Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Strike Force return to action
Faversham Strike Force’s ladies and junior teams returned to action at the weekend following their Covidenforced hiatus.
The ladies played Barham in an entertaining friendly at The Mount and found the net either side of half-time through Emma Brown and Chloe Morrison.
William Church and Sid Sparkes were both named players-of-the-match for the Under-14 Thunder after a battling performance against a strong Hawkinge Youth team. Under-11 Lightning put in a brave display against a strong Wye Juniors in the East Kent Youth League.
In a game of many chances for both sides, an Archie Elliott thunderbolt led to the Force’s only goal with the ball hitting the crossbar and post before hitting the unfortunate Wye goalkeeper and ending up in the back of the net. Elliott was also able to feature for Under-11 Thunder in the Faversham & District League and claimed a hat-trick in a close match against East Kent, with Charlie Hodgson adding another. Will Jones provided a pair of assists. Under-10 Thunder returned with a fantastic game against Herne Bay Harriers. Ethan Hickford scored a brace, including a lob from outside the area, while Felix Yates, Harry Wilson and Dexter Willmott also came close. Hickford and Kailan Wallace were named players of the match by their team-mates. In the same age group, Eli Monger was rewarded for his hard work with two goals and the trophy for the day’s best player as Lightning faced Canterbury Eagles. Henry Gossling and Albert Biscoe also found the net. There was a Strike Force derby in the Under-8s as Thunder played Hurricanes. Dylan Jones scored for Hurricanes, Freddie Parker did likewise for Thunder, while Oscar Connor was manof-the-match.
Wing wizard Finn Crawley scored a fine goal and was named top player in Under-8 Lightning’s excellent return to action against Whitstable. Elliott Jones netted twice while Ellison Gashi almost broke the net with a screamer from outside the area.
All teams observed an impeccable minute’s silence following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.