On This Day – 13th April
On This Day – 13th April – 2019
SCEFL Premier Division
Bearsted 1-3 Sheppey United
Cray Valley PM 2-1 Glebe
Crowborough Athletic 0-0 Punjab United
Croydon 2-3 Tunbridge Wells
Erith Town 4-0 Lordswood
Fisher 0-0 AFC Croydon Athletic
Hollands & Blair 0-1 Corinthian
K Sports 2-1 Canterbury City
The Premier Division gave us another day of drama, although not many goals, as the title race appears to have lost another contender leaving just two teams left to fight it out at the top.
Corinthian still lead the pack but had a scare today as Hollands & Blair pushed them all the way before eventually losing out to a single goal from Andres Tobon. Cray Valley PM are 2 points behind the Hoops and they were also narrow winners. Glebe only fell short when they were reduced to 9 men but even with lesser numbers they managed to score and almost earn a point against their 2nd placed hosts. While an 11-a-side contest it was level but the first sending-off offence resulted in a penalty put away by Gavin Tomlin. A further red card soon after did not stop Glebe from going forward and they were rewarded with an equaliser from Jack Harris before being denied a point late on due to a fine finish from Chris Edwards.
A first goalless game of the season for Fisher leaves them 6 points off the top with just 3 games still to go. They now look to have too much to do to realisically win this title although they will not give up just yet with Corinthian still to make a trip to Salter Road. AFC Croydon Athletic will be more pleased with that point earned yet they will now face a tough task if they have aims to finish in the top half of the table.
You wait all season for one and then two arrive on the same day. Well, that’s not exactly true but we have only had three 0-0 draws in the Premier Division and now today we got 2 more. Crowborough Athletic and Punjab United played out the second goalless encounter of the afternoon to each earn a point that probably benefitted the visitors more than the hosts. For the record, we have now had just 5 0-0s from the 348 games played in this Division so far this season.
The performance of the day goes to Erith Town who blasted Lordswood away in the first half before settling for a 4-0 win that helps them move up to 7th place. Russell Bedford, Razzaq Coleman and Dan Nash got in on the act in the first 45 minutes as the Dockers positioned themselves well for a shot at a top 6 finish. Sheppey United currently hold that spot but had to end a 5-game losing run to keep it when coming from behind to win at Bearsted. Peter Williams had given the hosts an early lead before Will Thomas levelled before the break. Towards the end goals from Tarik Ibrahim and Dan Bradshaw meant that the points left with the Ites and their 6th place was safe for another week.
If Croydon didn’t have bad luck they would have no luck as another last minute goal denied them of a point, with Tunbridge Wells the team benefitting from the Trams misfortune today. Jason Thompson got the winner for Wells as they came back from a 2-1 deficit after earlier scoring the first goal of this entertaining game.
At Cobdown K Sports also left it late to claim the win as a James Alderman got his second of the match to earn the points against Canterbury City who had earlier taken the lead through Michael Turner. Both teams are now in a congested mid-table zone where a finish of anywhere between 7th and 14th is still possible.
SCEFL First Division
Bridon Ropes 2-1 Kent Football Utd
Erith & Belvedere 2-1 Holmesdale
FC Elmstead 2-3 Greenways
Lewisham Borough 2-0 Rochester United
Lydd Town 4-1 Meridian VP
Phoenix Sports Res 0-5 Kennington
Snodland Town 1-2 SC Thamesmead
Stansfeld 2-1 Sutton Athletic
Welling Town 2-0 Forest Hill Park
And now there are four… Defeat for Sutton Athletic today and wins for the other contenders means there is no longer 5 teams in the race for the title. At the other end of the table, losses for the bottom 3 mean things remain tight, setting up a thrilling final 2 weeks to this campaign at both ends of the Division.
Bridon Ropes remain at the top of the pile but they were forced to work hard for their win as Kent Football United almost went home with a share of the points. Darrell Ditchbury equalised for the visitors after Tyler Anderson-Parr had scored for the hosts early on but Jacob Kalonda got the late winner keeping ‘Ropes’ firmly at the top of the tree. Welling Town remain second and still on the same points as the leaders after collecting a win today at home to Forest Hill Park. Goals from Ryan Golding and Harry Gamble kept the ‘Boots’ within touching distance of the top and ready to pounce should Bridon slip-up in the final 3 games. A point further back are Erith & Belvedere who needed a last-gasp winner to get past an unlucky Holmesdale at Park View Road. The visitors led through Max Morgan before Tony Hill quickly levelled early in the game. With the scores remaining the same through to the dying moments it appeared that a losing run would end for Holmesdale but Harry Harding had other ideas and now the ‘Deres’ are just a point off the lead. Kennington are 4th and within touching distance after leaving the Mayplace Ground as comfortable winners. Doubles from Gary Clarke and George Latham plus a header from Tom Penfold earned the visitors a 5-0 winner over 17th placed Phoenix Sports Reserves.
The title race now appears to be between 4 teams as Sutton Athletic lost despite taking an early lead at Stansfeld. Chris McGinty netted early for the visitors but goals from Lennie Wise and Joe Minter gave the hosts the win, moving them closer to a top 7 finish. SC Thamesmead also improved their chances of a similarly impressive end position after returning from Snodland Town with the points thanks to a 2-1 victory. Greg Adinna and Neil Spencer with the goals for the Acre after Dave Sherwood had given the hosts an early lead.
10th and 11th played each other then switched places as Greenways incredibly came back from a 2-goal first half deficit to win 3-2 at FC Elmstead. Matt Atkins got the winner for the Greens as they ended a 4-game losing run in style while handing Elmstead their first loss in 6.
Meridian VP remain at the bottom after Lydd Town were impressive in seeing them off 4-1. Goals from Dale Horton, Tom Barton, Pat Kingwell and Chukwadi Alagbaosi saw the Lydders control the match before Dewain West got a late consolation for the visitors. AT the Ladywell Arena Lewisham Borough put themselves in a position of safety with a 2-0 win against strugglers Rochester United. Lewis Miller and Emilien Benji got the goals for Boro as they moved to 13th place while keeping United firmly in trouble in 16th.
On This Day – 13th April – 2016
SCEFL Premier Division
Cray Valley PM 2-2 Beckenham Town
Sevenoaks Town 3-3 Ashford United
There were two games and two draws on this day in 2016.
Hussain Isa scored a double for Beckenham Town at Cray Valley while Joe Bingham netted a last minute leveller for Sevenoaks Town at home to Ashford United.
