3 October 2020

Lordswood                          4          Alderman 45, Akhazzan 55, Perry 77, 80

Erith and Belvedere          3          Richards 73, Mpungi 87, Beckford 90

OFF-TARGET DERES LEAVE IT TOO LATE

Erith and Belvedere are still looking for their first league win of the season after another frustrating visit to Martyn Grove.  A late rally nearly got them on terms, but wastefulness in front of goal earlier had put them on the back foot.  Lordswood have now put four past the Deres in league games in the past four seasons the teams have met.  In 2016 there was a mad finish with seven goals and two red cards in the last 15 minutes and an equaliser to make it 4-4 in the 11th minute of stoppage time.  This encounter couldn’t quite match it, but with five goals in the last 18 minutes there was plenty going on.

Lordswood had the first chance of the game after 10 seconds, Jordan Sandiford being foiled by Rilwan Anibaba, but Deres got a foothold and made most of the best chances of the half.  As ever, Guyliano Mpungi was a threat down the left, and Lords right-back Jake Creed got a talking-to for bringing him down in the 6th minute. 

Deres were fielding their two new signings, Tim Beckford from Canterbury and Jamie Humphris from Beckenham, and Humphris was on target with a shot half-held by Ryan Turner on nine minutes.  In the 20th minute Humphris set up Beckford who sent his header wide, before Sam Stace at the other end ran to the left of goal and sent a shot wide to the right.

Deres’ rhythm was affected by an injury to Rob Curtis midway through the half, the skipper receiving lengthy treatment before being replaced by Dane Moore.  Just after this substitution Mpungi made the best chance so far, playing the ball across the face of goal with nobody able to convert it.  Just as the half-time talks were being prepared the home side took the lead.  After a corner Joe Loft crossed from the right, a simple header on and James Alderman buried a well-taken volley.

Beckford was booked early in the second half for punching the ball into the net, before Lordswood went two up on 55 minutes, Hicham Akhazzan meeting Sam Stace’s pass with a header past Alibaba, despite Reece Barrett’s acrobatic attempted clearance.  Two minutes late a frustrated Moore reacted to an adverse decision by bouncing the ball hard off the turf, which earned him a sin-bin card. 

There were a couple of breaks of play while Moore was cooling his heels, but the ten minutes felt more like fifteen to those on the blue side.  While he was off a Creed shot hit the feet of substitute Chandler Kasai and went wide when it could have gone anywhere.  Moore returned and Erith pulled a goal back on 73 minutes through recent signing Marvin Richards, opening his Deres account.  But as the visitors thought of an equaliser they were hit by a three-minute brace by Jason Perry, converting Loft’s corner from the right on 77 minutes and heading in Akhazzan’s corner from the left three minutes later.

Now 4-1 down, Deres continued to put in the effort but they had struggled to create chances and suffered from some wayward shooting.  Yet on 87 minutes Mpungi, who had been more wayward than most, used his head to pull one back with his 21st Deres goal, and two minutes into stoppage time Beckford chipped in with a debut goal, making an unlikely point suddenly a possibility.  Deres were pressing to the end, and protested loudly when the referee blew for time when they were about to take a throw-in, but the damage had been done earlier and they were left without a win in six league games.

Lordswood: Turner; Creed, Gilbert, Perry, Lindsey, Botterill, Stace. Loft, Sandiford (Kasai 64), Alderman (Mills 75), Akhazzan.

Deres: Anibaba; Adeyemo, Springett, Patterson, Curtis (Moore 30), Barrett, Dasofunjo, Richards (Humber 78), Beckford, Humphris (Krasniqi 66), Mpungi.