Wednesday 29 September 2021
Staplehurst Monarchs United 1 Larkfield & New Hythe 2
Staplehurst Monarchs United (1) 1 Jones 40
Larkfield & New Hythe (1) 2 Jackson 28 West 51
Attendance: 127
Admission: £4 Senior
Programme: £1
Mileage: 2/2,113
It was the first chilly evening of the season and with Champions League football on pay-per-view television, the turn-out of 127 was quite impressive.
Since my visit pre-season not only have the lights been erected but the 50-seater stand has been situated on the base that was already there back in August. Hardly a thing of beauty but functional and, as they say, it does what it says on the tin.
There was a sprinkling of ex-Tunbridge Wells players on both sides of the pitch with Jake Beecroft and Brett Ince in the starting line-up with Lewis Mingle on the bench for Larkfield and in the Staplehurst side were Steve Lawrence and Sam Jones. Sadly, Alex Bishop recently suffered a bad leg break in a game that needed to be abandoned because of the severity of the injury.
Larkfield dominated from the outset with Luke Baptiste to the fore and he forced Lawrence into the first save of the game. Meanwhile Staplehurst also looked dangerous on the break with one attack after 16 minutes ending with a cross that only just eluded an onrushing forward.
But, eventually, the visitors took the lead after 28 minutes when a free kick from Sam Welch found the head of Josh Jackson at the far post to score.
Larkfield, for a while, took control of the game and it was against the run of play when, with five minutes to half-time, Staplehurst won a free kick on the left hand edge of the box. Jones took the kick which rebounded from the wall back to him and his hard driven shot fairly whistled into the far corner.
Staplehurst might even have had an unlikely lead at the break as first an effort was just wide and then, in added time, following a fumble from goalkeeper, Nathan Carter, a goalmouth scramble ended with the ball hacked to safety.
The ground hopping fraternity was in evidence and the half-time break was 15 minutes of their recent adventures.
They didn’t have to wait long into the second half for a further goal with Larkfield regaining the lead after 51 minutes when a corner from Welch was met with an unchallenged header by Stuart West.
Monarchs had a golden chance to get back on level terms within a minute when a corner of their own was met, in front of goal, by Carl West but his shot went over the bar.
Whilst the game was evenly poised, Larkfield largely remained in control and went close to adding to their score when Ellis Green struck the bar after 71 minutes. They comfortably saw out the closing minutes of the game to run out deserving winners but there was plenty for the home side’s support to feel optimistic about on the field and they can be proud of the massive strides they have made off it.
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