HYTHE’S ANSAH HITS THREE
ZAK Ansah’s stunning first half hat-trick gave Hythe
Town a deserved three points as they beat East Grinstead Town.
Ansah opened the scoring after only seven minutes as Nigel Nieta pushed the ball onto the Hythe talisman who stroked the ball home.
Hythe doubled their lead 10 minutes later as a Kieron Campbell shot was met by Ansah who redirected the ball into the net and make it 2-0.
The game was as good as over just after the half hour mark as Ansah completed his hat-trick as a clearance from Mitchell Dickenson went straight into the path of Ansah who ran on and placed his shot neatly and calmly into the corner of the net.
Hythe did take their foot off the pedal in the second half with the visitors creating some opportunities but were unable to get anything back before the end. Meanwhile, Sittingbourne made it two wins out of two in Bostik South East League, finally seeing off a Greenwich Borough side 4-2 who played a lot of good football without carrying much a threat.
The home side took the lead midway through the first half through Dan Parkinson but Greenwich levelled on 42 minutes when Sittingbourne keeper Pat Lee dropped a cross and Timileyin Toluwanile tapped it over the line.
Within two minutes Sittingbourne restored their lead with a fine individual goal by Ira Jackson but Greenwich winger Tushuan-Tyreese Walters forced a penalty straight from the second half restart and Soloman Taiwo equalised.
Sittingbourne went ahead for the third time through a Tom Loynes header after 60 minutes and clinched it with a spectacular free-kick by the outstanding Jackson. Elsewhere, Haywards
Heath Town tasted defeat at Hanbury Stadium for the second week in a row as a Leon Lalor-Dell strike VCD Athletic from 20 yards low into the bottom left corner in the 34th minute was all that separated the two sides as Heath began life in the Bostik League.
Kane Louis hit the post in the second half for Heath and captain Naz Rouane’s fiercely struck shot with the outside of his left boot went mere inches wide as the Blues failed to find an equaliser.
VCD deserved the victory, but Heath can take heart from a much-improved performance. Today sees Whitstable
Town get their League campaign up and running against Cray Wanderers and boss Scott Porter knows they will be in for a tough test against one of the favourites in the division.
He said: “It will be tough against Cray Wanderers. They are one of the favourites this season to go up.
“We are getting them watched in the week and we will do our homework on them. It’s important to do that for teams at this level and be prepared going into the games.
“It is difficult seeing other teams starting their league season and not being able to start yours.” Thamesmead Town begin their season against
Faversham Town today and have a long list of injuries to contend with.
Manager Tom Warrilow said: “On the injury front, we currently have a really bad run of luck.
“We are currently waiting on updates for John Coker, Williams Danquagh. Tom Oconnor, Danny Parrish, Chigozie Agwuegbo, Michael Adolfo and Aaron McCallum.
“Obviously looking at that list, it shows how well the boys performed the other night at Ashford.”
Opposite number Ray Turner is expecting a difficult game – despite the injuries.
The Faversham Town boss said: “They have signed some very good experienced players for this level. Tommy is a very experienced manager and knows what he is doing.”