Kentish Express Ashford & District
Ross’s England call a reward for hard work
Ross Johnstone, a former Kennington Juniors player, made his debut for the England Schools FA in their recent 1-0 win over Australia at Stafford Town.
Playing football in the county throughout his youth and breaking into the Kent Representative team and making four appearances for the under-16s, Ross is now reaping the reward for all the hard work he has put in.
The former Canterbury High School pupil, who is now studying for a BTEC in sporting excellence at Hartpury College, in Gloucestershire, said: “When I received the news that I had made it into the England schoolboys I was over the moon. I was relaxing in my room at college, and had been thinking about when the news would break to me if I had been successful or not.”
But it has not been all plain sailing along the way though.
He added: “My journey to this point has been very hard, I have had to overcome a lot of setbacks, and have experienced many periods of poor performance where things just don’t seem to work out.
“Reacting to those setbacks and learning from them is where I have improved myself not only on the pitch with the ball at my feet but BOSTIK SOUTH EAST
Cray Wdrs ..... 26 20 5 1 60 22 65 Horsham ....... 27 16 4 7 51 30 52 Hastings ....... 27 15 5 7 56 34 50 Haywards H .. 27 14 7 6 51 36 49 Ashford ......... 26 15 3 8 52 26 48 Whyteleafe .... 26 12 5 9 49 36 41 Hythe ............ 27 11 7 9 52 45 40 VCD .............. 25 12 2 11 47 45 38 Ramsgate ..... 27 9 8 10 45 40 35 Phoenix Sp ... 26 9 8 9 50 53 35 E Grinstead ... 27 9 7 11 48 51 34 Sevenoaks .... 27 9 7 11 38 41 34 Sittingbrne .... 26 9 2 15 39 49 29 Faversham .... 27 8 5 14 42 65 29 T Bridges ...... 27 8 3 16 41 60 27 Guernsey ...... 26 7 5 14 35 52 26 Herne Bay ..... 26 8 2 16 48 67 26 Whitstable .... 25 6 8 11 20 39 26 Greenwich .... 27 6 3 18 32 66 21 also as a person off the pitch and has helped build my character.”
Ross’s proud mum, Anna, also delighted by his call-up, said: “We are absolutely thrilled for Ross. He has been kicking a ball from the time he could walk!”
Remembering his journey to the England Schools team, she continued: “He has played in various leagues, teams, schools, county and now England which is a huge honour, East Kent Youth League, Kent Youth League, Ashford & District League, and Kent County Representative under-16s which gave him a lot of confidence in his abilities.
“He is particularly proud of when his team, Kennington Juniors FC, won the Kent under-16 Boys Youth Cup last season.
“With any sport, the commitment, dedication and discipline to improve yourself is essential and one that Ross has embraced wholeheartedly.” 1, Meridian 1 Sutton Ath 7, Phoenix Sports Res 1 Stansfeld 1, Snodland 2 Kent Football Utd 3, Welling Town 1 Rochester 0.
Tuesday: FC Elmstead 2 SC Thamesmead 2.
Fixtures: Saturday: Bridon Ropes v Welling Town, Greenways v Holmesdale, Kennington v Snodland, Kent Football Utd v Meridian, Lydd v Phoenix Sports Res, SC Thamesmead v Rochester, Stansfeld v FC Elmstead, Sutton Ath v Erith & Belvedere.
ACS JOMA KENT COUNTY LEAGUE Premier Division
Staplehurst ... 24 16 5 3 55 28 53 Borden Vill .... 24 14 5 5 49 32 47 Peckham ...... 23 14 2 7 72 35 44 Bromleians ... 23 13 4 6 79 42 43 Hawkinge ..... 23 12 4 7 70 44 40 N Romney ..... 21 12 1 8 42 32 37 Fav Strike ..... 22 11 3 8 52 54 36 Otford Utd ..... 22 10 4 8 37 38 34 Tudor Sports . 21 9 5 7 32 29 32 Kings Hill ...... 19 9 2 8 37 33 29 Fleetdown ..... 24 7 8 9 32 37 29 Crockenhill ... 24 5 2 17 44 87 17 Farnboro OB . 19 3 6 10 24 41 15 Bexley .......... 20 5 1 14 24 58 15 Metrogas ...... 21 4 1 16 37 64 13 Stansfeld ...... 20 3 3 14 32 64 12
Division 1 Central & East
K Sports Res. 13 10 2 1 27 11 32 Wateringbry .. 16 10 2 4 40 26 32 Hollands Res. 16 8 3 5 34 21 27 Guru Nanak .. 16 8 3 5 35 31 27 Cuxton 91 ..... 17 8 2 7 43 43 26 Lydd Res ....... 15 7 3 5 38 40 21 Roch City ...... 16 6 2 8 28 30 20 L’wood Res ... 17 6 2 9 36 48 17 Burgess H ..... 15 4 2 9 29 40 14 Margate Sp... 13 3 3 7 22 28 12 R’gate Res .... 18 3 2 13 32 46 10
Division 2 Central & East
Ashford ......... 14 11 1 2 61 19 33 Rusthall Res.. 16 8 3 5 57 25 27 Snodland R ... 16 7 6 3 36 18 27 W Farleigh .... 13 7 1 5 28 22 22 Bearsted R .... 13 7 1 5 29 26 22 Southboro ..... 13 6 1 6 30 20 19 M’gate Sp R.. 15 6 2 7 47 32 17 Punjab Res ... 15 5 3 7 38 38 17 Fvrshm Res .. 10 4 2 4 34 19 14 Ton Invicta .... 17 0 0 17 7148 0
Division 3 Central & East
Sturry ........... 15 13 0 2 94 15 39 Roch City R... 13 11 1 1 61 20 34 Deal Tn Rgr... 15 11 0 4 54 30 33 Tenterden ..... 15 9 1 5 66 31 28 Larkfield ....... 16 6 1 9 38 43 19
‘When I received the news I was over the moon’
Cant City Uni. 14 Univ of Kent .. 12 N Romney R.. 16 S’hurst Res ... 12 Paddock W .... 14 5 5 4 2 0 4 5 25 32 19 0 7 30 52 12 1 11 36 64 10 2 8 25 50 8 0 14 7 99 -1 ASHFORD & DISTRICT SATURDAY LEAGUE P W D Rolvenden R . 10 7 0 Fox Sat ........... 6 5 0 Len Valley ....... 6 4 1 Lydd & Marsh . 8 3 1 Biddenden .... 10 2 2 Lydd Town A ... 8 2 1
Woodchurch R. 8 1 1 L F A Ps 2 41 23 24 1 26 8 15 1 24 8 13 4 24 21 10 6 20 44 8 5 28 40 7 6 17 36 4