Ryman League Division 1 South Table Table is up to and including Thursday 17th March 2016
Match Reports By Tony Rickson Saturday 5th March 2016 Ryman League Div 1 South <strong>Sittingbourne</strong> 2 East Grinstead Town 1, att 110 Only four of the team who lost at home to <strong>Sittingbourne</strong> just over a fortnight ago had retained their places. One of the new signings, ex-England under-19 international Moses Ashikodi, who once played for Watford in the Premier League, was making his debut and he took just five minutes to make an impact. Gregory used his pace to get behind the right side of the <strong>Sittingbourne</strong> defence before pulling it back for Ashikodi to do the rest. <strong>Sittingbourne</strong> hit back and the visiting keeper turned over a shot by Lee and saved at full length from Wells, though East Grinstead were still lively going forward and Adam Molloy had to tip over a fierce 25-yard shot from Emptage. <strong>Sittingbourne</strong> equalised just after the half-hour when a long throw-in was cleared to Jack Steventon. He played it back in, both George Crimmen and Ita were involved in the move before Lee engineered a chance for himself by ghosting past a defender. His shot was saved but Carlse was lurking in the right place, taking one touch before hammering home a right-foot shotIt capped an excellent first half by Carlse against the club he left to join <strong>Sittingbourne</strong>. The second half was dominated by <strong>Sittingbourne</strong>, but East Grinstead had early chances with Molloy saving at close range and Lee hitting his own post with an interception of a cross. But really the pressure was mounting at the other end, Steventon hitting the top of the bar with a header, Wells having a couple of efforts saved and the ever-dangerous Richardson just wide with a header from Ita’s cross. East Grinstead might have thought they’d done enough for a point, but so did Tooting the previous week, only to be undone right at the end. Again it was Richardson who won the key header in the opposition box and Hurcomb, who impressed in his brief time on the pitch, was in the right place in the ensuing scramble to stab the ball over the line for a 90th minute winner. <strong>Sittingbourne</strong>: Molloy, Brunt, Carlse, Whibley, Crimmen, Steventon, Cralse (Hughes 65 mins) Lee (Wright 78 mins), Cornwell (Hurcomb 78 mins), Wells, Ita Saturday 12th March 2016 Ryman League Div 1 South Guernsey 3 <strong>Sittingbourne</strong> 0 att 804 <strong>Sittingbourne</strong> had been up since before dawn, and hung around at Gatwick for a flight that was delayed for three hours because of fog, and finally arrived with less than an hour to prepare for the game. It was the third time out of four that <strong>Sittingbourne</strong> have endured frustrating delays at Gatwick just getting to the Channel Islands. Kick-off was put back 75 minutes but that only just allowed the match to be squeezed in before the players were hassled straight out of the ground afterwards to get to the airport for the last flight of the day back to Gatwick. It was, travel-wise, a mess. Guernsey started at a furious pace with Adam Molloy forced to dive full-length to his right to save in the first minute and then Allen, leading scorer throughout the league, rattling the bar from fully 30 yards soon after but with just eight minutes played Allen expertly finished off a clever move from right to left that opened up the <strong>Sittingbourne</strong> defence. Molloy denied Guernsey further goals, making two tremendous first half saves, while the home side also missed a couple of other good chances. But <strong>Sittingbourne</strong> created chances too for Miles Cornwell and the lively Tom Carlse, and Steven Ita always a threat to the home defence with his neat footwork and dribbling skills. <strong>Sittingbourne</strong> started the second half well, Carlse hit the bar in the 47th minute from Tom Brunt’s excellent pass, and Ita earned just a corner after a brilliant run took him into the heart of Guernsey’s penalty area. But Guernsey scored a killer second in the 65th minute. Molloy again did well to save at Legg’s feet as he broke clear, but the ball ballooned up and sub Black reacted quickest to head home. There were further chances for Carlse and the hard -working Jack Steventon, while the Guernsey keeper made his best save of the afternoon from a Conrad Lee pile-driver, but on 82 minutes the excellent Allen picked up the ball in his half and beat the defenced to expertly stroke home his second goal of the match. Guernsey, a very welcoming and well-organised club, deserved the win its a pretty tough call to come away from their ground with anything – <strong>Sittingbourne</strong> haven’t managed it yet, anyway. Though at least it was nice to read that a Guernsey fan tweeted that <strong>Sittingbourne</strong> had bought the best supporters seen this season with them. That’s an important consolation. <strong>Sittingbourne</strong>: Molloy, Brunt, Lee, Whibley, Crimmen, Steventon, Akhazzan (Parkinson 24 mins), Richardson (Wells 73 mins), Cornwell (Hurcomb 73 mins), Carlse, Ita.
Change language