Floodlight football is back at the Stanmore Stadium on Tuesday evening when Erith Town entertain Ashford United in an Isthmian League South East Division encounter.

It will be the Dockers’ third successive game against Kent based opposition, and their fifth in seven league and cup matches in March so far. In the four games already played, they drew two and lost two whilst also drawing at home to Jersey Bulls. Their other match was a tight London Senior Cup defeat against a strong Leyton Orient side.

On Saturday, Aaron Jeffery’s team travelled to Deal Town and crashed to a heavy defeat. Owen Wilkinson and Rory Smith gave the Hoops a half time lead then Smith, who also plays cricket for Sandwich Town, added a third seven minutes after the restart. Alfie Foster and Wes Hennessey were also on target before Jabari Christmas scored a consolation for the Dockers deep into stoppage time. As a result, Erith have dropped back into the bottom four, one point behind Hassocks, but with a game in hand.

In comparison, Ashford have had a much quieter March having only played four games. They have won two, drawn one and lost one. They included a four-nil win at Herne Bay and a six-one trouncing of Broadbridge Heath.

Craig Stone’s side visited Beckenham Town on Saturday and appeared to be on their way to another victory when Ollie Bate put them ahead in the thirteenth minute. However, Alfie Bloomfield equalised ten minutes into the second half and the spoils were shared. That left Ashford in a comfortable position in tenth place, too far away from the play-off zone, but with no danger of relegation.

When the two teams met in Ashford back in November, a thrilling encounter ended three apiece. The hosts’ Louis Collins scored the only goal in the first half, however, second period goals by Ollie Milton, Calum McGeehan and Destiny Olapido put Erith in a commanding position before Collins pulled one back. He then completed his hat-trick when levelling in the eleventh minute of stoppage time.

Although the Nuts and Bolts have little at stake at Erith, they will still want to put on a performance for their supporters so Erith will have to be on the top of their game to get the points they need to lift them out of the bottom four.

Images courtesy of Jordan Perfitt