Outclassed and out of the Trophy.

A very poorly son meant I missed the trip to Northfleet, but reports back were not good at all. A makeshift looking side without Wes Daly and a proper right back got battered 4-0 by a rampant Ebbsfleet and knocked out of the FA Trophy.
Time to regroup and get things sorted for teh next game. Hopefully we'll have Graves & Daly back for the trip to Weston on Tuesday 30th.
So it's the league and the Kent Senior Cup we still have a shout in going into the winter, if we can get players back there is no reason why we can't have a pop at both.   

Top Again!

A fantastic team display at Braintree saw us run out 2-0 winners at the leaders who had only conceded 4 goals at home all season before this game. Salifou Ibrahima's brave header and Tony Finn's remarkable 70 yard run and finish gave us the victory, but the whole team played their part especially the defence and Keeper Wes Foderingham who was playing his last game for us on loan from Palace.
Those who were critical of Warren McBean & Jerome Sobers earlier in the season had to eat their words as both players made immense positive contributions to this fantastic win.
This was the first time we've won at Cressing Road and it was done by soaking up the pressure and hitting them on the break, it makes a nice change to be the inflictor rather than victim of such a result!
Braintree sported a new orange kit, this replaced the white one from last season and the traditional yellow and blue of previous years. It may make money for the club to constantly rebrand and fleece the fans for new merchandise, but it stinks.    
Now we have a week off before facing Ebbsfleet away in the FA Trophy on Saturday, I think a replay would be a good result, even though they claim they will be tired follwoing their lucrative FA Cup replay on TV against Wimbledon on the Thursday.     

First V Second!

So off we go up to Essex for the game against the league leaders Braintree after dropping four points from two home games we should really have won. Farnborough declined to come out and play settling for a point and leaving Binns & McDonald on the bench, then Woking made the most of their chances while we missed so many of ours and left Hayes Lane with a 2-2 thanks to an injury time penalty. The trutch was that we should have been out of sight before the fairly soft spot kick for ball to hand was awarded.
Tomorrow will probabaly tell us if we are the real deal and challenging or just still benefitting from a great start. I'll take a point right now!       

A Win Down By The Sea!

A fairly comfortable 2-0 win down at Margate saw us progress in the Kent Senior Cup thanks to Paul Vines'  first half double. Leon McKenzie got 90mins and Liam Harwood made his debut from the bench. It's sad to see the damage done to Hartsdown Park, which used to be a lovely ground and is now all but rubble and temporary buildings after the money ran out before the improvements could be started.
Next up we have Farnborough at Hayes Lane quickly followed by Woking, two tough games in a row against teams with decent support who you'd expect to be aiming for the play offs come April.   

A Winning End to October

After a disappointing month which saw us slip from the top of the table and exit the FA Cup, it was good to finish October with a win at Thurrock. It can be difficult to play a team who has just changed manager, but we showed the character & spirit of our August displays and capped it with two good goals. The hysteria on the forum that greeted the draw at home to Lewes now seems to have calmed down and it was great to see Warren McBean score again and silence the critics.

Next up it’s Margate away on Tuesday night in the Kent Senior Cup, with the club only entering three cup competitions this year hopefully they will take it more seriously and look to win it. The good news is that Leon McKenzie will be able to play in this one.