Bearsted to stage their first ever FA Vase tie
Southern Counties East
History will be made at Honey Lane tomorrow (Saturday) when Bearsted play their first ever FA Vase tie. The Southern Counties East side are up against Pagham of the Southern Combination League in the first qualifying round. Kick-off is at 3pm with the winners banking £ 600 in prize money. Bearsted are still waiting for their first win of the season after taking just one point from two league games this week. They held last season’s runners-up Hollands & Blair to a 1-1 draw at Star Meadow last Saturday, Andy Irvine cancelling out Gary Lockyer’s opener. Irvine scored again on Tuesday night but the Bears lost 3-1 at Deal Town. Charlie Walsh scored twice for the home side and after Irvine had halved the deficit, Dean Hill netted a third for Deal just before half-time. Snodland Town are fifth in Division 1 after winning 2-1 at rock-bottom Lewisham. James Beaumont gave them a 25th-minute lead last Saturday when he met Scott Potter’s free-kick with a header. It was 2- 0 when Dave Sherwood found the bottom corner from another free-kick and Aaron Chiles missed a good chance to put the result beyond doubt at the start of the second half. Sean Jarvie punished some poor Snodland defending to halve the deficit but substitute Harry Dawes might easily have made it 3-1 on the counter-attack. Snodland host Orpington tomorrow (Saturday, 3pm). Kris Browning wants to overhaul his K Sports squad after what he described as his worst defeat as a manager. K Sports went down 6-1 at 10-man Rusthall in Division 1 on Wednesday night – and the deflated boss pulled no punches. “We were sluggish and I’ve had enough,” Browning said. “I need to get four or five players in across the board.” Sports, who drew 3-3 with Crockenhill last Saturday, held their own early on against the new leaders, who went down to 10 men after just 15 minutes. But Liam Dawson’s 87thminute goal was all K Sports came away with. Browning said: “We started well but when they went 2- 0 up lapses in concentration cost us. It’s my worst defeat in six years and I feel at rockbottom.” Lack of time to make changes means Browning has to stick with what he has for Saturday’s game at Phoenix Reserves but he is eager to make changes. He said: “We need to get Wednesday night out of our system first and then go from there.