Premier Division – September 22nd/23rd
Premier Division Midweek Fixtures
Tuesday 22 September
Bearsted 2-2 Snodland Town
Beckenham Town 2-3 Sutton Athletic
Chislehurst Glebe 2-0 AFC Greenwich Borough
Faversham Strike Force 1-2 Hollands & Blair
Fisher 6-3 Petts Wood & Holmesdale
SE Dons 1-3 Rusthall
Tunbridge Wells 3-3 Corinthian
Wednesday 23 September
Erith & Belvedere 2-3 Phoenix Sports
Premier Division Summary
Fisher strengthened their position at the top of the SCEFL Premier Division on a high-scoring Tuesday night which also brought impressive away wins for Hollands & Blair, Rusthall and Sutton Athletic.
The leaders were involved in the biggest goal-fest of the evening as they beat Petts Wood & Holmesdale 6-3 to move onto 20 points. Euan Mutale opened the scoring after 13 minutes before Festos Kamara and Temi Alaka added further goals, with Kamara striking again before the break to give Fisher a commanding 4-0 advantage.
James Bessey-Saldanha made it five shortly after the restart, but Petts Wood & Holmesdale responded through Donald Macaulay and Charlie Clover. Kamara completed his hat-trick in the 81st minute before Fyn Rutherford scored the visitors’ third. Fisher have now scored 29 goals in nine league matches and sit four points clear at the summit.
Hollands & Blair moved into second place with a dramatic 2-1 victory at Faversham Strike Force. Mo Cham broke the deadlock in the 54th minute before Kane Taylor levelled for Strike Force with 16 minutes remaining. The points looked set to be shared until Cham struck again in the sixth minute of added time to secure Blair’s fourth league victory of the season.
There was a notable result at the Garrison as Rusthall beat SE Dons 3-1. The visitors scored in the 11th through Thompson Adeyemi and 30th minutes from Lekan Osideko to establish a two-goal half-time advantage and added a third in the 76th thanks to Chris Lawal. Dons were reduced to ten men when Harry Sargent was dismissed two minutes later, before Palace Francis scored in the 90th minute. The result lifts Rusthall to sixth on 12 points, while Dons suffered a second successive league defeat.
Chislehurst Glebe also produced one of the results of the night, ending AFC Greenwich Borough’s unbeaten league record with a 2-0 victory. Luke Medley put Glebe ahead in the 41st minute and Brandon Barrance doubled the advantage on 68 minutes. Borough were then reduced to ten men in the 72nd minute as Glebe saw out a result which takes them onto ten points.
Sutton Athletic came away from Eden Park Avenue with all three points after a 3-2 win at Beckenham Town. Ashdon Day gave Sutton the lead before Adekunle Ajagbe quickly levelled for the Becks. Kayne Roberts put the hosts ahead in the 57th minute, but Day struck again seven minutes later and Luke Northwood grabbed the decisive goal five minutes from time.
There was nothing to separate Bearsted and Snodland Town, who shared the points in a 2-2 draw at Otham. The result leaves the two sides level on 13 points, with Bearsted fourth and Snodland fifth on goal difference. Ryan Sawyer and Dieko Falade were on target for the Bears with Chris Alhassan and Harry Hudson netting for Snodland.
The night’s other draw was an extraordinary 3-3 between Tunbridge Wells and Corinthian, with all six goals arriving before half-time. Regan Corke struck twice inside the opening six minutes before Jack Gallagher made it 3-0 after only 15. Corinthian responded immediately through Jake Williams, Asanti Amoah reduced the deficit further on 45 minutes and Williams struck again in first-half stoppage time to complete the comeback. There were no further goals after the interval, although Corinthian finished with ten men following Oliver Fryer’s 77th-minute dismissal.
After a night of 30 goals across seven matches, Fisher have opened up a four-point advantage over Hollands & Blair at the top, with Kennington third on 14 points. Bearsted and Snodland are a point further back, while just five points separate second-placed Blair from Sutton Athletic in tenth.
After a goalless and largely uneventful first half, Phoenix Sports and Erith & Belvedere produced a dramatic second 45 minutes at the Acclaim Handling Community Stadium, on Wednesday night, with Phoenix eventually coming out on top 3-2.
The game burst into life immediately after the restart and Khayrie Harris was at the centre of everything for the visitors. Harris opened the scoring in the 46th minute, cutting in from the right wing onto his left foot before firing home.
Just two minutes later he did almost exactly the same thing again. Harris came inside from the right onto his favoured left foot and found the net to put Phoenix 2-0 ahead.
The visitors were reduced to ten men when Dami Olusesi was sent off in the 54th minute, and Erith & Belvedere took advantage immediately. Freddie Fletcher headed one goal back before Jack Sammoutis levelled the contest in the 68th minute with a fine finish.
With Phoenix a man down and the Deres having fought their way back from two goals behind, the momentum appeared to be with the hosts, but Harris had one more decisive contribution to make.
In the 84th minute he completed his hat-trick, this time going outside his man to make a right foot finish and restore the Phoenix lead. Three remarkably similar goals from Harris and, most importantly, three points for his side.
The 3-2 victory is Phoenix’s second successive league win following Saturday’s 3-0 win against Rusthall and lifts them to ninth place with ten points from nine games.
For Erith & Belvedere it was another difficult evening. They remain at the foot of the Premier Division with three points, despite a spirited second-half fightback which had briefly brought them level against ten-man Phoenix.