Beckenham Town 4 Littlehampton Town 2

Isthmian One South East, Saturday 11th March

Saturday saw me over at Eden Park Avenue for the very first time and I witnessed an absolute cracker of an Isthmian One South East contest which saw a late double from Louie Theophanous seal a deserved win for hosts Beckenham Town over Littlehampton Town to keep their title hopes alive.

Beckenham are right in the mix for promotion to the Isthmian Premier and at kick off sat in third spot, six points off leaders Ramsgate and four points behind second placed Chatham Town, so they knew a win over a mid-table Littlehampton side was important to keep the pressure on the top two, and if the top two slipped up they could close that gap to make it even more interesting.

However, the hosts form of late has been poor to say the least, since they beat Chatham Town at home 2-0 at the end of January they have only picked up six points out of a possible twenty one, their only win in seven came against Cray Valley (PM) away from home, and apart from the three goals they netted in that win, they have only netted three in the other six games, so they desperately needed to get back on track.

And they were up against a Littlehampton side who sat 11^th in the table after netting a morale boosting 3-2 win at home to Haywards Heath Town last time out, this after they were thrashed in their previous game at Sevenoaks Town, so a good bounce back from that defeat and it showed they certainly had some character too, and would make this one a difficult task for the hosts no doubt.

However, form prior to those two games wasn’t great either, since the start of February they had only picked up one point in five matches, conceding thirteen goals in the process, so that win last weekend would have certainly perked them up after a difficult run, so with both teams not in the greatest of form, which one would pick up the three points here?

It was the hosts who flew out of the traps the quickest and it was no surprise when they did take the lead after eighteen minutes when superb work down the left from full back Archie Johnson saw his cross to the back post knocked back into the dangerzone and into the path of Jamarie Brissett who lashed home a first time effort.

The hosts had totally dominated the opening twenty minutes but were hit with a sucker punch as the visitors levelled from nowhere when Dion Jarvis got in down the left hand side and fired a super effort beyond Nick Blue, and this disturbed the hosts for a good ten to fifteen minutes as they lost their way somewhat.

They did manage to regain their composure and almost curled themselves back in front, but Littlehampton almost went into the break with the lead when skipper Scott Kirkwood somehow fired over from inside the box as they caught the hosts cold with a rare attack, it would have been the most undeserved lead had they had scored, but the hosts had not made the most of their dominance and went into the break all square.

However, five minutes after the break Littlehampton gifted the hosts the lead when central defender Liam Hendy attempted to pass the ball back to keeper James Binfield but got nowhere near enough on it and it allowed Ibrahim Jalloh to nip in and knock the ball beyond a now stranded Binfield and into the net, but Littlehampton to their credit fought back once again as on the hour mark the hosts went to sleep down the left once again, allowing Jarvis to stroll into the area, round keeper Blue, and slot home to make it 2-2, it had been a superb game.

The Becks frustrations were evident, they missed an absolute sitter to go 3-1 in front before the visitors made it 2-2, and those frustrations grew further when skipper Danny Waldren sent a free header over when he should have really scored, and then he headed another effort against the bar before Theophanous then got clear but even though he beat keeper Binfield, the ball did not have enough oomph on it and allowed a defender to get back to hack clear before it crossed the line.

The visitors did see one other effort threaten the hosts, they were very few and far between it has to be said, when Jarvis, who at times seemed to have so much space down the left, fired a dangerous ball across the six yard box but saw nobody apply a finishing touch, but it seemed to be one of those days for the home side and two points were slipping away.

But then came a crazy last few moments, visitors skipper Kirkwood was shown a straight red after kicking out in the centre of the field, right in front of referee Reece Pinchback who had no choice but to shown the red card, it was a moment of stupidity, and from that free kick the ball was played into the area and flicked to the back post where Theophanous was on hand to turn the ball home from close range as time ticked into a period of five minutes of stoppage time.

And two minutes later the game was sealed when the hosts broke on the visitors as they pushed forward to try and find another leveller, and with all the home coaches screaming at Theophanous to run to the corner to waste time, he chose to ignore this and thankfully he did, because it ended with him firing home a fourth for the home side and clinch what had been a belter of a contest.

A big win for the hosts then who more than deserved it, fair play to Littlehampton though who dug in and responded well to going behind on two occasions, and nearly got a hard earned point, but what a game it was, very enjoyable indeed!!!

Full time Beckenham Town 4 Littlehampton Town 2

 

Let’s see what else happened in the division this weekend…..

Saturday

Burgess Hill Town 4 Corinthian 1 (A brace from Perry and goals from Martin and Box handed Burgess Hill Town all the points at home to Corinthian whose goal came from Housego)

Chatham Town 0 Haywards Heath Town 0 (Second placed Chatham were held at home by Haywards Heath Town in front of 709 at The Sports Ground)

Cray Valley PM 5 Ashford Town 1 (A hat-trick from Adeyemo plus a brace from Coombes saw Cray Valley PM thrash Ashford Town whose sole strike came from Lockyer)

Hythe Town 1 Chichester City 0 (Fregene’s goal nine minutes after the break was enough for the hosts to net all three points in this one)

Lancing 2 Faversham Town 1 (Hosts Lancing had to come from behind to net victory over Faversham, the visitors led at half time thanks to a Sithole strike, but late goals from Mthunzi and Hallard saw the hosts to victory)

Ramsgate 5 East Grinstead Town 0 (There were 1,141 in attendance to see leaders Ramsgate smash their opponents thanks to an early goal for Carvalho and then one from Jadama and a hat-trick from Liburd as the hosts netted four in the last fifteen minutes)

Sheppey United 1 VCD Athletic 0 (Mfula netted just before the half hour mark as Sheppey netted a narrow win over VCD)

Sittingbourne 1 Three Bridges 1 (A late late penalty from May salvaged a point for hosts Sittingbourne after it looked as if Leighton’s 67^th minute goal would be enough for visitors Three Bridges to net the win)

Whitehawk 3 Sevenoaks Town 1 (A first half double from Rogers and a further strike from Cooper handed Whitehawk all three points against Sevenoaks Town whose late consolation came from Kawa)

 

How does these results affect the table, let’s see…..

Ramsgate have opened up a four point lead over Chatham Town after they won and Chatham were held, Beckenham Town’s exciting win means they close the gap to second spot now and they maintain the gap to the sides below who both won too. Anyone from the top ten though still have a chance of promotion so it is going to be an exciting end to the season!!!

Down at the bottom and the bottom two looked doomed after they both lost and have a big gap to make up just to get into a relegation play off spot, whereas the sides occupying those spots now have a four point gap to Burgess Hill Town after their win today, only eight points cover 11^th placed Littlehampton Town and 18^th placed Haywards Heath Town, so much to play for down at the bottom as well in the remaining weeks!!!

That concludes this blog, thanks for reading and any comments, good or bad, are always welcomed, as your opinions count as well…..