Defeat hits title ambitions Herne Bay

Herne Bay’s hopes of winning the Kent Area Division 1 title suffered a setback on Saturday when they lost 2-1 away to fellow contenders Blackheath & Elthamians 2nds. The defeat was Bay’s second in as many matches against promotion rivals and they have now slipped five points behind leaders Blackheath. They trail second-placed Canterbury 3rds by two points but do have a game in hand. Jamie Mcvey scored the Bay goal with Peter Nash man-of-the-match. The 2nds remain comfortably second in Kent Area Division 2 after a 3-2 home win over Blackheath & Elthamians 3rds. Byron Gould scored twice with Sam Thompson the other scorer. Thompson shared the man-of-thematch award with Tom Wood. The 3rds lost 5-0 away to Tunbridge Wells 3rds in Kent Open Premier B, leaving them ninth. Harry Mckenna was man-of-the-match. The contest between the top two in Kent Open Division 2 finished allsquare as leaders Bay 4ths drew 2-2 with Holcombe 5As. Adam Stevens and Aaron White were the marksmen for Bay who remain two points clear of their nearest rivals. Matt Bates and Ali Mackinnon scored for Herne Bay 5ths as they beat fellow strugglers Maidstone 6ths 2-1 away in Kent Open Division 3. The win moved them three points clear of bottom club Maidstone and level with Old Williamsonians 5ths. Herbie Hudson was Bay’s star player.

goal of the season Radi Davidoff ensured the best was saved for last as he slotted home following a slick team move that ended with the keeper spilling the ball under pressure from youngster Luke Taylor. “It was important to get a result to push for a top-five finish,” said manager Gary Axford. “It was a really pleasing performance and it’s been coming. We are now unbeaten in five and have scored 15 goals in those games – a clean sheet was the icing on the cake.” Strike Force’s under-11s welcomed Bromley Green and played some excellent football. Frank Davison opened the scoring with his head from a great Jake Crawley cross before George Maguire added two more goals – one with his first touch after Charlie Hope’s great through ball and another a great strike into top corner from outside the box. Freddie Waldron was named best player for his performance in defence. Under-10 Lightning put in a fine team display away at Chartham. The goals came from Luca Simlar, Jack Haile’s long-range effort and a nice finish from player-of-the-match Owen Lloyd. Elliott Swift grabbed both goals for under-9 Lightning as they played out a superb game at Deal with Archie Suter named man-of-the-match.