Hillians Rock Rooks, Rocks rock Hawks, Borough and Boro get back to winning ways

We had five matches in the Premier Division, and Folkestone Invicta were the first to make a breakthrough, Johan Ter Horst heading home from close range in the 9th minute to give them the lead over Margate. Gate had won but one of their last seven whilst Invicta came into the match with three successive victories under their belt, and they made it four as that turned out to be the only goal of the game.

Whitehawk, who had beaten Margate in their last match to pick up their first victory since September, were looking to make it two in a row at home to Bognor Regis Town. The Rocks had no intention of letting the Hawks begin any kind of run towards safety, however, and Jimmy Muitt put them two up in just sixteen minutes, his first coming when he met a free kick around eight yards out, the second coming from twelve yards- it was a penalty. Harvey Whyte made it 3-0 ten minutes after the break, and when Dan Smith made it four five minutes later Rocks fans must have begun thinking about the 8-0 scoreline the last time the sides met. Instead the next goal went to the Hawks, but it was the very last minute before Jason Williams managed what was no more than a consolation- and not much consolation at that. Bognor climb to ninth.

Another Sussex derby was taking place at the Dripping Pan, as third place Lewes hosted third from bottom Burgess Hill Town. The Hillians came into this match boasting six points from their last two fixtures, whilst at the same time the Rooks had but one, and it was the away side who took the lead, Gary Elphick poking home a long throw six minutes after the break (although other sources suggest it was an own goal). The home side tried to respond but were caught on the break, and Hill striker Ben Pope made it two for the visitors just before the hour. It got worse for the Rooks as Pat Harding made it 0-3 with eighteen minutes remaining, and that’s how it ended, a result which saw the Hillians go level on points with fourth bottom AFC Hornchurch.

Haringey Borough had seen their ten game winning streak come to an end as Merstham took a point from them on Saturday, but they looked to have resumed normal service when they took the lead at Wingate and Finchley after 29 minutes, Rakim Richards finishing after a knock down from Mark Kirby. The home side were already down to ten men by this point, Layne Eadie sent off, and it was no surprise when Anthony Mcdonald made it two on the hour mark. Scott Durojayie made it three from twenty yards, and as the game headed to a close Kirby made it four. The result puts Borough seven points clear at the top of the table.

At King George’s Field four place Kingstonian were the fourth top five opposition in a row for Merstham, who had taken seven points from their previous three matches. Ninety minutes saw the Moatsiders make it eight from four, as neither side could find the net- but Lewes losing allowed the K’s to climb to third.

North Division

The North Division had four fixtures, two of which were finished before the other two started.

Romford hadn’t recorded a victory since September, but they got back to winning ways when Ayo Olukoga scored the only goal in their match with Grays Athletic. The other early kick off had five goals, and three of them went to AFC Sudbury, who were 3-0 up and coasting at Bury Town only for the home side to pull two back in the dying embers of the match. In front of a crowd of 703 at Ram Meadow, Joe Whight, Paul Hayes and Tom Dettmar had seemingly put the game out of sight before Emmanuel Machaya and Kyran Clements got their late consolations and made Sudbury sweat for just a moment. Sudbury climbed to sixth place, leapfrogging their hosts.

Basildon United and Canvey Island have both struggled for form of late, but when Jose Figura put the Gulls ahead their supporters must have been hoping for a change of fortune. The lead lasted only ten minutes before Callum Taylor equalised for the Bees, but Josh Hutchinson restored the Canvey lead twelve minutes after the break, and when Figura made it three for the visitors with twenty two minutes remaining it was game over for the home side. Canvey got a fourth nine minutes from time through Adam Vyse, and move up to tenth.

The big match of the day saw Coggeshall Town, in third place, host Heybridge Swifts in fifth. In front of 358 the game remained goalless until fourteen minutes from the end, when Elliott Ronto scored with an overhead kick to give Swifts the lead. That turned out to be the only goal, a result which saw Julian Dicks men go second, six points behind leaders Bowers and Pitsea.

South East Division

Ashford United came into their clash with second place Hastings United as the form side in the division, but it was the side from the Sussex coast who broke the deadlock, Jack Dixon finding the net in front of a crowd of 531. It was 0-2 just after the break, Daniel Ajakaiye with the second goal for Hastings, and although Ashford worked hard to get back into the game their efforts were undone when Bode Anidugbe received a red card.

Three minutes later Lea Dawson was the second Ashford player heading for an early bath, and a late penalty could have made it 3-0 to Hastings, but it wasn’t converted. Hastings close to within eight points of leaders Cray Wanderers.

Guernsey’s players must have needed an early night last night, as they had to fly to Gatwick Airport today before heading to the Sussex coast to take on Horsham. They managed to stay awake until fourteen minutes before the end, when a goalkeeping howler gave Hornets striker Rob O’Toole a simple tap in for 1-0, but drew level a minute from time as Carlos Canha grabbed an equaliser. That’s how it ended, and Horsham climbed to fourth, whilst the Green Lions are fifteenth.

South Central Division

In our one South Central Division match Bracknell Town knew that victory would take them into second place, two points behind leaders Hayes & Yeading United. They fell behind early on, however, Dylan Cascoe putting visitors Westfield ahead in the ninth minute, before an own goal drew them level shortly after the interval. Seven minutes later the Robins were ahead, that man Liam Ferdinand scoring his almost customary goal- and he had his almost customary second shortly afterwards, making it 3-1- and that’s how it remained.

Image- Lewes v Burgess Hill Town courtesy of Stuart Fuller.