Saturday April 11

 

FIRST DIVISION

Croydon 1-1 Greenways

FC Elmstead 1-2 Lordswood

Halls AFC 0-1 Tooting Bec

Lewisham Borough 1-2 Sheppey Sports

Lydd Town 3-4 Bridon Ropes

Rochester United 0-2 AFC Greenwich Borough

SC Thamesmead 1-0 Chessington & Hook

Staplehurst Monarchs 3-3 Banstead Athletic

Welling Town 1-6 SE Dons

Another massive day in the First Division – and now we’re down to the final twists with very little left to play.

SE Dons kept their top spot in ruthless fashion, demolishing Welling Town 6-1. Billy Crook (12’) and Joedon Gugas-Cowin (14’) set the tone early before Andre Coker took over with a hat-trick (59’, 65’, 73’). Femi Akinwande added a penalty (77’) to complete the rout. Zayshaun Asamoah (49’ pen) briefly gave Welling hope, but their fate is now sealed.

AFC Greenwich Borough remain hot on the Dons heels. Their 2-0 win at Rochester United couldn’t have started any better, with Stefan Payne converting a penalty inside the first minute after Tom Loynes saw red. From there, Borough managed the game and sealed it through Abel Vendrells (49’). It’s a huge result away to a top side.

In the play-off race, Lordswood confirmed their place with a 2-1 win at FC Elmstead. Jonathan Harris struck early (7’) before Delvane Kattah levelled (18’), but Thomas Davey’s late winner (88’) sealed it. That’s job done for Lordswood.

The final play-off spot remains undecided, though. Croydon and Greenways drew 1-1 in dramatic fashion. Kanan Fitton put Croydon ahead (73’), but just two minutes later Greenways were reduced to ten men after goalkeeper Shaun Wicks was sent off. Despite that, Dan Ashton snatched a dramatic equaliser deep into stoppage time (90+3’). Croydon stay in control, but Greenways aren’t going away.

At the bottom, it’s still incredibly tight – even if Welling are now gone. Bridon Ropes picked up what could be a season-defining 4-3 win at Lydd Town in a chaotic contest. Yedidja Kossi (45’), Abdulai Turay (55’, 89’) and Leo Onye (72’) got the goals for Bridon, while Lydd replied through Charlie Gill (12’), Connor Coyne (66’) and Luke Reeve (78’). That’s a huge swing in momentum.

SC Thamesmead may have taken a giant step towards safety with a 1-0 win over Chessington & Hook, settled late by Asad Mohamed (84’). Chessy are now staring relegation in the face.

Lewisham Borough suffered a blow with a 2-1 home defeat to Sheppey Sports. Darlington Aguagwa (64’) and Jack O’Neill (72’) put Sheppey in control before Andrea Carrera’s late strike (89’) gave Lewisham hope – but not enough.

Tooting Bec finally got a much-needed win, beating Halls AFC 1-0 thanks to an early Benjamin Robinson goal (6’). That could prove enough to keep them clear.

Staplehurst Monarchs and Banstead Athletic played out a wild 3-3 draw. Steve Karkari scored twice from the spot (6’, 51’) and Jerome Lee added another (45+2’) for Staplehurst, while Banstead hit back through Luke Danby’s brace (3’, 33’) and Finn Haughey (78’). Great entertainment, but both might feel it should have been more.

So where are we?
Title race – still alive.
Play-offs – one spot left, two teams fighting.
Relegation – messy, tense, and far from settled… unless you’re Welling.

A couple of games left. No hiding now.

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