Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Force’s early dominance proves telling
Faversham Strike Force STRIKER BAGS ALL FOUR GOALS IN CITY WIN
The semi-final line-up for the Fletcher Memorial Cup has been settled. Monument will take on Tankerton Royals, while Rising Sun face Wingham.
Two goals from Dan Smith helped Monument to a 4-0 win over Premier Division leaders Chislet. David Reed and Calvin Sedenu were also on target. Rising Sun eased past Crusaders 5-2, courtesy of Stuart King’s hat-trick and strikes from Stacy Davis and James Turner. Druids defeated Faversham Strike Force 5-3 in the first round of the Presidents Cup, but it took them extra-time to do it after the teams were level at 3-3 at the end of normal time. Tommy Day (2), Charlie Fournier, Dan Hall and Greg Lee scored for Druids, with Brad Falconer, Elliott Dowling and Max Frawley on target for Strike Force.
In a second round match, Hampton defeated The Elephant 6-2.
Scott Welch (3) and Matt Harris (2) led the way for Bay United, who defeated Canterbury Bombers 8-2 in the second round of the Roger Memorial Cup. Goals from Mat Beasley, Jake George and Brian Cegledi made up United’s tally.
A brace from Craig Wynne helped Tankerton Royals to a 3-0 victory at Wingham. Gary Cooper scored the other goal. Division 1 leaders Herne United were 5-1 winners at Woodmans Hall, their goals from Izy Sargeant (2), Ritchie Bobbett, Harrison Smith and Ben Sargeant. Carl Suter scored Woodmans Hall’s consolation. Canterbury Toon moved three
Faversham Strike Force’s first-half master class was enough to edge their top-of-the-table clash at Ide Hill in the Kent County League Premier Division.
With the third-placed Force facing opponents sitting in fourth at kick-off, a tight game was expected and so it transpired as the visitors took a seesaw 3-2 victory.
Manager Gary Axford switched to a three-man defence with wing-backs and the tactical ploy could scarcely have worked better as the Faversham side tore through their hosts repeatedly.
Tom Gates met Adam Benfield’s cross with his head at the back post to give them the lead, and the provider turned scorer as Benfield fired into the top corner after good build-up from Miguel Rothe and Ali Adam.
Ide Hill pulled one back shortly afterwards following a defensive mix-up, but Strike Force ensured a degree of comfort at the interval when Dinu Catlin finished off a brilliant fiveman move.
The Force tired in the second half and again let their hosts back into the game when they failed to clear their lines. Ide Hill piled on the pressure towards the end but goalkeeper and man-of-the-match Ben Buckingham led a gritty rearguard action with a string of saves.
“We showed great character to pull off a really good result,” said Axford. “If I’m honest, I was not happy with the performance at all in the second half as we lacked quality but we got the job done. I must admit we were hanging on a bit.”
After last weekend’s washout, there was plenty of action for the youth teams this time around. Under10 Lightning produced a spirited performance at Folkestone Invicta, dominating for long periods and finding the net through Archie Brazil and Oliver Jobe. Toby Halls picked up the player-of-the-match award.
The goals flowed for under-10 Thunder at Shepherdswell as they played some of their best football of the season. Sammy Laker scored twice with further strikes from player-of-thematch Sam Lilley, Ethan Taylor, Jack Wyles, Charlie Frankham and Will Jones.
Reggie Hughes and Austin Wanmer found the net for under-9 Lightning against Folkestone Invicta, while Scott White was named top player. Harrison Holbrook bagged a fine hattrick for under-8 Lightning, with Tyler
Brook scoring twice. Milo Kirby took the player-of-the-match award. Two debutants, Harris Neaves and Nicholas Kolev, made their bows for under-7 Hurricanes against Whitstable Town. Player-of-the-match Reuben Wilkinson scored with a free-kick and Elliott Jones added a fine solo effort, while Rufus Roberts made some impressive saves in goal.
Finn Crawley was named top player for under-7 Lightning after a great defensive display against Betteshanger Welfare. Kingston Pankhurst’s assist teed up Elijah Sparks to turn and rifle home, while Riley Hawkins fired home from a tight angle.
There was an exciting and close game for under-7 Thunder against Tankerton. Tyger Pharoah bagged a hat-trick with single strikes from Ellison Gashi and Kian Gardner. Player-of-the-match was Leo Hudson.