Tight at the top!

Cray Valley PM, top of the division at start of play, welcomed a Lancing side without a win in ten matches and with five consecutive defeats- but they stung our leaders early on, Darius Goldsmith with the opener on six minutes. The equaliser took almost an hour, Connor Dymond with it, but the Millers couldn’t get a winner and then, down to ten men after a red card for Ali Tumkaya, Ismaila Diallo, on as a sub, grabbed a last-gasp winner for the visitors. Cray Valley stay top, the Lancers are eighteenth.

Ashford United remained second with victory over Corinthian, but went level on points with the Millers. Johan Ter Horst gave them the lead on twenty three minutes- but they held it for only sixty seconds, Josh Stirman equalising for the visitors. The Nuts and Bolts went ahead once more on the hour, Josh Wisson’s eighth of the campaign, and then opened up a gap when Luke Burdon got their third twelve minutes from time.

Hastings United hosted Ramsgate in what looked, on paper at least, to be our match of the day- but it took seventy three minutes for a goal. When it came, it went to the hosts, and it went to hotshot Ben Pope, his fourteenth of the season- and Lloyd Dawes made it two-nil right at the end. United are up to third, and only a point off the top- which given how far off the pace they had fallen by mid November is remarkable, and ominous for the rest of the promotion contenders.

Haywards Heath Town had gone off the boil a little of late, and Sevenoaks Town took advantage by going ahead twenty minutes into the second half, Steve Smith with the opener- but that roused the hosts, and Josh Clack equalised- his sixth of the campaign, six minutes later. Right at the end the hosts grabbed the winner, delighting the majority of the crowd of four hundred and twelve, as Davigildo Cravid found the back of Matthew Blendell’s net. Heath end the day in fourth, two points behind the leaders. Our headline image is from the lens of Ray Turner.

Herne Bay, who had dropped out of the top five after losing their last two against two of their promotion rivals, got off to a flyer at Three Bridges, Kieron Campbell putting them ahead on five minutes- but within four minutes the hosts were level, Bryan Villavicencio with the equaliser. The next goal arrived in the fourteenth minute, Laurence Harvey putting the visitors in front once more, and they opened up a two goal advantage when Bay GOALKEEPER Jordan Perrin made it three nine minutes before the break. Alex Barbary made the last eleven minutes interesting when bringing it back to two-three, but Bay held on for all three points- closing to within a point of rivals Ramsgate, who are in fifth.

Sittingbourne and Whitehawk took sixty eight minutes to find a goal, and when it came it came to the Brickies, Harrison Pont breaking the deadlock. With just a minute to go it was still one-nil, and yet it ended, somehow, three-one; Ahmed Abdulla grabbing a late double for the hosts, which sandwiched a goal for Javaun Splatt for the Hawks. The Brickies close to within four points of the top five.

Chichester City have been in fine form of late, with four wins from five, and they showed their confidence when taking the lead against Faversham Town after only three minutes, Kaleem Haitham with that goal. The equaliser came midway through the half, and it went to Bola Dawodu, scoring for the second successive Saturday following his two against Phoenix Sports last time out. City were ahead once more just before the break, Connor Cody with their second goal, and when Ethan Pritchard got the third with twenty minutes left they could relax- but they didn’t, and Emmett Dunn soon made it four, before Tyrone Madhani made it five to leave his side in eighth.

Hythe Town hosted VCD Athletic, and it was first strike Vickers as Youssef Bamba opened the scoring on twenty five minutes. That was the fifth league match in a row in which Bamba had scored, his ninth of the campaign, but he didn’t get the next one- that went to Anthony Adesite three minutes before the break, two-nil. Marcus Elliott made it three goals and three points with eight minutes to go, and Elliott got another right at the end to make it four-nil to the visitors.

Burgess Hill Town have been in super form lately, whilst Phoenix Sports haven’t been able to buy a victory for months, which is why it was a little bit of a surprise when Calvin Poku, making his debut, put Sports ahead on twenty minutes. It was even more of a surprise when Poku got his and his side’s second just before the break, and after the break the same player got a third and then a fourth! With ten minutes remaining Tom Chalaye got one back for the Hillians, but that only provoked Steve Carvell to make it five-one. Lewis Taylor got another back for the visitors, but Sports claimed their first league victory since August 28th, when they beat- you guessed it- Burgess Hill Town. It gives the usual chant of “can we play you every week” rather a different meaning.

Whitstable Town had been on a fine winning streak, but it looked in jeopardy when Liam Montague put East Grinstead Town ahead ten minutes before half time, and looked even more unlikely to continue when Szymon Kowalczyk made it two just before the break. The Oysterboys have a new-found resilience, however, and Sam Itauma got one back just before the hour, before Kemo Darboe made it two-two with eighteen minutes left. That was that, and the sides had to settle for a point each.

Follow the Pitching In Isthmian League on Instagram. Head here or search for theisthmianleague on your app. We're also on Facebook and Twitter.