Southern Counties East League Premier Division
Lindsey Field, Lydd
Admission: £7.00
Programme: £1.50
Attendance: 101
With yet another rail strike taking place today, and train services from my local stations severely reduced and finishing around 5pm, I decided to stay local again today, and went for a drive along the coast to just over the East Sussex/Kent border and onto the Romney Marsh for a revisit to the Lindsey Field, to see Lydd Town's first ever game at Step 5 level, for my opening competitive game of the new season.
There have not been any noticeable changes to the Lindsey Field since my last visit last October, save for a new welcome board posted on the turnstile hut, not that any were needed, as it remains an excellently maintained and smart ground.
Lydd's promotion to the Southern Counties League Premier Division came somewhat out of the blue, to an outsider at least, having spent the previous six seasons in the mid to lower half ot the table, and after starting last season like a train, had a real mid-season wobble, before ending up in third place in the table, and winning through the play-offs, beating Faversham Strike Force 4-2, and then Tooting Bec on penalties, both games at home, to seal promotion. This summer has not gone as smoothly as the club would have liked though, with manager Mickey Doyle stepping down just 11 days before the start of the season, citing work and family commitments preventing him from giving the manager's role the time and attention it needs, and replaced by a joint management team of James Rogers and Tom Wynter. Today's visitors from south London, battled against relegation last season, eventually finishing 3 points and 2 positions clear of the drop zone, in 17th place in 20 club division.
On a sunny afternoon, it was pretty clear that a very strong, almost constant wind blowing from end to end away from the clubhouse end would have a big impact on this game, and Lydd played the first half with the wind behind them, having lost the toss. And although they spend most of the half on the attack, they could not make the advantage count, and the strong wind caused problems in judging passes and the flight of the ball. They came close in the very first minute though, when a stabbed shot shaved the outside of the right hand post, and on 4 minutes, a cross swirled in the wind and at the last second had to be tipped over the bar. On 38 minutes, a rare Holmesdale attack saw Wade Odedoyin just about break clear, but his rather tame shot went just beyond the far post. Lydd ended the half with another couple of good chances, first on 44 minutes an inswinging free kick sailed just past the back post, and in the fourth minute of added on time, a corner was emphatically headed home from close range, but the goal was disallowed for a push. But as the half time whistle blew, one couldn't help but feel that Lydd might well end up kicking themselves for not opening up a lead, and equally, the visitors had done very well to keep the scores level despite playing into the very strong wind.
And so it all proved in the second half. After a fairly quiet 20 minutes, Holmesdale took the game away from Lydd with a devastating ten minute spell. On 66 minutes, a corner was cleared away, but only towards Sam Bayford, who hit a glorious half volley from just inside the penalty area into the right hand side of the net. And they doubled their lead just three minutes later, when Richard Jimoh drilling the ball into the bottom right corner from just outside the area. That seemed to be the decisive blow, as Lydd's players' heads seemed to drop a little, their play became disjointed, and the game got increasingly niggly, to the extent it was a little surprise that both sides ended the game with their complements of players. Holmesdale made absolutely sure of the three points on 76 minutes, when a backpass was intercepted by Tom Osel, and he strode on before placing the ball past the keeper. A couple more flashpoints between players took place, the last of which was deep into added on time, at which point the referee blew the final whistle, causing the shoving to gradually simmer down.
This was an excellent result for the visitors, duly rewarded for keeping a clean sheet despite facing gale force conditions in the first half, while this was quite a harsh reality check for Lydd, who will probably have a real fight on their hands to stay in the Premier Division come next May.
Video highlights of this match can be viewed by clicking here
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