First Division – September 22nd/23rd
First Division Midweek Fixtures
Tuesday 22 September
Rochester United 1-0 Sheppey Sports
Wednesday 23 September
FC Elmstead 2-1 Banstead Athletic
Lewisham Borough 0-3 Tooting Bec
Welling Town P-P Halls
First Division Midweek Preview
The SCEFL First Division continues with four games spread across Tuesday and Wednesday, with clubs at both ends of the table looking to make the most of their midweek opportunity.
New signing Pat Ward made an immediate impact for Rochester United on Tuesday night, scoring a late winner in a 1-0 victory over Sheppey Sports.
Ward, who only joined Rochester from fellow First Division side Croydon this week, marked his arrival with the decisive goal in the 88th minute at the Rochester Utilities Stadium.
The game had remained goalless until the closing stages, but Ward’s late strike secured a valuable three points for the hosts in front of an attendance of 120.
Victory takes Rochester onto 19 points, level with leaders Lordswood, although United have played one game more and trail on goal difference.
There were two games in the SCEFL First Division on Wednesday night, with Tooting Bec producing an impressive 3-0 victory at Lewisham Borough, while FC Elmstead made it back-to-back league wins with a 2-1 success against Banstead Athletic.
Tooting travelled to Ladywell Arena having beaten Halls AFC 4-0 on Saturday and followed that up with another convincing victory and another clean sheet.
Nile Waite put the visitors ahead from the penalty spot after 13 minutes and struck again in the 34th minute to give Tooting a 2-0 half-time advantage. Kai Udondem completed the scoring midway through the second half.
The victory takes Tooting onto 11 points from eight games, moving them up to eighth in the table and completing an excellent few days in which they have scored seven goals without reply.
FC Elmstead are level with them on 11 points after continuing their own improving form with a 2-1 win against Banstead Athletic at the Longmead Stadium.
Jamie Fearn gave Elmstead an early lead after nine minutes, before Jenson Allchurch brought Banstead level in the 53rd minute. The scores were level for only 12 minutes, with Sam Harris striking in the 65th minute to secure all three points for the hosts.
It is a second successive league victory for Elmstead following Saturday’s 2-0 win at Stansfeld, lifting them to ninth in the table.
The night’s other scheduled fixture between Welling Town and Halls AFC was postponed due to pitch conditions.
Wednesday’s results complete the midweek First Division programme after Rochester United’s 1-0 victory over Sheppey Sports on Tuesday, when new signing Pat Ward scored an 88th-minute winner.