Erith & Belvedere 4 Holmesdale 0

SCEFL Premier, Wednesday 01 March 2023

It seems odd to say that a team which is 13 points ahead at the top of the division - and which has lost only two all season - arrived at this fixture desperate for a win. But that was the case, the Deres having picked up only two points from their last three league games, while the chasing pack were closing the gap, which at one time was over 20 points and seemed impregnable.

The goalless first half of this home game against a workmanlike Holmesdale side did little to settle the nerves of the chilly watching masses. Once a few minutes of hoofball were out of the way, the Deres were clearly the better side. First to most loose balls, they got the ball down and used the width of the pitch to great effect, out-pacing the visitors down the right and out-skilling them down the left. However, the only shots on goal - all five of them - were straight at the visitor's keeper, who coped without alarm. In fact, his greatest moment of panic came very early on, when a lob from the centre line nearly caught him off-guard and caused him to unnecessarily paw the ball out for a corner.

Happily, those home side nerves were settled early in the second half with two goals in 10 minutes (Danny Lear 48, TRB 53), the first of these coming from that frequent source of supply, the Lewis Chambers long throw, the second a tap in at the back post from a Brad Ryan cross. This stung the visitors into life and they had their best spell, but without breaching the Deres' defence.

 
The game soon settled back to its familiar pattern. As it moved into its final quarter, Holmesdale visibly tired, as they had done at the end of the first half. This time, the Deres took full advantage, with two more goals to seal an emphatic win (Tunde 77, Ryan 86). In truth, the visitors offered little in attack throughout, with only two shots off target to show for their efforts. When their goalkeeper rushed out to beat the attackers to a through ball, the resulting clearance went all the way through to Molloy, prompting one wag in the crowd to remark that it was their first shot on target!!

And so the gap is back to a more healthy 16 points. But it wasn't the three points, the emphatic win, or even the clean sheet, which was the most satisfying thing. It was that the Deres got through a whole 90 minutes without losing another centre-back to a long-term injury. The Deres are in danger of selecting more centre-backs than Batman had villains. The latest incumbent was George Snelling, who has come from Glebe. More Mr Freeze than The Joker, he settled in without incident. Just as well! Back to the Bovril...

Erith & Belvedere: 1. Adam Molloy 2. Ryan Palmer 3. Anthony Morrison (Fraser Walker, 63) 4. Lewis Chambers 5. George Snelling 6. Rob Strachan 7. Tyrell Richardson-Brown (Rash Tijani, 77) 8. George Monger (Rory Ward, 66) 9. Danny Lear (Tunde Aderonmu, 75) 10. Nathan Palmer 11. Bradley Ryan