Bostik 17/18- a season in review: August

The sunshine! The aroma of freshly mown grass, and liniment! The sound of optimism, and of Glenn Tamplin explaining that Billericay would win the Premier Division title without losing a match! August 12th arrived, and football was back!

On the pitch

We were at Tonbridge Angels for our first competitive #bostikmatchday feature of the season, and watched as a goal from Nathan Elder gave the home side victory over Hendon. The smart money was on Angels challenging for the playoffs whilst Gary McCann’s greens would end up in the lower reaches of mid-table, which shows quite how smart the smart money actually was. In truth, nobody- except perhaps the Hendon manager- would have predicted after this first match that the away side would be in a Playoff Final nine months later.

Elsewhere, Kingstonian- under former Blues manager Craig Edwards- were taking a first look at those murals and preparing to be lambs to the slaughter as they walked out at Billericay for the big kick off. Sadly for the home side, however, they hadn’t read the script (nor the tabloids) as Lewis Taylor popped up in the very last minute to send the red and white hordes wild (and allow the supporters of every other Premier Division club a very loud laugh on social media). Billericay, of course, were to bounce back by winning every other game they played during the month.

In the North Division, Aveley were playing their first ever League match at newly opened Parkside, losing 3-1 to Bowers & Pitsea, whilst AFC Hornchurch were starting the campaign the way they planned to go on, winning 3-0 against Soham Town Rangers- they were to go on to win every match they played in August. The big winners in the South Division were Faversham Town, who cruised to a 5-0 win at VCD Athletic, whilst Shoreham got a taste of what life in the Bostik League would be like for the entire campaign, their first match ending in a 4-0 loss at home to South Park.

The second Saturday of the season saw a number of our sides involved in the FA Cup (and our #bostikmatchday feature coming from Whyteleafe), whilst in the Premier Division Enfield Town and Met Police were equally sharing eight goals at Donkey Lane whilst Staines Town were bursting Kingstonian’s early season bubble by walloping them 5-0 at Wheatsheaf Park, only four days after putting six past Tooting & Mitcham United. Watching Hendon defeat Harlow Town 1-0 were the Fox clan, greens supporters who had driven all the way from Fife for the game. They were to make that one thousand mile return trip many more times before the season ended.

Bank Holiday Monday saw the usual collection of derby matches and a glut of goals, with perhaps the result of the day coming in Maldon, where Heybridge Swifts- who had just escaped relegation the previous season- walloping local rivals Maldon & Tiptree 5-0. Wingate & Finchley and Billericay Town also got five, away to Staines Town and Thurrock respectively, whilst Hendon trumped the lot and scored six against Harrow Borough. In the South Division Carshalton Athletic seemed to be finding form, recording a 4-2 win at Corinthian-Casuals, whilst Lewes were winning the East Sussex derby at Hastings United by two goals to one.

Off the pitch

The first managerial departure of the season came five days after the big kick off, as Ashford United announced that Danny Lye had left the club after two loses in two games, the most recent a 5-0 defeat at South Park.

Worthing were having a torrid time. Not only had they lost their opening three games, but problems with their 3G pitch at Woodside Road were preventing them from playing on it, and they were facing up to the prospect of having to- temporarily- move their home matches to Bognor Regis Town’s Nyewood Lane. Captain Kane Wills had then rubbed salt in their wounds by clearing off to Eastbourne Borough as things went from bad to worse. The month was to end with the Rebels bottom and without a point.

News came through that Tommy South had put Thurrock up for sale, after deciding that he was unable to continue to balance the needs of the club with his health- and Carshalton Athletic announced the trial of an e-programme, to the sound of groundhoppers everywhere gnashing their teeth.

Finally, we featured the Fox Clan of Fife, Hendon supporters who drove five hundred miles and then five hundred more to watch the greens. You can read about them again here.