26 March 2022

Erith and Belvedere          3          Lewis 49, Lear 53, 90         

Canterbury City                  1          R Lawrence 71

SMILES IN THE SUNSHINE AS DERES DO CITY DOUBLE

As the spring advances, the Deres earned a good win in the sunshine with a brace from top scorer Danny Lear, and completed a quick double, having beaten Canterbury 2-1 in the away fixture 17 days previously.

The Deres were unchanged from the line-up that started at Hollands and Blair – a notable event, as it was the first unchanged starting line-up Danny Murphy had sent out as Deres manager – Harry Maher and Ross Craig had swapped shirt numbers, as had James Dyer and Nathan Palmer.

There were few clear chances in a goalless first half, but what few they were largely fell to the Deres.  Calum McGeehan sent the first chance over the bar in the 15th minute, Nathan Palmer shot wide seven minutes later having been set up by Lear, and at the other end Rob Lawrence had a try from too far out to trouble Ted McDonald.  In the 25th minute Lear was shoved in the back by Will Currie when about to shoot, but no penalty was awarded.

The pitch drying out after recent rain left awkward ruts and bumps in the ground, and Lee Lewis almost profited from one of these as his shot bounced awkwardly in front of Tom Benham just before half-time.  Lewis tried another speculative effort at the other end four minutes after the interval, and this time from wide on the left the bounce deceived Benham and the ball flew over him to put Deres in the lead.

Four minutes later Palmer was sent clear but under pressure from two Canterbury defenders: he cleverly laid it off to his right where Danny Lear was in support and unmarked, and Lear made no mistake with a crisp finish to make it 2-0.

On the hour Lewis did well to ride two tackles, cut in and shoot but too close to Benham, while at the other end a well-worked move on 65 minutes saw Rob Lawrence shooting wide.  Six minutes later Lawrence met Harry O’Donnell’s cross with an assured finish to pull the score back to 2-1.

With a tendency to concede late goals in recent weeks, the Deres could be excused for being nervous, but in fact Canterbury produced little after this, and the nearest to a goal in the 90 minutes came from Lear, with a neat run and a shot against the bar.  Lear broke clear again in the second minute of stoppage time to get his second and Deres’ third, and take his tally for the season to 16.

DERES: Ted McDonald, Josh Leach, Reece Barrett, Harry Maher, Calum McGeehan, Luke Rooney, Nathan Palmer (Greg Benbow 89), Ross Craig (Jude Salmon 72), Danny Lear, James Dyer (Teddy Green 88), Lee Lewis.  Subs not used: Tom Green, Danny Murphy.

CANTERBURY: Tom Benham; Sammi Takaloo (David Senga 66), Dan Lawrence, Charlie Weston, Flynn Toon, Morgan Williamson (Adam Turton ht), Enock Soganile, Will Currie, Rob Lawrence, Josh Strouts, Harry O’Donnell.  Subs not used: Harry Day, Jacob Strouts, Lewis Stevens-Toomey.