Pre-Season Round-Up – Saturday 8th August

With most SCEFL teams in pre-season action on Saturday 8th August and all games held ‘Behind Closed Doors’ here are the results and reactions to the games.

AFC Croydon 1-2 Saltdean United

Ashford United 0-1 Kennington

Bearsted 2-0 Walthamstow

Bermondsey Town 4-2 Fisher XI

Borden Village 2-1 Lordswood

Chatham Town 1-2 Folkestone Inv

Corinthian 1-0 Barking 

Cray Wanderers 6-1 Bridon Ropes

Erith Town 4-2 FC Elmstead

Farnboro OBG 1-1 Kent Football Utd

Forest Hill Park 1-0 Bromleians

Glebe 1-1 Cray Valley PM

Halls AFC 3-0 Meridian VP

Hawkinge Town 0-5 Deal Town

Holmesdale 2-2 Staines Town

Horley Town 4-0 Croydon

Hullbridge Sports 2-2 Welling Town

Kings Hill 1-2 Tunbridge Wells

K Sports 0-4 Ramsgate

Lingfield A-A Beckenham Town

Punjab United 0-3 Sporting Bengal

Rochester United 0-0 Canterbury City

Snodland Town 4-4 Erith & Belvedere

Sutton Athletic 3-3 Cheshunt FC

Tooting Bec v Balham

Tooting & Mitcham 2-0 Fisher

Whitstable Town 1-3 Rusthall

Whyteleafe 0-3 Hollands & Blair

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There were 28 Pre-season games involving our sides today and thanks to the power of Social Media and some great work by the Club Officials in charge of the tweets we are able to bring this short summary…

Glebe v Cray Valley PM looked a cracker on paper and played out that way on the field too with the sides finishing even after an entertaining 1-1 draw. Ryan Flack opened the scoring for the former SCEFL side before a debut goal from Frankie Sawyer levelled matters just prior to the break. There were plenty of changes in a hot second half but the scoreline didn’t alter leaving this one finishing all square.

Chatham Town chose Step 3 opposition for this afternoon’s test so it was no surprise that they had a tough afternoon. They did however take an early lead though, with Jack Evans once again scoring for the Chats, before Folkestone Invicta came back strong to take a 2-1 win.

The biggest scoring match of the day was an all-SCEFL affair between Snodland Town and Erith & Belvedere that ended 4-4. In a real game of two halves Snodland raced into a 4-goal lead thanks to Dan Aston and Sam Winch doubles but the Deres responded well in the second 45 and one by one managed to pull the deficit back. Malik Nosike, Kamieko Pope-Campbell and a two from James Hawkins earning the visitors a draw today.

In other SCEFL battles Erith Town hit a trio of late goals to beat FC Elmstead 4-2 while Rochester United and Canterbury City both failed to find the net in their game.

 

Many of our sides had impressive results against teams from higher leagues. Gary Clarke netted, again, for Kennington in a 1-0 win over landlords Ashford United while Corinthian beat Barking FC by the same margin. Hollands & Blair chalked up a 3-0 at Whyteleafe and Rusthall returned from Whitstable Town as 3-1 winners. We had a couple of Desmonds as well with Welling Town against Hullbridge Sports and Holmesdale v Staines Town both finishing 2-2, Shameek Farrell getting both goals for the Dale in that one, while Sutton Athletic drew 3-3 with Cheshunt FC. Luke Colmean James Sutherland and George Acland all scoring against their Step 3 opponents for the Sutts.

A host of games were held against Kent County sides with outcomes a mixed bag overall. Sam Wilson was among the goals in a 5-0 Deal Town win over Hawkinge Town, while Halls AFC evened the score by beating Meridian VP 3-0. Kieran Oliver scored in a 2-1 loss for Lordswood at Borden Village while Tunbridge Wells sneaked past Kings Hill thanks to a last minute Rhys Bartlett penalty. Elsewhere Kent Football United drew 1-1 with Farnborough Old Boys Guild (Highlights) and Forest Hill Park beat Bromleians 1-0.

There were a few tough results too, with the conditions not making things easier. Bridon Ropes lost 6-1 at Cray Wanderers, Ramsgate beat K Sports 4-0, as did Horley Town over Croydon and Punjab United lost 3-0 at home to Sporting Bengal.  Fisher chose to divide their squad in two and face both Tooting & Mitcham and Bermondsey Town on the same day. They lost both, but no doubt learned a lot, with results not not being the be-all and end-all at this stage of proceedings.

Late scores to come through to us were a 2-0 win for Bearsted over Walthamstow and a 2-1 loss for AFC Croydon against Saltdean United. The game between Lingfield and Beckenham Town was abandoned at half-time due to an injury to a Lingfield player. Becks were leading 2-0 at the time.

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