before he took it, Hume was uncertain and explained why.

“I trust Louis to tuck that penalty away but I was sitting there at half-time, how our luck had gone today and I was a little bit worried that could not go our way.

“But he’s a cool head, he’s a good player and someone said to me on the sideline, Louis was getting treatment, and I was asked who takes your penalty and I’m like Louis and who else takes them?  Gary Lockyer. Who takes them after that? I went Sam Hasler and Louis was down and the other two were off the pitch but he got up and he did what Louis does and I’m really pleased for him.”

Nimani said: “He just has quality, he has quality and in those tight moments that’s what quality brings you.  The guy can comfortably play perhaps the League above (Isthmian Premier) or the League above that (National League South). He’s technically able. He’s physically able and he’s just gifted.

“The penalty came from a poor back pass. You’re talking a lack of quality.  Our right-back (substitute Ayomide Majekodunmi) under passes it, then the guy wins possession and then they attack from it, so the lead up to the penalty came as a result of a poor back pass, which again you’re talking quality.

“I just want to explain the lack of quality.  These are the lack of quality in these tight games, you just need a bit of quality.”

Carvalho’s back-pass went straight into Collins’ path and the unplayable striker cracked a right-footed drive from 25-yards, which was saved in Perrin’s midriff.

Chiagi looked lost in attack, central midfielder Jed Borders often went missing and he lacked composure when he was presented with two glorious chances to change the outcome inside the final 10 minutes.

Duncanson played the ball in from the right and Borders lashed his first time right-footed drive over the crossbar from inside the D (36:11), in a rare foray into the final third from Sevenoaks.

“You can call it whatever you like. I call it a lack of quality, unfortunately,” added Nimani.

The board for seven minutes was raised and Sevenoaks Town squandered a glorious chance to complete a smash-and-grab raid with 49:20 on the clock.

Chiagi played the ball inside to Jenkins, who played in Borders, who cut in towards the corner of the six-yard box and went to pieces.  He could’ve, should’ve drilled a low shot across Brooks into the corner of the net but instead he flashed a cross across the face of goal and Duncanson failed to connect and the ball came to Carvalho, who inevitably sent his right-footed shot just over the crossbar from 15-yards.

“Lack of quality I wish I could give you another answer,” said Nimani.

“But if you have a player who passes it a little bit better, it’s a goal. You can’t coach that, you can coach the patterns how to get there but when you get there, you have to rely on your individual differences but it’s not quite there yet.

“It’s not like these players don’t have a lack of quality.  You have to remember the run that we’re in, that momentum is against us art the minute.”

Hume added: “The way our season’s gone, that could’ve gone against us. Those things have happened in a game that we dominated and I could’ve come off with a very different attitude.”

Ashford United deservedly won it at the death, with 51 minutes and 47 seconds on the clock.

Fuller drove down the right flank and into the channel and whipped in a quality delivery, which was flicked on by George Brooke and Collins knocked his downward header past Perrin from inside the six-yard box into the right-corner.

“Let’s not go away from the fact that 41-year-old Barry Fuller. In six minutes of injury time, he’s an overlapping full-back that puts a great ball into the box and that doesn’t go a miss for me,” said Hume.

“As he walks off the pitch I’m like – I won’t tell you what I said because you won’t be able to print it – but people like him optimise what footballers should look at and go that’s what I aspire to be because he’s got the best attitude.

“He’s running up that, there’s a slight hill here, with six minutes of injury time and he creates that goal with his desire and that’s what I’m pleased about.

“I feel sorry for Sevenoaks because they’re down there the same as we are and I feel like a real kick in the (backside) for them in terms of conceding a goal in the last minute.

“But I remind them they did that to us at our ground (to draw 2-2 on 12 August), really with the last kick of the game and it was a volley (from Joshua Wisson) from outside the box in a game they hadn’t dominated and I didn’t think they deserved anything – so we got what we deserved tonight. I don’t think we did at home against them, so it balances itself out, football.”

Nimani added: “Quality, it’s poor defending, so the way that the guy from a very tight angle for him to get a cross and we had two players there and I expect both of my players to stop the cross.

“The cross got in, it’s not like it’s a tap in into an empty goal. We still had two defenders there who should be defending that better and a goalkeeper, so they should be defending that cross better.”

East Grinstead Town are rooted to the bottom of the table with only three points from their 17 games and they are joined in the relegation zone by Derek Oldfield’s Beckenham Town (nine points from 15 games), Ross Baker and Danny Joy’s VCD Athletic (13 points from 13 games) and Ashford United (15 points – four wins, three draws and eight defeats from 15 games).

Sevenoaks Town are just one place above the drop zone in 18^th with 16 points (five wins, one draw and 11 defeats) from their 17 games and the bottom eight also contains Hastings United (16 points from 17 games), Adam Woodward’s Erith Town (19 points from 17 games) and Sean Muggeridge’s Crowborough Athletic (20 points from 16 games).

Both of these side face newly-promoted sides that are both in the top three on Saturday.

Second-placed AFC Whyteleafe visit Homelands Stadium with them on 35 points (11 wins, two draws and four defeats), four points behind leaders Three Bridges.

“Listen, our position in the League is not good enough and I’m very, very vocal about that,” admitted Hume, who was watched by his brother Matt, who is the chairman of Southern Counties East Football League First Division leaders Rochester United, who have won 12 out of 12 games under Michael Betts.

“We’ve got a really tough game on Saturday against Whyteleafe, who are brushing teams aside quite easily generally, so we’re under no illusions but that’s another good test and one I believe if we have that attitude and desire, it’s one I feel we’ll get points from.

“Sometimes I feel like sacking myself, not tonight no,” added the Ashford United chairman/manager.

Tommy Warrilow’s Faversham Town welcome Sevenoaks Town to Salters Lane, sitting in third place on 33 points (nine wins, six draws and two defeats).

The Lilywhites went 30 League games unbeaten with a 1-1 draw at home to Hassocks eight days ago but they have suffered back-to-back 4-1 defeats to both Eastbourne Town and Deal Town since then.

“It just means they’re going to be more wired up,” warned Nimani.

“The standard of the League this year, in comparison of last year, is massively noticeable.  Just look at the teams that have entered and the teams that left.  We’ve got teams that have been promoted and they’re doing really well and they’re strong and the teams that have come down are very strong and we’ve lost the teams we were beating.  When you look at the teams that have left and the teams that have come in, it’s just like day and night.

“It’s tough but ultimately that’s what sport is – it’s a replication of life. When you go through tough times, you have to learn to grow from it.

“Our League position, it’s disappointing, it’s just disappointing but we just have to keep going.”

Nimani and chairman Paul Lansdale were having an conversation out on the pitch once both dressing rooms were vacated and before Nimani faced the questions from this website and Nimani was asked the usual post-match questions that a manager gets when hovering in and around the relegation zone.

No one is enjoying Nimani suffering at the wrong end of the table and it’s down to his players to look at themselves in the mirror and perform better than they all did tonight during this relegation scrap.

“Paul and I always speak. Sometimes it’s hard when you have a good chairman because you feel you’ve let him down and when you let down a good person, it hurts more.

“Paul and I, we always reflect after the games. He’s a tremendous guy to work with. The club is moving forward in so many positive directions and we just need to steer the ship on the pitch now.

“I’ll be honest with you, not at all,” came Nimani’s reply, when asked whether his job is at risk after tonight’s lacklustre performance.

“Just the pressure from within. I want to be successful. I love this club and I just want to see it, the days that we had here last year.

“It’s just fine margines and when it’s fine margines, you just have to believe that the system will work.  Fine margines change momentum. Next game it will fall in our way and suddenly I can steer the momentum and we just need to put a run of games where we go unbeaten and every game gets points.

“Psychologically, how do you turn those fine margines in your favour, rather than being a victim of it and at the moment we’re just a victim of fine margines.”

Sevenoaks Town: Jordan Perrin, Hanson Itauma, Charlie Dickens (Ayomide Majekodunmi 52), Jahmal Howlett-Mundle (Jaden Perez 69), Joshua Wisson, Tom Hanfrey (Ryan Sawyer 78), Dadigildo Carvalho, Jed Borders, Warren Mfula (Muumbe Chiagi 51), Daniel Duncanson, Aaron Jenkins.
Sub: Tommy Taylor

Goal: Warren Mfula 5 (penalty)

Booked: Jed Borders 72, Joshua Wisson 76

Ashford United: Harry Brooks, Barry Fuller, Kane Penn, Samuel Hasler (Jeremy Santos 70), Craig Stone, Freddie Fletcher, Louis Collins, Harrison Hume, Danny Parish (George Brooke 17), Michael West (Roarie Deacon 59), Noah Carney.
Subs: Gary Lockyer, Scott Podger-King

Goals: Louis Collins 78 (penalty), 90

Booked: Samuel Hasler 34, Harrison Hume 79, Barry Fuller 90

Attendance: 257
Referee: Mr Jonathon Wilks
Assistants: Mr Nathaniel Roff & Mr Jamie Cogdell
Observer:  Mr Peter Ashdown
Referee Coach: Mr Darren Blunden