Written by Machel Hewitt Thursday, 15 August 2019 14:08 No Comments
Margate have announced a continuation of their partnership with Mcdonalds for 2019/20.
Following the success of last season’s McDonalds Family Fun Days, the scheme will continue for another season, offering young people and families across Thanet extra special match-days at Hartsdown Park.
Three family fun days will take place at Hartsdown Park next season offering the chance for supporters, families and friends to visit The Gate.
The three family fun days will take place on the following dates:
1. Margate vs Lewes – Saturday 24 August
2. Margate vs Enfield – Saturday 14 December
3. Margate vs Folkestone Invicta – Monday 13 April
In the meantime, If you’re a local business or group wishing to be involved with plans, please contact [email protected]
Cray Wanderers 2 – 3 Folkestone Invicta
Written by Mark Hunt Thursday, 15 August 2019 11:26 No Comments
There was late drama as Isthmian Premier League football returned to Hayes Lane after a five year absence as Folkestone Invicta came from behind to grab a stoppage time winner. Johan Ter Horst’s well hit shot made it two wins out of two for Invicta and defeat for Cray Wanderers
On a very wet and soggy mid-August evening Folkestone came out of the traps quickest and went in front after three minutes when Jerson Dos Santos finished clinically and it looked to be a difficult evening for Tony Russell’s side especially when Matt Newman’s header was cleared off the line.
Cray though battled back and Bradley Pritchard hit the bar before levelling through a classy Andre Coker strike four minutes before the break.
Cray took control of the game after half time and Coker scored his second five minutes into the second half with a near post shot and Charlie Allen and Freddie Parker saw further efforts hit the woodwork.
Folkestone though were always a threat and levelled on 81 minutes with a stunning strike from Dos Santos.
The game looked to be heading for a draw when in the second minute of injury time, a header was flicked on from a throw in and Ter Horst was quickest to react to shoot low into the bottom right corner of the net to win the game for Folkestone.
Cray had begun their campaign with a gutsy and merited point from a 0-0 draw at Kingstonian on Saturday.
There were a couple of changes to the starting lineup for Cray with Bradley Pritchard and Jerome Federico coming in for Karl Dent and Tom Murphy.
For Folkestone, they began with a solid 2-0 home win against Worthing with goals from Jerson Dos Santos and Ira Jackson and Neil Cugley named an unchanged side.
On a very murky and grey night it needed something to lift the unseasonal gloom and both teams set out at a good pace but it was Folkestone who started the more impressive and after three minutes took the lead when Joe Taylor played a ball back towards goal but the lively Dos Santos latched onto the pass, strode on down the right of the area and buried a low shot into the bottom left corner giving Lewis Carey no chance to save.
Folkestone were impressive in those early minutes and almost grabbed a second in the 12th minute when from a corner down the left, Scott Heard’s ball into the area was met with a free header by Matt Newman and would have scored but for a fine Tom Carlse clearance off the line.
Cray slowly got into the game and Bradley Pritchard played a neat pass to Freddie Parker down the right who broke into the area and his low shot was gathered by Tim Roberts. This was followed shortly after by Carlse finding Andre Coker who drove a shot wide of the left post.
Folkestone then had a good spell of possession and from a free kick, Sam Hasler’s ball to the near post was again met by Newman but his header was blocked by a defender.
On 24 minutes Cray were unlucky not to level after some neat passing, Taylor played the ball to Jerome Federico down the right and his ball into the box found Pritchard who saw his shot come back off the crossbar.
Just before the half hour, Heard tested Carey with a shot from 20 yards and almost scored a second when Dos Santos who was causing problems with his switching of play put a fine ball through to Kieron McCann who burst through but Carey did well to come off his line and McCann put the ball just wide.
Johan Ter Horst then found McCann again down the left and drove a shot just over the angle of post and bar and McCann once again came close with a curling shot just over from Michael Everitt’s pass.
Invicta appeared to be in control but four minutes before half time Cray drew level after a patient build up the ball came to Federico whose ball across was not well dealt with by the Folkestone defence and came to Coker who took a touch, found space and rifled a superb finish wide of Roberts into the bottom right
This gave Cray some late first half impetus and Coker became provider with a neat ball into the area and Pritchard’s header went just over the top.
If the first half was dramatic then the second topped it. Both sides made a half time change with Charlie Allen coming on for his Wands debut in place of Lee Lewis while Finn O’Mara came on for Josh Vincent for Folkestone.
Cray carried on where they left off at the end of the first half with a storming start to the second and five minutes after the restart went ahead. Pritchard played a superb pass out to Coker down the left who took on a defender, raced into the box and his near post shot took perhaps a slight deflection which wrongfooted Roberts and Cray had turned things around in style.
Cray came close to a third when Allen stole into the area from Mitchell Nelson’s throw in down the right and his header bounced off the top of the bar from 10 yards.
Then to say Cray were unlucky is an understatement when from a free kick fully 30 yards out, Parker stepped up to shoot and his cannonball of a shot crashed back off the crossbar and back out well into play.
From another free kick, out on the right, Parker’s ball into the box was helped on by Nelson and Tom Phipp nudged a header towards goal which was held by Roberts.
Folkestone eventually weathered the storm and began to threaten once again and Dos Santos found Hasler who shot over from 20 yards.
With nine minutes left Folkestone drew level with a stunning strike from Dos Santos who picked up a pass from Heard and he cut inside and from just outside the area curled a beauty into the top left corner giving Carey no chance to save.
Two minutes later it should really have been 3-2 to Folkestone this time with Dos Santos the provider again, he laid the ball to McCann who with the goal seemingly at his mercy saw his shot take a deflection possibly off Carey and over the bar for a corner.
Both sides probed for a winner with Dent seeing a shot deflected behind for a corner as did Ira Jackson whose shot took a nick off a defender to turn the ball wide.
The game was just entering injury time when in the second minute of stoppage time a ball was flicked on by McCann and reacting quickest, Ter Horst rifled home a low shot from 12 yards into the bottom right and Folkestone had like Cray had earlier turned the game around.
There wasn’t enough time for Cray to stage another fightback and Folkestone saw out the remaining minutes to make it two wins out of two.
Cray were unfortunate not to come away with at least a point for their efforts but maybe last season they would have seen the game out but in the Premier the teams are less forgiving and can punish you for missed chances.
There was still a lot to commend Cray on for their performance and once again Carlse was excellent, Pritchard had a great game in midfield and Federico and Coker showed real glimpses of quality throughout the match.
Cray next take on Corinthian Casuals at Hayes Lane on Saturday in what will be another tough game.
Cray Wanderers: Lewis Carey, Barney Williams (Capt.), Tom Carlse, Mitchell Nelson, Tom Phipp, Lee Lewis (Charlie Allen, H/T), Bradley Pritchard, Freddie Parker (Karl Dent, 77), Jerome Federico (Tom Murphy, 74), Andre Coker, Joe Taylor
Subs: Charles Etumnu, Joe Vines
Booked: Phipp, Parker
Goals: Coker 41, 50
Folkestone Invicta: Tim Roberts, Josh Vincent (Finn O’Mara, H/T), Alfie Paxman, Matt Newman, Callum Davies, Sam Hasler, Scott Heard, Michael Everitt (Ira Jackson, 72). Johan Ter Horst, Jerson Dos Santos, Kieron McCann
Subs: Nat Blanks, Ronnie Dolan, Henry Newcombe
Goals: Dos Santos 3, 81, Ter Horst 90+2
Referee: Lee Dyson
Assistants: Robert Columb, Daniel Doyle
Attendance: 240
Gillingham 2 – 2 Newport County (1-4 pens)
Written by Lewis Browning Tuesday, 13 August 2019 22:05 No Comments
Gillingham were knocked out on penalties on the first round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night following a 2-2 draw with Newport County.
Brandon Hanlan had given the home side the lead with a spot-kick in a game that yielded four normal time penalties, however he missed another to allow Newport back into the game through Tristan Abrahams.
Mikael Ndjoli scored a penalty late on to give The Gills the lead once more, however he saw red in the process of Padraig Amond equalising with a Newport penalty of their own late on. When it came to the regulation spot-kicks, the away side prevailed.
Steve Evans, still watching on from the stands, made three changes from Gillingham’s weekend defeat to Burton Albion in a bid to turn around their home fortunes in a Cup game where his side would have been comfortable favourites.
The Gills, with Alfie Jones sporting more of a midfield role as opposed to his usual centre back duties, started the game on the front foot and had some joy out wide early on, however a couple of crosses could only find the arms of Nick Townsend in the Newport goal.
Their first chance of the game came in the opening five minutes when the Newport defence failed to deal with a Regan Charles-Cook free kick. The ball, after a bit of pinball in the box, fell to Mikael Ndjoli, but he slashed his volley wide.
Just minutes later Ndjoli had another chance to give his side the lead, but missed Charles-Cook’s corner by a matter of inches.
Newport’s first chance of the game came just after 12 minutes through young forward Tristan Abrahams. County broke and Abraham’s controlled the ball well in the box, but Connor Ogilvie, making his full re-debut for The Gills after joining permanently in the summer following two years at the club on loan, did well to block his effort.
The game slowed down after a fast start but a slip from a Newport full-back allowed Mikael Ndjoli to capitalise down the right. He ran free and squared the ball to Alex Jakubiak, but the Warford loanee couldn’t get the pass under control and Townsend gathered the ball.
Charles-Cook came the closest either side had come so far on 25 minutes following neat play from Alex Jakubiak. ‘AJ’ carried the ball well on the left before playing a square pass to Charles-Cook, who struck a good effort against the far post. Mikael Ndjoli could only side-foot the rebound wide.
The home side’s pressure was rewarded a minute later when Charles-Cook received a push from Scott Bennett in the box. Trevor Kettle didn’t have to think twice and he pointed to the spot, where Brandon Hanlan would fire a powerful penalty past Townsend, who guessed the right way, but couldn’t keep the effort out.
As the first half wore on Steve Evans will have felt his side should have been further ahead. Lee Hodson showed impressive form on the right, squaring the ball to Jakubiak on the edge of the box, the forward forcing a nice save from Townsend high to his left.
Gillingham had conceded three times in the final five minutes of the first half in the first two games of the season, and that’s a stat Newport surely would’ve been aware of as they pushed on with Corey Whitley having a shot blocked by Lee Hodson and Scott Bennett forcing a save from Jack Bonham late on.
It was Gillingham, though, who should’ve scored as the half time whistle blew, when Charles-Cook found Brandon Hanlan alone in the box, but his powerful header was directed wide by Townsend.
Gillingham manager Steve Evans must have given his side a stern talking to at half time, and they almost scored early in the second half when Mark Byrne had a volley deflected over after good play from Regan Charles-Cook. Connor Ogilvie headed over from the resulting corner.
On 56 minutes the home side had a golden opportunity when Dan Leadbitter bought down Brandon Hanlan for the Gills’ second penalty of the game. The forward stepped up again, but, this time, Nick Townsend guessed the right way and kept the effort out.
Newport grew into the game as it progressed and Mark O’Brien and substitute Padraig Amond squandered good opportunities before Matty Dolan fired one of many free-kicks over the bar.
Gillingham were forced to play on the counter and almost put the game to bed when Brandon Hanlan broke and got away from his defender, but Mark Marshall’s square pass to Mikael Ndjoli was weak and the Newport defence swept up.
Another Matty Dolan free-kick was dealt with by Gillingham before Hanlan had perhaps the chance of the game when a long ball over the top found him in space. With every Newport player forward, Hanlan raced away to face Townsend one on one. Hanlan, though, was again denied by the Newport stopper who pulled of yet another brilliant stop, with the frontman putting the rebound over.
The Gills were, eventually, made to pay in the 84th minute when a Matty Dolan free-kick finally paid dividends. An inswinger from the right made it all the way through to young forward Tristan Abrahams, who poked home to square the game up.
With the match seemingly heading to penalties, a huge sigh of relief could be heard round Priestifeld when Trevor Kettle once again pointed to the spot in the final minute of normal time following a Kyle Howkins trip on Mark Byrne. With Hanlan off the pitch, Mikael Ndjoli was on hand to send Townsend the wrong way and give Gillingham a late lead.
It was, however, to be a lead that didn’t last long. Up the other end, almost seconds later, Ndjoli was giving away a foul himself after pulling down Dan Leadbitter, seeing a second yellow card and, ultimately, a red, in the process. Padraig Amond made no mistake in levelling up proceedings once again, and the game was to go to penalties.
Newport, in-front of the Rainham End, kicked off the shootout and took the lead through Josh Sheehan. Gillingham were immediately up against it when Townsend kept out Alfie Jones’ spot-kick, and the away side were soon 2-0 up when Padraig Amond powered past Bonham to double Newport’s lead.
Mikael Mandron gave Gillingham hope when he sent Townsend the wrong way to make it 2-1, however the game was all but gone when Mark Marshall missed following Mickey Demetriou scoring.
All Abrahams had to do was score, and score he did to give the League Two side the win, meaning Gillingham were knocked out in the first round of the Carabao Cup on penalties for the second year in a row.
