Isthmian League round-up

Margate have snapped up promising winger John Ufuah from Kent rivals Whitstable. The 21-year-old has moved up a division after joining the Isthmian Premier Division side. Gate manager Jay Saunders is delighted to have signed a player with plenty to offer.

He said: “He is a young lad with bags of potential and offers us something to different to what we had last year. He’s quick, direct, hard-working and can score goals.”

Hythe Town manager

Steve Watt has managed to keep most of his squad together as they look to hit the ground running.

Watt has already seen more than a dozen players commit to the club for the new campaign, something that leaves the 35-year-old feeling buoyant ahead of his first full season in charge at Reachfields.

He said: “The most important thing for me has been to try and retain what we had, and I’ve been able to keep a loyal bunch of players that are happy to stay and play for the football club.

“We had a lot of changes last year, and by the end of the season there were only three players that were part of the previous regime, so we had a complete clear out since I took over. But now I want to keep the core of the side and move from there, which is what we’ve done.”

In addition the club have also announced the signing of full-back Liam Smith from Tonbridge Angels. He had a spell on loan at Sevenoaks Town last season.

Ashford United have added a couple of defenders to their squad ahead of the 2020/21 season.

Bradley Simms arrives from VCD while Ben Gorham joins after most recently playing for Southern Counties East side Beckenham.

Simms is described as a versatile full-back while central defender Gorham includes Canterbury, Herne Bay and Sevenoaks as his former teams.

One of those to be leaving is Ben Wilson, one of several players signing on for 2020/21 at Ramsgate. Joining up with the Rams is 22-year-old centreback Abdul Salami from Brentwood.

Fellow South East division side Sittingbourne have also kept hold of players with goalkeepers Jordan Perrin and Tom Benham, along with defender Lex Allan staying on. New signings for Darren Blackburn’s side include Harry Goodyear and Ryan Palmer. The club were also looking to sign former Margate and Hythe player Dan Stubbs.