Kennington 1 v 0 Erith Town

Sunday 20th September 2020
FA Vase Preliminary Round
The Homelands, Kingsnorth
Admission: £6.00 (including 15p booking fee)
Programme: £1.50
Attendance: 190

Sunday does tend to be my "day of rest" from groundhopping, preferring to spend quality time with my partner instead. But as she had to work today, I scoured the fixture lists for a bonus game today, not wanting to pass up any good opportunities to take in games right now, and not knowing for sure how much longer we will be able to. Not fancying too long a day out today, I chose a revisit to The Homelands, six years after my most recent visit.

                                  

A visit to The Homelands is certainly not a convenient proposition for those relying on public transport, located over three miles south of Ashford and out in the open countryside, and whereas on both my previous visits I drove, today I decided to take advantage of the warm, sunny weather and walk from Ham Street train station, a very pleasant and mostly flat walk through the Ham Street National Nature Reserve and then across farmland, and for the return trip, for most of the way I walked along the Greensand Way, about four and a half miles in each direction, taking about an hour and a half. It is nice to see Kennington making themselves at home at The Homelands, also home of landlords Ashford United, with a club board by the main road, with another by the turnstile. Fundamentally, the ground is unchanged since my visit in 2014, but it is nice to see that the ground has been spruced up with some new signage. A long and imposing all-seater stand stretches about two thirds of the distance of one length, with corporate boxes and the club bar along the top, and a tea bar in one corner on ground level. There us just hard standing around the rest of the ground, but with stands covering the areas behind each goal. Surrounding trees and the rural location give the ground a nice background, although the concrete perimeter fencing is not particularly easy on the eye. It was strongly encouraged to purchased tickets online in advance, for an additional 15p admin fee, although a limited quantity of tickets were allowed at the gate. Hand gel dispensers and a QR code for track and trace was available just past the turnstiles, and everyone was instructed to wear face masks when moving around the stadium - although this was generally ignored. An excellent 20 page printed programme was available, very well designed, in full colour and professionally produced and offered a good preview of the game. Once again at a ground where produced, it sold out on the day, yet again proving there still very much is a market for decent programmes. An online version of the programme can be viewed here

Both clubs have had decent starts to their season's. Kennington, who play in the division below Erith Town, were top of the Southern Counties East League Division One last season at the time of abandonment, with ten points breathing space in the promotion spots. And they have won both of their opening games this season, 0-6 at Sutton Athletic and 4-2 at home to Holmesdale, but they did now out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle. 0-1 at home to Erith & Belvedere. Erith Town were in tenth place in the Premier Division last season, and have opened this season with two wins and a defeat, and bowed out of the FA Cup in the Extra Preliminary Round.

On a gloriously warm and sunny afternoon - by the looks of it the last weekend enjoying such weather - this was a surprisingly comfortable win for the underdogs, a lot more comfortable than the final scoreline would suggest, as Erith just never seemed to be able to get going in this game. Kennington opened the scoring on 19 minutes, a threaded ball through the defence found Gary Lockyer, and although his cross shot was parried by the keeper, the ball fell at the feet of Robbie Dolan, who tapped the ball home. And they had a couple of chances to extend their lead in the first half, first Lockyer managed to block the keeper's attempted clearance, with the ball spilling wide, Lockyer crossing but Craig Calvert could only steer his shot just over the bar. Then, on 35 minutes, the same combination saw Calvert's volley from the edge of the area go over the bar.

The game continued in a similar pattern after the break. On 51 minutes, a Kennington free kick right on the line of the penalty area in a central position saw the ball struck powerfully but well saved low to the keeper's left. Erith then had a decent chance on 68 minutes, when a cross flicked off the top of a defender's head to a player beyond the far post, but he drilled the ball into the side netting. And within a minute, Kennington had the ball in the net when the ball was headed home in a crowd following a cross from the left, but the goal was ruled out for a foul on the keeper. On 78 minutes, the home side came close again, a Harry Stow header forcing an excellent reflect save by the keeper. But they didn't need to score again anyway as they quite comfortably saw the game out - as comfortably as a one goal lead can be, and they can now look forward to another home tie in the next round against Southern Combination League Division One outfit Shoreham - which on paper, and based on what I saw last Wednesday at Bexhill, looks very winnable.

Hastings United 0 v 0 Cray Valley (PM)

Saturday 19th September 2020, Kick-off 15.00
Isthmian League South East Division

Pilot Field, Hastings

Admission: Season Ticket

Programme: None

Attendance: 400

I have always had a soft spot for Hastings United (and Hastings Town previously). I have strong family ties with the town, the Pilot Field was the first non-league ground I visited way back in 1989, and it is a ground which oozes character and tradition. Visits have been intermittent over the years, as I have preferred to groundhop and have intermittently had a season ticket at Charlton Athletic. But back in March, when Hastings impressively offered a first wave of season tickets for this season at the bargain price of £70, I was only too pleased to take them up on their offer. I had pretty much decided not to renew my Charlton season ticket anyway, given the chaotic developments behind the scenes, and the prospect of not travelling so far on Saturday was very appealing. Furthermore, in these extraordinarily difficult times, I felt it would be good to help a local club out with my support, with the added personal bonus of not having to travel that far for games on a Saturday.

There have been a few changes to the Pilot Field over the summer, mostly cosmetic, reflecting the club's rebranding over the summer with a new badge. The signage at the entrance turnstiles and gates has been redecorated, and once inside, a couple of new open kiosks have been installed to sell 50/50 tickets and programmes from - although no programmes were produced today. Happily, this is apparently only temporary, and the club hopes to issue again for the next home game. The club shop is now housed in a large converted mobile container unit, with customers seeing what is on offer along the rear wall, and sales assistants serving through a long hatch.

Hastings had plenty of reason to feel aggrieved at the decision to null and void last season, as they were well on course to win the division and earn promotion, having won 18 and drawn eight of their 28 league games, two points clear and with two games in hand. So, little surprise that they are most people's favourites to seal the deal this time around. But today would surely prove a stern early test of their credentials, as visitors Cray Valley also tipped to be there or thereabouts this season. They were in third place last season, after 17 wins and six draws from their 28 league games. The two teams only met once last season, also on the opening day but in south-east London, with the game ending in goalless draw. There would be a capacity crowd at the Pilot Field today, and there will probably be for all of their home games for the foreseeable future, given the current Covid induced limit of 400 spectators, compared with an average attendance last season of 607. 300 season ticket holders alone account for three quarters of the permitted attendance, with the remaining tickets snapped up several days ahead of matchday.

On a mostly overcast but warm afternoon, despite the final scoreline, this was an entertaining game to watch, but sides creating some decent chances but just couldn't find the back of the net. Hastings had the first big chance on 11 minutes, when Raheem Sterling-Parker burst clear of the defence, and with the keeper coming out, Sterling-Parker rolled the ball just beyond the far post. A potentially game changing moment came on 27 minutes when, following a bit of a tangle, Hastings' Jack Dixon was shown a straight red card for a stamp on a Cray player, thereby condemning the home side to playing over an hour with ten men. Indeed, the game was getting rather niggly and feisty, but happily the simmering did not boil over, and apart from a free kick from close to the corner flag being whipped in a parried away by the keeper on 43 minutes, the scoreline remained level at the break.

Seven minutes after the interval, Hastings' Worrall saw a 25 yard free kick parried by the keeper, and from the resultant corner, Gary Elphick's header came back off the crossbar. It was then the visitors who had the best chances for the remainder of the match, applying increasing pressure on the Hastings goal, but the hosts held out for a point which Hastings would probably be happier with under the circumstances.

Bexhill United 2 v 0 Shoreham

Wednesday 16th September 2020, kick-off 19.30
Southern Combination League Division One
The Polegrove, Bexhill-on-Sea
Admission: £5.00

Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 150

Still going through something of a honeymoon period, wanting to make the most of football being back and available to watch after four and a half months going without, and with Covid-19 infections back on the increase, not certain of how much longer I will be able to continue to do so, given the government's rather erratic handling of precautionary measures, I took in my second consecutive game this evening at The Polegrove. 

There have been no significant changes to the ground since my last visit in February, although the summer months have certainly not improved the condition of the pitch, which was very sandy and quite bumpy in places. The programme was similar to last season, with the same cover, and was a decent read, with welcome messages from the home manager and chairman, an introduction to the visitors, history of football in Bexhill, and some league statistics.

After occupying fifth place in last season's abandoned season, Bexhill have had a perfect start to this season, winning their opening game 0-3 at Wick, and then 1-6 at Oakwood on Saturday. Shoreham were in eleventh place last season, though with games in hand on all bar one team above them, and drew 4-4 at home to Billingshurst in their only league game so far, but lost 9-1 at Alfold in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round.

Although it was another sunny evening at kick-off, it was noticeably cooler this evening compared with Tuesday night, with a very strong wind blowing across the ground which made things tricky for the players at times. Bexhill had the wind behind them in the first half, and it probably assisted the opening goal for Bexhill on 5 minutes, when a corner was whipped into the near post by Jamie Bunn, glancing off the top of a defender's head to divert the ball into the roof of his own net. The rest of the half was scrappy and increasingly niggly for the most part, with chances at a premium, although Bexhill say a bullet header from a corner go just over the bar on 13 minutes, and an excellent run from close to the half way line by a Shoreham player was only ended by a superb tackle by a defender in the box.

The second half continued to be rather scrappy, and the result looked in doubt right up until the 85th minute, when Bexhill made sure of the points when, following a corner, the ball was drilled in from the right and tapped into the net by Evan Archibald. They saw the remaining minutes out comfortably, for a win they deserved overall.