Southern Counties East League Division One
Larkfield & New Hythe Sports Club, Larkfield
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 245
At the conclusion of the afternoon game at Bearsted, the convoy of groundhoppers made it way through some very tight country lanes, and then along the M20 passing to the north of Maidstone to visit a ground only its second season of hosting Step 6 football. This was the ground I had visited most recently out of the venues today, in pre-season 2020, and as recently as then the club was about to embark on a season in the second tier of the Kent County League.
Once again today, the host club organised plenty of car parking in a field opposite the ground, and since my previous visit, a smart club fixture board has been position by the entrance gate, and a yellow portable cabin has been re-positioned to just inside the entrance gate to take the admission fee and offer programmes. A separate entrance was allocated for the coachload of groundhoppers being transported on the GroundhopUK coach. Inside, the ground is pretty much unchanged since my previous visit, apart from the installation of floodlights, wooden picnic tables on the patio to the front of the clubhouse, and for today's anticipated bumper crowd, beer and burger vans were positioned just inside the entrance, and the chilli and rice I purchased from the burger van for £5.00 was just what was needed as evening arrived. Once again, the club prepared well to cater for the bumper crowd, and the ground remains a really pleasant place to visit, neat and tidy in pleasant surroundings.
A big occasion anyway with the influx of groundhoppers was augmented by this being very much a local derby, with just over a mile and the M20 separating the home grounds. After only missing out on back to back promotions from Step 7 to Step 5 by losing in the play-off final last season, Larkfield & New Hythe have started this season quite well, coming into this game in third place in the table, following five wins and two draws from their opening ten league games. Greenways have had an average start to their season, in ninth place in the table, following three wins and three draws from their opening nine league games.
With the day's sunshine remaining into the evening, albeit become distinctly chilly on an October evening, the hosts very much started on the front foot, with the Greenways keeper saving well with his foot inside the first minute, and they took the lead on 11 minutes, when they won the ball back close to the half way line, and from the wing, the ball was floated forward for Luke Burdon to run onto, taking a touch on the edge of the area to take the ball past a defender before striking low past the keeper. And they doubled their lead on 29 minutes, when Darren Cooper sent an inswinging free kick towards the far post, and Stuart West headed the ball downwards into the ground, bouncing past the keeper and into the net. Although Larkfield, mostly dominated the half, Greenways grew into the game and had their moments too, but remained two goals adrift at the break.
However, within five minutes of the restart, the visitors did pull a goal back with what was certainly the goal of the game when Jake Levell passed the ball back from the byline to the edge of the penalty area for Oscar Saxton to take a touch before striking the ball just inside the far post beyond the keeper's dive. That made the game more interesting, but the visitors rarely threatened to snatch a point, and in fact it was Larkfield who came closest, seeing a header come back off the bar in the 69th minute.
The three points were sufficient to lift Larkfield up into second place in the table, two points adrift of leaders Lydd, while Greenways remained in ninth. And at the final whistle, it was time for home following a really enjoyable day of groundhopping, to prepare for the double that would follow tomorrow.
Video footage of the goals can be viewed by clicking here
Extended video highlights can be viewed by clicking here
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