Southern Counties East League Division One
K Sports Cobdown, Aylesford
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 9 (head count)
Originally I should have been at The Valley today, but a few weeks ago, today's match at home to Preston North End was put back a day with a midday kick-off, opening up a bonus groundhop today. Options turned out to be somewhat limited today though, first of all as I would be delayed leaving home in the morning as I wanted to watch England in the Rugby World Cup Final (which they rather convincingly lost 12-32 to South Africa), which kicked off at 9am, before setting out. Heavy rain and gale force winds reduced options much further, and eventually I decided to drive to mid Kent, for what in some ways would be a revisit, but following considerable redevelopment of the football ground since my previous visit, would feel like visiting a new ground.
When I previously visited this venue, in 2013, the large sporting complex complex was run by Cobdown Sports & Social Club. The football ground was not enclosed, but had railings, and a lovely wooden stand stood proud but had fallen into disrepair and fell out of use. It was a pleasant venue, but inadequate to host senior football, to the extent that the previous resident club, APM Contrast, had to move away and groundshare at Bearsted to enter senior football. The club returned once the football ground was transformed (along with the rest of the complex) in 2016, changing their name to K Sports to match that of the complex, with Greenways, who were previously based in Gravesend, sharing the facilities in order to seal promotion to Step 6 football last year. The pitch was rotated 90 degrees from its previous location, and a 3G pitch was laid inside see-through mesh fencing, with sheeting along the length backing onto the rest of the complex. The wooden stand was sadly demolished, and instead there is a modern metallic all-seater stand straddling the half way line on one side, whilst on the opposite side there is a tall gantry to film the action from by the half way line, with an improvised stand consisting of scaffolding and corrugated iron sheets located adjacently. Hard standing is available around the rest of the pitch, apart from behind one of the goals, which is inaccessible. Colourful trees around the ground make for perhaps a more pleasant setting than one might expect of what is essentially a caged 3G pitch. A board displaying the team line-ups is placed by a wooden hut at the entrance, in one corner of the ground, and the 12 page programme was very decent for the level, printed in full colour, and with some interesting reading material, all of the necessary stats, and no advertising. The clubhouse, or Sports Bar, is located to the edge and overlooking the various sports fields, and is modern and spacious inside, with three big television screens, and a wide food menu is available, along with a couple of real ales by local brewer Goacher's.
After finishing in a comfortable tenth place in the 18 team division in their first season in senior football, Greenways are having another solid season so far, coming into this game in ninth place, following three wins and three draws from their opening ten league games. Last Saturday, they impressively beat Snodland Town 9-0 at home. Meridian VP have found life tough at this level, always finishing in the bottom half of this division in the seven seasons since entering senior football. And last season, they finished rock bottom, and were grateful to receive a reprieve to allow them to continue at Step 6. Things have not been going much better this season, coming into this game in 15th place in the 18 team division, following two wins and three draws from their opening nine league games.
On a very windy afternoon with occasional light rain, although Greenways started quite strongly, it was the visitors who would build a strong platform, and with 7 minutes on the clock, they had a loud shout for a penalty when their forward broke clear and ran towards goal, but then took too long in getting hit shot away, before seeming to be bundled over - the referee waved play on though. But on 19 minutes, Meridian did take the lead. The Greenways defence tried to play out from the back, but was dispossessed by the edge of the penalty area, and Richard Pingling took a touch before drilling the ball low across the keeper and into the bottom right corner of the net. And they were awarded a penalty on 27 minutes when one of their players was bundled over by the byline. The penalty was struck into the bottom right corner by Jordan Boateng, brushing the keeper's hands on its way through. And by half time, the visitors were looking good value for their two goal lead.
However, the second half was a different story, as Greenways gradually got back into the game. On 48 minutes, a low cross from the right just evaded the keeper but also a tap in, and on 51 minutes, a Meridian player was sent to the sin bin for ten minutes, during which time the home side pulled a goal back. A curled cross into the box seemed to be headed in by Brad Cross. On 59 minutes, Greenways were awarded a penalty when their player was pulled back as he entered the penalty area close to the byline, but the penalty was excellently saved by the keeper low to his right. On 77 minutes, Greenways saw a low shot from a tight angle go just past the far post, and on 82 minutes, an excellent last ditch tackle denied them a shot on goal. But within a minute, Greenways equalised, a cross from the right just evaded a header at the near post, but was tapped in at the far post by Lewis Wood. Greenways had a good chance to take the lead on 86 minutes, when a ball forward was chased by one of their players but he couldn't quite get past the defender, until the defender dallied and the Greenways man was able to poke the shot goalwards, but the ball deflected off the advancing keeper. But on 90 minutes, there was a highly controversial, and decisive, moment. A Greenways player got on the end of a ball into the box but couldn't get it under control. To the amazement of everyone present, the referee awarded a penalty, and this time the ball was struck into the top left corner by Nick Donaldson to give the hosts the lead. Although there were about five minutes of added on time, Meridian did not really threaten to grab an equaliser, and they would go back to south east London pointless from a game they looked likely to get at least a point from right up to the 90 minute mark, and one of their players was shown a red card after the final whistle for carrying on his protests too vociferously.
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