BAT AND BALL SPORTS SEVENOAKS AND DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE

ROUND UP FOR SATURDAY 8th May 2010 BY DEREK HODGE

Disclaimer  Comments or views as expressed in the Secretary’s Weekly Round Up of matches and Cup ties are not necessarily those of the League Council (Management Committee) and as such no liability is therefore accepted.”

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On the last Saturday of the 2009/2010 season the majority of championship and relegation issues were finally decided apart from Division Three.

Leaders Swanley Oaks who until last week had swept all before them and unbeaten since the opening day of the season have now lost two matches in succession.  The crucial championship issue on Saturday between second placed Westerham 4^th and Swanley Oaks was won 4-2 by the Hammers at King Georges Playing Fields.  Goals by Jake Edwards, Ben Mercado, Dan Lambert and Tom Paisley helped the Hammers to a hard fought victory and three valuable points which keeps them in the mix for promotion.  Jimmy Moore and Alan Vincent replied for the losers.

Borough Green United Reserves, in their first season in League football and already Smiths League Junior Cup winners, also have a chance of promotion.  Having ploughed through a serious backlog of fixtures they now find themselves in third place with two points adrift of the Hammers but with a game in hand.

A comfortable 6-0 success over AW London Reserves with Fergus Farmer notching a hat trick, Charlie Slocombe netting a brace and Matt Brown also getting his name on the score sheet was followed by a double fixture against lowly Seal 3^rd.A goal less encounter ensued in the opening match but in the return match goals by Jamie Francomb and Kiren Greeves gave Borough maximum points to move them up into the third spot in the section.

Old Boars remarkable season, not to mention a run of twenty-two unbeaten matches continued as they defeated Seal Reserves 3-0 and thus won the Division Two title.   The victors had a wake  up call during the opening minutes when a Seal shot crashed against the crossbar before the ball bounced away to safety.  On twenty-four minutes Tom Cobb latched on to a Tom Mitchell pass and the ace marksman made no mistake with his shot.  Freddie Akehurst then converted a Stu Rowe cross to give Old Boars a 2-0 interval lead. As the second half progressed Seal Reserves again hit the woodwork but the game was finally put beyond recall when William Lee-Kemp scored.  The victors now have the Fisher Shield final before them to overcome and carry off a unique quadruple of four trophies in a season.

Elsewhere in the League, Premier Division champions Hildenborough Athletic and with a much changed side as they face a Smiths League Senior Cup final together with a Sevenoaks Charity Senior Cup final during the next two weeeks, defeated Eynsford 4-2.  With Tonbridge Farm pitches now out of action the match was played, with the co-operation of Nomads FC at Mowsehurst, Edenbridge.  Prolific goal scorer Karl Smith was again at the heart of the action scoring a hat trick , two of the strikes coming before the half way mark.  Dean Spenceley scored the other goal.  Simon Copley netted both goals for Eynsford.

Halstead United confirmed the runners-up place with a 6-2 victory over a depleted Nomads outfit who for much of the season looked possible title contenders.  Dan Chick scored four times and there were also credits for Bobby Turner and Joe Williams.

Goals by Jamie Franks (2) and Zeb Lucas gave Borough Green United a 3-0 interval lead against Kemsing United, a score line which looked likely to give them three points in their final fixture of the season.   However, Kemsing had other ideas and an early goal by Ryan Standley paved the way for a remarkable comeback. Further goals followed through Chris Ralph and Jake Kitchener to give the villagers a share of the spoils.

In Division One Dunton Green finally gained  promotion having defeated Wilderpark 2-0 in mid-week with a brace of goals scored by David Norburn.  This was followed by an emphatic 5-0 success over Eynsford Reserves on Saturday. Norburn was again on target initially putting the Green ahead which was followed by a Zac Clark strike.  Into the second half further goals followed through Clark, Jamie Brown and Gareth Davies to send the Green back to the Premier Division after just one season out of the top flight.

At the other end of the table Sevenoaks Weald’s chances of avoiding relegation were improved having collected four points from two matches.  A Richard Day goal with just five minutes play remaining gave the villagers a 1-0 success over Fleetdown United A on Thursday evening, then followed two days later by a 3-3 draw against Kingsdown Racers.  The Division One champions have gone off the boil during recent weeks since winning the title but this in no way detracts from Weald’s performance.  Another late strike by Day helped Weald gain a valuable point,  this after an earlier strike by Stephen Bird and a James Hitchell penalty.

In Division Three there were a number of matches which had little or no bearing on either promotion or relegation issues.  With goals by Nick Foad and Chris Newhouse, Ide Hill Reserves defeated visiting Ightham Reserves 2-0.

Hat tricks by Aaron Kohn and Stephen Smith helped Nomads B to a comfortable 6-1 advantage over Chipstead B while the spoils were shared in a double fixture between AW London Reserves and Tonbridge Baptist Church Reserves.  In the opening match Baptist Church won 2-1 with a late decider, a Sam Marden strike keeping the hosts in with a chance of gaining a point but they had better fortunes in the other fixture winning by the odd goal scored by Martin Belcher, his first for the Club.