Phew, it's Frew, say Trawlerboys

By Peter Butcher

THEY made hard work of it, but Lowestoft eventually got the win they needed to clinch the Ryman Premier runners-up spot yesterday (Saturday) with a 1-0 home win over nine-man Hendon.

The Trawlerboys started impressively, hitting the woodwork twice and having a shot cleared off the line before Hendon heaped problems on themselves with the dismissals of Kevin Maclaren in the 16th minute and James Fisher seven minutes later.

A superb display by keeper Berkley Laurencin then kept Lowestoft frustrated until the 65th minute, when Michael Frew’s close-range header settled the match and gave the Suffolk side home advantage in the play-offs, starting with a semi-final against East Thurrock on Wednesday.

Richard Jolly ended his league career on a high with two goals as Wealdstone beat Canvey 2-0 to finish in third place, a point behind Lowestoft.

The prolific striker has announced that this will be his final season and he bowed out with typical poacher’s goals in the 50th and 69th minutes to book a home semi-final. (His second is pictured courtesy of Steve Foster/Wealdstone FC.)

Stones will host Concord, who had a chance of finishing second themselves if the sides above them had slipped up but had to settle for fourth place after a 0-0 home draw with Leiston, who cleared a Ben Greenhalgh shot off the line late in an uneventful affair.

East Thurrock clinched fifth place on Thursday, barring some sensational goalscoring, but their 16-match unbeaten run ended with a 1-0 defeat at champions Whitehawk.

Hawks had to wait until the 88th minute before Charlie Henry found the net after combining with James Fraser and they finished eight points clear of the field in their first – and, for the moment at least, last - season at this level.

A hectic week caught up with East Thurrock defender Tom Stephen, who played full games on Tuesday and Thursday after completing last Sunday’s London marathon! He suffered an injury in the warm-up and had to drop out of the side.

At the other end of the table, Carshalton made it five wins out of six in April with a 2-1 victory at Enfield Town. But their valiant effort to avoid the drop was in vain.

Enfield took a ninth-minute lead with a penalty by Liam Hope, who was denied a second goal by the crossbar. Nathaniel Pinney equalised on the hour and hit the winner with six minutes left, his 22nd goal of the season. It was too little and too late.

The Robins went into the game three points and seven goals behind Lewes, so although the Sussex side went down 3-2 at home to Bury they retained their place in the top division.

Two goals in five minutes around the half-hour mark, a fine strike by Evan Key and a Craig Parker penalty, raised Carshalton’s hopes. But Steve Brinkhurst pulled one back seven minutes after the break and when Callum Dunne levelled the scores in the 77th minute Lewes were all but safe.

They were beaten in the third minute of injury time when John Sands picked up a long clearance and raced through to claim his 27th goal of the season. Appropriately enough, then, it was the golden boot winner who scored the division’s final goal of the season.

It might not have been, because the match at Margate kicked off an hour late after Harrow ran into trouble on the M25. But the bar denied Margate’s Tommy Whitnell and George Purcell in the second half and it finished scoreless.

There was a great deal more excitement at Wingate, where Cray were the visitors. Perhaps demob happy after both escaped relegation in midweek, they slugged out a 4-4 draw.

Spencer Bellotti’s early strike for Wingate was answered by Sam Long’s long-range effort, only for an Anthony Thomas double to put the hosts 3-1 up before the half-hour. Michael Power headed Cray’s second in the 58th minute but Bellotti restored the two-goal margin with 20 minutes to go.

Leigh Bremner reduced the arrears again in the 77th minute with his 20th goal of the season and he grabbed a point at the death with a superbly-taken 21st.

Met Police finished an excellent season with a 4-0 romp at Thurrock – but they would have needed to score another 11 to push East Thurrock out of a play-off place.

Charlie Collins gave them a halftime lead and Dave Knight netted two goals soon after the interval against his former club, with Allan Tait adding a late fourth.

Joe Turner’s shot went in off the bar in the 64th minute to give Hampton a 1-0 home win over Bognor and the scoreline was the same at Hastings, where Alassane N’Diaye netted after half an hour to see off Kingstonian.

But Hastings, whose relegation was confirmed two days earlier, still finished at the foot of the table – a sad end to a season in which they marched to the third round of the FA Cup. Two more points would have saved them and they will reflect ruefully on ten home draws, including eight in succession.

Where next?

Dulwich have that X-factor IT WAS a nailbiting afternoon yesterday (Saturday) at Champion Hill – but Dulwich had the X-factor in Xavier Vidal, whose goal earned them the point they needed to clinch the Ryman South title.
Maldon clinch second place TWO goals in five second-half minutes gave Maldon a 2-0 victory at Brentwood tonight (Thursday) and clinched the Ryman North runners-up spot.

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