Snodland Town 0-1 Sheppey United - I'm gutted to go out on a penalty, it's a hard one to take, says super proud Snodland Town player-manager Connor Dymond

Snodland Town 0 – 1 Sheppey United
Location	Potyn's Sports Field, Snodland Community Centre, Paddlesworth Road, Snodland, Kent ME6 5DP
Kickoff	19/09/2026 15:00

SNODLAND TOWN  0-1  SHEPPEY UNITED
The Emirates FA Cup Second Qualifying Round
Saturday 19 September 2026
Stephen McCartney reports from Paddlesworth Road

SHEPPEY UNITED joint-manager George Batten says grabbing a place in The FA Cup Third Qualifying Round has taken him back to when his late dad Ernie guided the club to the First Round in 2023.

Ernie Batten’s Ites stunned Billericay Town in two memorable Fourth Qualifying Round ties before losing 4-1 at home to Walsall in front of the ITV cameras as Sheppey United reached that stage of the competition for the very first time.

Now jointly-managed by his sons George and Ian Batten, Sheppey United put in a very lacklustre performance but became the first side to win at Paddlesworth Road this season, courtesy of striker Michael Salako, 32, rifling home a penalty with 16 minutes of a poor game remaining.

“Yes, it was a real, it was a game of football neither side really deserved to lose it to be honest,” admitted Batten, 34.

“I felt we edged it first-half and second half, I thought they were the better side.

“We were about 20-25 minutes to go and I said to my brother, ‘we just going to need to get a goal out of nowhere,’ and we ended up getting a goal out of nowhere from a penalty, which was very well despatched by Mikey and we got a bit of luck in that second half but we hung in there and we defended well, which enabled us to get that luck.

“Snodland are a good side. I expect them to be right up there at Step Five.  Both myself and my brother came and watched them against Hollands & Blair on Tuesday and we knew we was in for a tough game.

“We knew it was going to be a really difficult game. They just beat (our Isthmian League South East Division rivals) Margate 3-1 in the previous round, so we knew what they were capable of but we knew if we got it right today, we’d have a good chance of winning the game.”

Snodland Town player-manager Connor Dymond, 32, added: “Gutting, really gutting. I think we’ve left everything out there but overall I’m gutted to go out on a penalty. It’s a hard one to take. I didn’t even think it was a penalty, so there’s where I’m at, at the moment.

“Super proud (of my players) because I don’t think we deserved to lose that game. It wasn’t a performance where you think the opposition were better than us or we let ourselves down. I didn’t think that at all, so it was definitely a game of fine margines and the penalty decided it.

“Sheppey, they’re a good side in possession, had really good rotation, had a clear game-plan but we’ve watched them, their footage of (their 3-0 FA Trophy defeat last weekend) Deal and watched them and I think we’ve cancelled each other out in the end, which I think it showed.

“There isn’t much difference in the Leagues. I say that all the time. That’s why we beat Margate, we beat Harrow and we competed well against Sheppey. I don’t think they can say they dominated the game but that is the level and it’s a game of fine margines the higher you go up.”

Snodland Town – in second-place in the ninth-tier Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table with 12 points (three wins, three defeats and one defeat) – were playing in the Second Qualifying Round for the very first time and attracted a crowd of 621.

Snodland Town beat their league rivals Faversham Strike Force 1-0 in the Extra Preliminary Round before pulling off three shocks away from home by beating Harrow Borough (3-1) and Margate (3-1).

Sheppey United – in the bottom six in the eighth-tier Isthmian League South East Division table with three points from four games – have played three of their four FA Cup ties away from home.

They beat Kennington 6-2 at Holm Park in a Replay after being held to a 1-1 draw in Ashford, before beating Rusthall (3-0) and Redhill (2-1) and they will need to put in a vastly improved performance should they come up against a higher league outfit in the penultimate qualifying round in two weeks’ time.

The Batten brothers were both here on Tuesday night to watch Snodland Town’s 3-3 draw against Hollands & Blair, where two stoppage time goals from winger Kian Scott denied Ian Draycott’s side the win.

Sheppey United were without Alfie Evans (back problem), Mamadou Diallo (away) and Dylan Ajei-Hersey (hamstring), while the home side reported no injury issues.

Snodland Town dropped two-goal striker Christopher Allhassan so Scott played in the number nine role for the first 75 minutes, where the versatile Harry Hudson was deployed as the number 10.

Snodland Town created their first opening after only 106 seconds, kicking down the slope.

The recalled Ben Fitchett played the ball down the line where Scott easily cut past Sheppey United’s centre-half Joshua Wisson but his left-footed angled drive from a tight angle was comfortably held by the recalled goalkeeper Harley Earle, low to his left beside his near-post.

“We started well. I don’t think they had a shot in the first half. I think they were a little bit more comfortable in possession than us but first half we had three or four shots,” said Dymond.

Batten said: “We trust Harley massive between the sticks. We’ve missed him for the last three or four games, although Jobie Farr’s come in and done really well and it’s been a great experience for Jobie.

“But Harley’s been, this season for us, one of the stand-out players, such a brave goalkeeper but gets caught a lot, gets fouled a lot because of his (small) size but so brave and we’re lucky to have him.”

Snodland Town’s attacking four players failed to press Sheppey United’s defenders when they were playing out from the back but they were often direct in their approach play and both sides lacked quality in the final third.

Snodland Town went very close (8:13) when left-back Kevin Akpodafe launched a throw-in towards the edge of the Sheppey penalty area and Scott knocked the ball down for Hudson, who drilled his right-footed shot whistling past the foot of the left-hand post from 16-yards.

A tackle from Sheppey centre-half Harry Lawrence sent left-winger Nathaniel Olawole flying just outside the centre-circle and a free-kick from holding midfielder Bobby Dunn was won in the air by Dymond and Fitchett jumped up with goalkeeper Earle to knock his header over the crossbar from six-yards.

Sheppey United central midfielder Ben Clark was protecting his back-four with a battling performance but he threaded a first time deck pass to put in right-winger Danny Leonard who cut into the penalty area and faced goalkeeper Frankie Leonard in a one-v-one, with the former Bearsted keeper coming off his line to smother the low shot low to his right in Sheppey United’s only goalscoring chance of the first half (20:35).

“Their goalkeeper got down well and made the space small and Danny’s tried to place it and ended up just putting it into the goalkeeper,” said Batten.

“You do want it to fall to Danny in those kind of areas but it’s just unfortunate he couldn’t dispatch it.”

Dymond added: “They had that one shot but we know Danny is a threat. He’s always been a threat. He’s a good player that has played a lot in the league.”

Olawole swept the ball out to Emmanuel Shoderu and he played the ball back to Olawole, whose left-footed cross was cleared and Dymond recycled the floating ball back into the Sheppey box and Hudson’s looping header was flicked behind by Earle, diving high to his left to producing a save for the tv cameras, as clear-cut chances were very few and far between.

Current Managerial Record with their current clubs:

Snodland Town – Connor Dymond – P11 – W6 – D3 - L2

Sheppey United – George and Ian Batten – P25 – W8 – D4 – L13


Snodland Town were the better side between the two but the two Kent sides often cancelled each other out.

Batten said: “Yes, I mean it was a nervy affair. There’s a lot riding on this game for both side and that happens.  Players’ can get nervous, it’s a natural human instinct and I felt both sets of players were nervous, especially during that second half. Ourselves more, but luckily, we managed to get the break.  I felt whoever got that breakthrough was going to win the game and fortunately it was us.”

Sheppey United’s direct approach was trying to find Salako down the left with the poor Sobhee-Turner trying to link up with him in attack but Fitchett and Tyler Jackson slammed the door shut.

Sheppey United’s holding midfielder Cameron Andrews delivered a deep stoppage-time free-kick into the Snodland penalty area. The ball was knocked down by Wisson at the far post and ineffective attacking midfielder Kaelem Sobhee-Turner cracked a right-footed volley whistling through a crowd of players and past the right-hand post from 18-yards.

Hudson played the ball out to Dymond, who reversed the ball into Scott, who did well to hold off Wisson (who was closely marking him) and with his back to goal Scott managed to wrap his first-time left-footed shot towards the bottom right-hand corner from outside the box, which was comfortably held by Earle with the last kick of a disappointing first half.

“I think that was probably out of frustration, probably didn’t get too many balls into him, not any nice ones anyway and just takes a swing at it and ultimately that didn’t go in,” said Dymond, who was asked why the five-goal Scott played as the number nine despite his slender size.

“It’s worked for us in recent weeks, getting the ball into Kian’s feet, setting him and playing off him and then playing wide, pretty basic instructions.

“Kian’s done really well us in recent weeks since Chris Alhassan got his suspension. Kian’s really stepped up into that number nine position.

“Seko Traore was out injured for about six weeks so it was really hard to leave Kian out today.”

Batten added: “I mean we came and watched them on Tuesday and they had a lot of similar chances that ended up in the same sort of places. If they were clinical on Tuesday, they’d probably would’ve won. If they were clinical today, they would’ve at least got a draw out of the game.

“I’ve got nothing but respect for them because they play football in a brave way.  They play good football, attacking football and hats off to them and I would’ve said that whether we win, lose or draw today.”

When asked whether he was happy with his side’s performance today, Batten replied, “100 per cent – although it wasn’t our prettiest, it wasn’t our best. I’m happy with the performance because we won!”

Both were asked their thoughts at the interval.

Dymond said: “Look, the management team speaks and we’re seeing if we’re seeing the same things and I usually let them lead it because I’m only seeing one aspect of the game but obviously if I’m on the pitch I feel I can lead it in certain aspects.

“But ultimately I trust the management on the side but what was said at half-time was just ‘you’re in the game, you’re halfway there, now just don’t do anything silly but let’s not undo the first half by being rash.’

“I think we were on top in the second half, very similar to how they were in the first half. I thought it was a fair game.”

Batten added: “I possibly made a mistake at half-time because I emphasised the slope too much and the players went out there and they didn’t play how I wanted them to play.

“We want them to play on the floor, passing the ball. That’s what we do every week and for some reason we were knocking it long but what I will say is we’ve had so many injuries and we’ve had three or four out today and sometimes it upsets the flow of the team slightly but whoever came in done a superb job.

“It’s difficult but today we managed to get through and I’m really proud of the boys.”

Snodland Town came out with all guns blazing at the start of the second half – despite kicking up the slope.

Dymond sprayed the ball out to high left-back Akpodafe who hooked the ball in from within the penalty area on the left-hand side and Dymond jumped up and sent his free-header over the crossbar from 12-yards as Snodland Town lacked quality and composure in attack (7:28).

Sheppey United’s left-back Mohammed Dabo tried to play the ball down the line but the ball was intercepted by Jackson, who travelled over the half-way line before feeding Hudson, who cracked his left-footed drive sailing over the crossbar from 25-yards.

Dymond – who was playing beside Dunn in a holding midfielder role – played the ball into Shoderu, who poked the ball inside to Dunn, who lacked composure some 25-yards from goal, pulling his left-footed drive across Earle and bouncing harmlessly wide of the far post (9:43).

“We were positive. We were on top. We felt like we were getting more space. We were moving the ball quicker. People were more proactive and we felt like we had a chance to go and win the game,” added Dymond.

Both sides then cancelled each other out again and a goal-less stalemate was the most likely outcome.

Batten admitted: “They started a lot better than us and to be honest I wasn’t overly confident at all.  That second half, I was actually hoping for a draw but I just felt we were just so far off it but we managed one bit of quality which got us a penalty, that’s about that.”

However, Clark swept the ball out to Wisson, who played the ball down the line and along the deck to release left-back Dabo, who cut into the penalty area and Surrey-based referee Harry Yellen put his whistle to his lips and awarded a soft penalty (26:36) after Scott challenged the Sheppey left-back.

A small group of primary school children were behind the car park goal as Danny Leonard handed Salako the ball and listed to ‘anchor’ chants – their parents have got to be proud listing to such vile swearing from their kids – but Salako isn’t going to be put off by high voiced abuse, rifling his right-footed penalty high into the top right-hand corner (as Frankie Leonard dived the other way) to score his fourth goal of the season, with 28 minutes and 8 seconds on the clock to snatch victory.

“Yes, I thought Mo done really well getting, driving into the box. I felt that it actually was a penalty. A lot of people were saying it was a soft penalty but I thought he came right across him and took him out,” claimed Batten.

“I could be wrong. I’m not perfect like anybody else but I could be wrong but I did feel from my angle it was a penalty and well done for Michael Salako just to step up and put such a good penalty away where the keeper could not save it.”

Dymond, inevitably said, “I didn’t think it was a pen. I don’t know why he’s given it, in such a big game.  He’s trying to say he went through the player to win the ball but I don’t know how the ball can change direction like that.  There were worse fouls on the pitch and he didn’t give anyway. It’s a tough one to take.”

Shoderu cut into the middle and played a left-footed pass out to Olawole, who cut in and whipped in a great cross towards the back post where substitute striker Sekou Traore bottled the header and allowed the ball to sail over his head and bounce behind for a goal-kick – another sign of the home side’s lack of penalty area quality.

Snodland Town missed a glorious chance to restore parity (41:08) when Traore went to pieces inside the six-yard box.

Sub left-winger Jimmy Shepherd played the ball along the deck to a deep Alhassan, who played the ball out to Jackson, who was left unmarked and whipped in a deep cross towards the back post where Traore cracked a left-footed volley over the top of the crossbar from three-yards.

“I think he goes with the wrong technique. I think he laced it instead of just side-footing it and making sure it goes on target but I can’t tell a striker out there to hit the ball. I’ve seen him do it in the first game of the season,” added Dymond.

Olawole turned into Diego Maradona and tried to cheat his way to an equaliser with 46:19 on the clock, following the homes side’s third and final corner.

Jackson swung the ball in from the left towards a crowd of players at the back post where Olawole raised his right arm and slam-dunked the ball into the back of the net but referee Harry Yellen cautioned him for handball and quite rightly disallowed it.

Dymond said: “It’s a great handball. I think he’s done well to tap it in and score, so we’ll take that.”

Batten added: “That was crazy, weren’t it? That was crazy! The worst thing about that for them, for their perspective, I think if he puts his arm down they had a couple of people behind him who might’ve actually headed that in, so I think we’ve actually got lucky.

“But well done to the officials. Well done to the referee because I know we like to give officials’ stick but when they get decisions right we have got to praise them as well and fair play to the ref. He’s kept his eye on the ball and he’s seen it and he’s given it and if they would’ve scored that it would’ve left us heartbroken really, so thank god the ref called it.”

Sheppey United should have scored a flattering second (49:46) on the counter-attack when Salako knocked a long ball down and sent Spencer through on goal but flashed his right-footed shot past the far post when he only had Frankie Leonard to beat.

Dymond said: “They didn’t have much in the second half. In the end I think they were just trying to hold onto their lead that they worked so hard to get, so fair play to them.”

“DJ today wasn’t at his best but I think the angle was slightly funny and it just kind of got away from him slightly and he overstretched and put it wide,” added Batten, who was asked what his side gave him during the game.

“They gave me absolutely everything, not just me, obviously my brother. Do you know what I mean. I’m ever so thankful to them because this FA Cup run we’re on now brings me back to my dad.  Obviously, my dad passing away 18 months ago now and before he did pass away, went on that FA Cup run and this journey what we’re going on at the moment just brings me back closer to them and I’m thankful to the boys for that because I saw those great days. I saw those days where everyone in the football club was so happy. I look around the football club today and see everyone extremely happy.

“Me, myself, my brother, my family will be delighted and we’ll all feel close to my dad tonight and I’m thankful for them for that.

“My dad was the pillar of my family. Him getting ill was a massive shock to us. I think even 18 months on, we still struggle with it but what does re-united us as a family is this football club.

“My sister and my brother-in-law come every week and my son comes every week and my brothers sons come every week. My cousin, he comes every week, my whole family, my mum and it brings us all together and that’s what it did when dad was here and we’re still doing it now.  The club is a massive pillar to rest on as such, if that makes any sense?”

Now in the bottom five, the Batten brothers’ take their side to Gravesend on Tuesday night to play winless Punjab United.

Chipie Sian’s outfit are rooted to the foot of the table (as expected) with only two points from their opening six games and suffered a 6-1 humiliation at Deal Town.

“Yes, it’s going to be a really difficult game.  The issue with The FA Cup is as great it is, don’t get me wrong, but you have your highs and your lows in football and you have got to motivate the boys to go again,” said Batten.

“We’re going to have to do that and they’re going to have to respond because we need to start winning in the League. We’ve played hardly any League games and I can’t remember the last time we played one. I think it was Herne Bay and that seemed like a lifetime ago, so we’re going to need to start winning in the League. That’s really important to us.

“We need to bring some reinforcements because at the moment we’re really short. We’ve been trying for two weeks’ now to bring players in but it’s proving really hard.  There are players become available. There are players that were close to coming in but we thought we had somebody a week ago and they came and realised it was too far travel wise.

“We will keep going and going and going and going because the one thing we can promise is 100 per cent efforts from this football club.

“At the start of the season our aspirations was to be in and around the play-offs and that still is the aim.  I don’t want to give the players the excuse where we’re playing too many games because there are other teams doing that as well, so that is still the aim. We’ve got a good group, got good players and if we can support the players we’ve got with a couple more, we’ll do well.”

Batten, meanwhile, hopes for a rare home tie in the Third Qualifying Round in 14 days’ time.

“We haven’t had a home game yet apart from the replay against Kennington.  I honestly don’t care who we get. We’ve got a chance of beating anybody if we play well.  The draw, there’s only good teams left in it now anyway, so let’s face it, there’s no point wishing for this club or wishing for that club. Let’s just get the draw done and well have the best go we can at it.

“When we’re on it, it’s hard to break us down. We’ve got players that are willing to chuck their bodies on the line and you have to do that to play for Sheppey and if you don’t, then there’s other clubs for you!”

Snodland Town, meanwhile, have slipped down to fifth-place due to Fisher (17 points from eight games), Kennington (14 points from eight), Hollands & Blair (13 points from seven) and Bearsted (12 points from six) all winning today.

Dymond takes his side to Bearsted on Tuesday night. Kevin Stevens’ side beat Corinthian 4-1 at Honey Lane this afternoon.

“We’ll take the positives (from this FA Cup run), take the super energy from the crowd. Take the performances that have got us here and how do we bring it all together now and create a little charge in the League,” said Dymond.

“It’s super frustrating.  We had a decent crowd and they’ve really worked hard here and it’s been a great following in the away games so they deserved a home game. It’s just really unfortunate that we didn’t give them that extra round that everyone probably thought we were going to get but football doesn’t work like that.

“The boys are gutted, they’re absolutely gutted but they’ll take the positives out of it. It’s not going to ruin their evening too much.

“I think we’ll be ready. I think there’s no better way to get back on it than having the next game.  We’ll freshen it up a little bit with the squad so boys who haven’t had many minutes, it’s time to have a go.  I don’t think we’ve not seen the full value of the squad yet, so it will be good to see those boys, definitely.

“I think there might be a chance of bringing in one or two but I’m not overly worried about bringing other players in because I do think we’ve got enough in the squad.  It’s just we’ve got to galvanise again and get a win on the board.

“We don’t want to lose any game but going back to our League, that’s the bread and butter, that’s what we want to do. I just said to the boys in there, I just want to get that little bit of hunger back. Just where we were at the start of the season.  We were just trying to prove ourselves wrong and now we’ve got to go again now. We’ve got to prove ourselves and get a couple of back-to-back wins and that puts you where you should be in the table anyway.”

Snodland Town: Frankie Leonard, Tyler Jackson (Todd Brand 90), Kevin Akpodafe, Connor Dymond (Gurpreet Benning 75), Ben Fitchett, Jaydon Bolarinwa, Nathaniel Olawole, Bobby Dunn (Christopher Alhassan 68), Kian Scott (Sekou Tarore 75), Harry Hudson, Emmanuel Shoderu (Jimmy Shepherd 83).
Subs: Jake Ottley, Mugisa Hodasi

Booked: Connor Dymond 23, Tyler Jackson 74, Ben Fitchett 84, Nathaniel Olawole 90

Sheppey United: Harley Earle, Joseph Ganiwa, Mohammed Dabo (Harlain Mbayo 88), Cameron Andrews, Harry Lawrence, Joshua Wisson, D’Jean Spencer, Ben Clark, Michael Salako, Kaelem Sobhee-Turner (Joe Skinner 65), Danny Leonard.
Subs: Freddie Godden, Jack O’Neill, Jobie Farr, Ethan Cole, Ryan Santry.

Goal: Michael Salako 74 (penalty)

Booked: Harry Lawrence 11, Joshua Wisson 79

Attendance: 621
Referee: Mr Harry Yellen
Assistants: Mr Daniel Cooper & Mr Dane Johnston
Fourth Official: Mr Rasmus Adamah

Match Duration:
First Half: 47:09
Second Half: 50:10