Match 83/16/1390 - Monday, 30th January 2017 - Suburban Shield
Tunbridge Wells U21 (4) 5 Bartlett 3,80 Smith 11, OG 41, Lawrence 44
Corinthian Reserves (1) 3 Pearce 16, Tanner 75,79
Headcount: 40
Entrance: £3
Programme: None
Mileage: 58/5,857
If ever there was a competition that was devised to fill up a few empty days then surely it must be the Suburban Shield. Information is sparse; I had managed to work out that a group stage was involved by virtue of Tunbridge Wells playing both Corinthian and Tonbridge, little did I know that Cray Valley and Crowborough were also involved. In the case of Tonbridge, how they are going to manage to fulfil the fixtures, especially the home ties, goodness only knows.
Tunbridge Wells managed to maintain the air of mystery by not providing any information on the line-ups, in fact on the FA Full time website they still have only nine starting players listed. I do despair, and the Wells are far from the only guilty party, when clubs cannot manage to list the players from both sides anywhere.
Corinthian play their Suburban League football in the top division, whilst Tunbridge Wells are positioned in the southern section of the division below, this was not apparent as the home side took complete control of the game in the first half.
Tunbridge Wells were ahead in three minutes when a cross from the right was turned in from close range by Rhys Bartlett and they were two in front after 11 minutes when a shot from Callum Smith, a new signing from Westfield, went through the Corinthian goalkeeper, Harry Earls.
Corinthian fought back to reduce the deficit five minutes later when Louis Pearce turned in a cross from about a couple of yards.
Tommy Lawrence saw a lob go just over with Earls helpless before Jake Hampson, in the Wells goal, made a good save low to his left to deny Corinthian's number eight.
Four minutes before the break a Corinthian defender turned a shot-cum-cross into his own goal at the near post and the tally was increased to four in the last minute of the half when Lawrence scored at the far post.
Two goals in four minutes from Luke Tanner reduced the deficit to a single goal but Bartlett put the game to bed with ten minutes remaining turning in a cross from Bes Sadiku.
With both Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells involved in the competition, I'll be following it as closely as internet searches allow!
Monday, 30 January 2017
Saturday, 28 January 2017
Gillingham 1 Shrewsbury Town 1
Match 82/16/1389 - Saturday, 28th January 2017 - League One
Gillingham (1) 1 Oshilaja 45
Shrewsbury Town (0) 1 Rodman 61
Attendance: 5,316
Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 58/5,819
Match Report
This week, football-wise has been a complete write-off (or even white-off). Three evenings, a choice of five matches, none of which went ahead due to the big freeze. So, as the weather warmed over the last 24 hours, at last there was a game to go to. By half-time I was actually left wondering if I had missed anything, despite Gillingham going into the break a goal up. From an entertainment point of view the game improved considerably in the second half but Gillingham were unable to hold on to their lead.
This was Adrian Pennock's first home game since his appointment following the sacking of Justin Edinburgh. Two away games have yielded a poor performance and a defeat at Oldham and a battling display and a point at league leaders Sheffield United. Pennock was a popular player in his time at Priestfield and was, of course, the captain at Wembley in 1999 when promotion to the Championship was won. So the man comes with a wealth of goodwill even if there is a question mark as to whether a more experienced manager, for example Kenny Jackett or Steve Cotterill, should have been chosen.
It is going to take time for Pennock to instil into his side his own ethos and one prays that there is enough time left for that to happen, on this showing the same old failings of the Edinburgh regime surfaced as soon as Shrewsbury went in search of something out of the game in the second half. The defence dropped deeper and deeper and the ball was continually given away cheaply. On the positive side, the Bradley Dack we saw was more reminiscent of last season's version; Bradley Garmston came off the bench for his first league appearance of the season to good effect whilst the resurgent form of Stuart Nelson ensured that Gillingham came away with something from the afternoon.
The first 20 minutes were as dull as anything we had seen before. A Dack free kick whistled over; Freddie Lapado made a hash of an opportunity for the visitors and a minute later Cody McDonald was sent clear but his shot was saved by Jayson Luitwiler. With both sides under new management, neither looked absolutely sure what was expected of them.
The half dragged its way laboriously towards the break with a shot apiece that the goalkeeper fielded rather than saved before a good, old-fashioned lump upfield from Nelson found its way to Deji Oshilaja, who had been upfield for a corner, to calmly slip the ball past Luitwiler.
The second period started better with McDonald bringing a save with his legs from Luitwiler. The visitors had also been brought to life by the half-time break and Nelson saved from Abu Agogo and needed the help of Ryan Nelson to clear after saving from Alex Rodman.
Rodman was guilty of an unbelievable miss after 50 minutes when he struck a post with the goal gaping following a cross from Lapado.
However, the reprieve was relatively short-lived as a cross fell to Tyler Roberts courtesy of a deflection. Roberts shot was saved by Nelson but only back into the path of Rodman, who this time wasn't going to miss.
Gillingham responded with a spirited effort to find a winner. Dack clipped the bar with a free kick and Max Ehmer hit a post from a tight angle.
As I walked away, my first thoughts were new start, same old dross but on reflection that is more than a little harsh. But realistically that is six games without a win for Gillingham and they are seriously looking over their shoulders.
Gillingham (1) 1 Oshilaja 45
Shrewsbury Town (0) 1 Rodman 61
Attendance: 5,316
Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 58/5,819
Match Report
This was Adrian Pennock's first home game since his appointment following the sacking of Justin Edinburgh. Two away games have yielded a poor performance and a defeat at Oldham and a battling display and a point at league leaders Sheffield United. Pennock was a popular player in his time at Priestfield and was, of course, the captain at Wembley in 1999 when promotion to the Championship was won. So the man comes with a wealth of goodwill even if there is a question mark as to whether a more experienced manager, for example Kenny Jackett or Steve Cotterill, should have been chosen.
It is going to take time for Pennock to instil into his side his own ethos and one prays that there is enough time left for that to happen, on this showing the same old failings of the Edinburgh regime surfaced as soon as Shrewsbury went in search of something out of the game in the second half. The defence dropped deeper and deeper and the ball was continually given away cheaply. On the positive side, the Bradley Dack we saw was more reminiscent of last season's version; Bradley Garmston came off the bench for his first league appearance of the season to good effect whilst the resurgent form of Stuart Nelson ensured that Gillingham came away with something from the afternoon.
The first 20 minutes were as dull as anything we had seen before. A Dack free kick whistled over; Freddie Lapado made a hash of an opportunity for the visitors and a minute later Cody McDonald was sent clear but his shot was saved by Jayson Luitwiler. With both sides under new management, neither looked absolutely sure what was expected of them.
The half dragged its way laboriously towards the break with a shot apiece that the goalkeeper fielded rather than saved before a good, old-fashioned lump upfield from Nelson found its way to Deji Oshilaja, who had been upfield for a corner, to calmly slip the ball past Luitwiler.
The second period started better with McDonald bringing a save with his legs from Luitwiler. The visitors had also been brought to life by the half-time break and Nelson saved from Abu Agogo and needed the help of Ryan Nelson to clear after saving from Alex Rodman.
Rodman was guilty of an unbelievable miss after 50 minutes when he struck a post with the goal gaping following a cross from Lapado.
However, the reprieve was relatively short-lived as a cross fell to Tyler Roberts courtesy of a deflection. Roberts shot was saved by Nelson but only back into the path of Rodman, who this time wasn't going to miss.
Gillingham responded with a spirited effort to find a winner. Dack clipped the bar with a free kick and Max Ehmer hit a post from a tight angle.
As I walked away, my first thoughts were new start, same old dross but on reflection that is more than a little harsh. But realistically that is six games without a win for Gillingham and they are seriously looking over their shoulders.
Saturday, 21 January 2017
Harlow Town 1 Tonbridge 0
Match 81/16/1388 - Saturday, 21st January 2017 - Ryman Premier
Harlow Town (1) 1 Dadson 32
Tonbridge (0) 0
Attendance: 286
Entrance: £8 Senior
Programme: £1
Mileage: 132/5,761
New Ground: 302
A desperately poor performance from Tonbridge did nothing to warm the frozen extremities as the January cold snap continued to bite hard. Fixtures in the south-east tumbled throughout the morning, but the 3G surface at the Harlow Arena ensured that the match would go ahead as planned.
This was my first visit to Harlow Town and found it a well appointed facility with a modern 500-seat main stand and a covered terrace on the opposite side. Of the 3G surfaces I have seen this season, this one had the most unnatural bounce, far too high in my opinion. But that said, it cannot be excused for visitors poor showing.
It took until the 79th minute for Tonbridge to ask the Harlow goalkeeper, David Hughes, to lay a serious glove on the ball. Not that the hosts were that much more of an attacking force, thereby contributing to the lack of entertainment.
The opening 20 minutes set the template for the rest of the match. Harlow attacked but without any great quality whilst their visitors were struggling to string a couple of decent passes together. Mario Noto forced Anthony Di Bernardo into a save at his near post after five minutes and at the other end, a shot from Mitchell Nelson and headers from Tom Parkinson and Nathan Elder all cleared the crossbar.
A long throw from Luke Blewden was headed wide of the post from Elder and Harlow swept upfield to opening the scoring. From the goal kick, the ball was partially returned into the midfield area from where Noto intercepted and suddenly the ball was in between the Tonbridge central defenders for Junior Dadson to run onto and score with a shot that went in off the left hand post.
Tonbridge saw a Nelson header from a Nick Wheeler corner cleared from in front of the goal line after 36 minutes and a identical occurrence brought the same outcome just on the break. Between the two Tonbridge efforts Jared Small brought a save from Di Bernardo low to his left.
At the start of the second period the sun had dipped below the stand and the temperature fell away very quickly. Sadly the game disappeared with it.
Mid-way through the half, Noto, head and shoulders the best player on the pitch, played in Small but Di Bernardo was quick to smother his effort and then, with 11 minutes remaining, substitute Ugo Udoji planted a header from a corner that actually asked Hughes to make a save.
A ridiculous incident in the final minute of regular time just about summed up the frustrating nature of the game. Tom Phipp, on as a 62nd minute substitute for Wheeler, was caught late as he delivered a long punt into the box. As the ball ran loose, the referee opted to bring the play back thus denying the visitors a scoring opportunity. While Jack Parter waited to take the free kick, water was childishly squirted from the Harlow dug-out, this was noticed by the Tonbridge dug-out and a protracted fracas was the result. It took a full five minutes for the referee to decide what action to take, a yellow card for a player from each side. If only the referee had allowed the play to continue, none of the nonsense would have happened and Tonbridge might even have scored.
The games in hand that Tonbridge had on those above are beginning to ebb away and Steve McKimm's side desperately need a run of results or this season of much promise could well just slip away.
Harlow Town (1) 1 Dadson 32
Tonbridge (0) 0
Attendance: 286
Entrance: £8 Senior
Programme: £1
Mileage: 132/5,761
New Ground: 302
This was my first visit to Harlow Town and found it a well appointed facility with a modern 500-seat main stand and a covered terrace on the opposite side. Of the 3G surfaces I have seen this season, this one had the most unnatural bounce, far too high in my opinion. But that said, it cannot be excused for visitors poor showing.
It took until the 79th minute for Tonbridge to ask the Harlow goalkeeper, David Hughes, to lay a serious glove on the ball. Not that the hosts were that much more of an attacking force, thereby contributing to the lack of entertainment.
The opening 20 minutes set the template for the rest of the match. Harlow attacked but without any great quality whilst their visitors were struggling to string a couple of decent passes together. Mario Noto forced Anthony Di Bernardo into a save at his near post after five minutes and at the other end, a shot from Mitchell Nelson and headers from Tom Parkinson and Nathan Elder all cleared the crossbar.
A long throw from Luke Blewden was headed wide of the post from Elder and Harlow swept upfield to opening the scoring. From the goal kick, the ball was partially returned into the midfield area from where Noto intercepted and suddenly the ball was in between the Tonbridge central defenders for Junior Dadson to run onto and score with a shot that went in off the left hand post.
Tonbridge saw a Nelson header from a Nick Wheeler corner cleared from in front of the goal line after 36 minutes and a identical occurrence brought the same outcome just on the break. Between the two Tonbridge efforts Jared Small brought a save from Di Bernardo low to his left.
At the start of the second period the sun had dipped below the stand and the temperature fell away very quickly. Sadly the game disappeared with it.
Mid-way through the half, Noto, head and shoulders the best player on the pitch, played in Small but Di Bernardo was quick to smother his effort and then, with 11 minutes remaining, substitute Ugo Udoji planted a header from a corner that actually asked Hughes to make a save.
A ridiculous incident in the final minute of regular time just about summed up the frustrating nature of the game. Tom Phipp, on as a 62nd minute substitute for Wheeler, was caught late as he delivered a long punt into the box. As the ball ran loose, the referee opted to bring the play back thus denying the visitors a scoring opportunity. While Jack Parter waited to take the free kick, water was childishly squirted from the Harlow dug-out, this was noticed by the Tonbridge dug-out and a protracted fracas was the result. It took a full five minutes for the referee to decide what action to take, a yellow card for a player from each side. If only the referee had allowed the play to continue, none of the nonsense would have happened and Tonbridge might even have scored.
The games in hand that Tonbridge had on those above are beginning to ebb away and Steve McKimm's side desperately need a run of results or this season of much promise could well just slip away.
Friday, 20 January 2017
Tonbridge Angels U18 1 Merstham U18 1
Match 80/16/1387 - Thursday, 19th January 2017 - Lucas Fettes League Cup QF
Tonbridge Angels U18 (1) 1 Chapman 39
Merstham (1) 1 Transwest 20
Match abandoned at half-time, frozen pitch
Headcount: 46
Entrance: £1 Senior
Programme: Team Sheet provided
Mileage: 38/5,629
Tonbridge and Merstham Under-18s will have to try again to decide their Lucas Fettes Youth League Cup Quarter Final after the referee called a halt to the game during the half-time break after deciding that the frozen pitch was becoming too dangerous. Whether Mr Friar could have made this decision before a ball was kicked is another argument but when he decided that the game could go ahead it should have been with the viewpoint that it would get to its conclusion.
Jay Stubberfield was able to name a strong side including Sid Sollis, Liam Smith and Tommy Chapman who have all been involved with the senior team this season.
Jack Bray, full of surging runs from the middle of the frost covered field, had two early attempts on goal, a shot and a header, that both cleared the crossbar.
But Merstham were far from at Longmead to make up the numbers and their front three were giving the Angels’ back line plenty to think about. A poor clearance from Tonbridge’s keeper, Lewis Mitchell offered a shooting chance for Sam Johnson, but he tamely lobbed it back to the welcoming arms of Mitchell.
From left back, Rhys Norrington-Davies was also proving an potent attacking outlet for the Surrey side.
After 13 minutes, the Wheeler-esque left foot of Tommy Chapman found Sollis whose shot came back off the right hand post.
The visitors took the lead after 20 minutes when Tonbridge failed to clear their lines and a deft lob from Anwar Transwest left Mitchell helpless.
By this point it was obvious that the frost was taking hold of the pitch; as the players moved in either direction it sounded like a stampede of horses and Merstham’s Johnson trying to get on the end of a cross was only able to stop when he, himself rather than the ball, was in the back of the net.
Just before the half-hour mark, Levy Soulam hit the Tonbridge woodwork and without the sureness of footing another almighty scramble came in the home penalty area before the ball was hacked to safety.
Chapman delivered a perfect corner to the far post from where Smith directed a header wide before Tonbridge equalised with a very good goal. A brilliantly executed crossfield pass from Dominic Welsh found Chapman, who steadied, took it across the face of goal and drove the ball home.
In his comments after the game, Jay Stubberfield said of the goal: “Dom has great vision and is a clever little player; Tommy also took it well. I’ve challenged him to score more goals and after Sunday he now has two in two. Chapman’s delivery from the left was superb tonight.”
This has been, shall we say, a difficult week for the football spectator. I’ve frozen watching a poor game at Chatham; saw a disappointing result for Tonbridge in a match that, in my opinion, should not have started; got turned around en-route by the postponement of Hollands & Blair’s game against Tunbridge Wells and now the abandonment of this match. But what else should you expect of January?
Tonbridge Angels U18 (1) 1 Chapman 39
Merstham (1) 1 Transwest 20
Match abandoned at half-time, frozen pitch
Headcount: 46
Entrance: £1 Senior
Programme: Team Sheet provided
Mileage: 38/5,629
Tonbridge and Merstham Under-18s will have to try again to decide their Lucas Fettes Youth League Cup Quarter Final after the referee called a halt to the game during the half-time break after deciding that the frozen pitch was becoming too dangerous. Whether Mr Friar could have made this decision before a ball was kicked is another argument but when he decided that the game could go ahead it should have been with the viewpoint that it would get to its conclusion.
Jay Stubberfield was able to name a strong side including Sid Sollis, Liam Smith and Tommy Chapman who have all been involved with the senior team this season.
Jack Bray, full of surging runs from the middle of the frost covered field, had two early attempts on goal, a shot and a header, that both cleared the crossbar.
But Merstham were far from at Longmead to make up the numbers and their front three were giving the Angels’ back line plenty to think about. A poor clearance from Tonbridge’s keeper, Lewis Mitchell offered a shooting chance for Sam Johnson, but he tamely lobbed it back to the welcoming arms of Mitchell.
From left back, Rhys Norrington-Davies was also proving an potent attacking outlet for the Surrey side.
After 13 minutes, the Wheeler-esque left foot of Tommy Chapman found Sollis whose shot came back off the right hand post.
The visitors took the lead after 20 minutes when Tonbridge failed to clear their lines and a deft lob from Anwar Transwest left Mitchell helpless.
By this point it was obvious that the frost was taking hold of the pitch; as the players moved in either direction it sounded like a stampede of horses and Merstham’s Johnson trying to get on the end of a cross was only able to stop when he, himself rather than the ball, was in the back of the net.
Just before the half-hour mark, Levy Soulam hit the Tonbridge woodwork and without the sureness of footing another almighty scramble came in the home penalty area before the ball was hacked to safety.
Chapman delivered a perfect corner to the far post from where Smith directed a header wide before Tonbridge equalised with a very good goal. A brilliantly executed crossfield pass from Dominic Welsh found Chapman, who steadied, took it across the face of goal and drove the ball home.
In his comments after the game, Jay Stubberfield said of the goal: “Dom has great vision and is a clever little player; Tommy also took it well. I’ve challenged him to score more goals and after Sunday he now has two in two. Chapman’s delivery from the left was superb tonight.”
This has been, shall we say, a difficult week for the football spectator. I’ve frozen watching a poor game at Chatham; saw a disappointing result for Tonbridge in a match that, in my opinion, should not have started; got turned around en-route by the postponement of Hollands & Blair’s game against Tunbridge Wells and now the abandonment of this match. But what else should you expect of January?
Wednesday, 18 January 2017
Hollands & Blair P Tunbridge Wells P
Wednesday, 18th January 2017 - SCEFL
Hollands & Blair P
Tunbridge Wells P
Wasted mileage: 28/5,581
First wastage mileage of the season. Pretty poor to call the game off after 7 p.m., when it had obviously been in doubt all day.
Hollands & Blair P
Tunbridge Wells P
Wasted mileage: 28/5,581
First wastage mileage of the season. Pretty poor to call the game off after 7 p.m., when it had obviously been in doubt all day.
Tonbridge 0 Burgess Hill Town 0
Match 79/16/1386 - Tuesday, 17th January 2017 - Ryman Premier
Tonbridge (0) 0
Burgess Hill Town (0) 1
Attendance: 256
Entrance: £6 Senior
Programme: £2.50
Mileage: 38/5,553
Match Report
Tonbridge Angels' hopes of breaking into the Ryman Premier play-off places were put on ice on a pitch that, in my opinion, was barely playable. Temperatures throughout the day had risen only a couple of degrees above freezing and first view of the pitch showed a good deal of frost and by the end of the game the mercury had dropped to -4degC.
Of course, the old adage of the pitch is the same for both sides is very true but if you only set out your stall to avoid losing the game, then a difficult pitch plays to your advantage and in their perilous position at the wrong end of the table, nobody can really blame Burgess Hill for their tactics.
Whether this game should have started, or not, Tonbridge created more than enough chances to win the game but a combination of good goalkeeping from Max Huxter and poor finishing denied them.
The Angels created seven good chances during the first half. Alex Akrofi dragged a shot wide of the far post barely a minute after the start and Luke Blewden shot past the same post after six minutes. Huxter made his first fine save when he saved low to his left following a Nick Wheeler free kick that was headed goalwards by Akrofi.
Huxter was next in action on 15 minutes this time tipping a Nathan Elder header onto the crossbar.
The ex-Tonbridge striker Billy Medlock brought the only first half save out of Anthony Di Bernardo when his low, angled drive was turned around the post. From the resultant corner, Anthony Richmond rose to head wide.
Tonbridge created two early second half chances when, from outside of the box, Luke Allen shot straight at Huxter, but perhaps the chance of the match came after 52 minutes when Blewden crossed from the right to the head of Tommy Parkinson who steered his header wide of the far post. It was the type of chance we have seen Parky bury many, many times.
As the pitch became whiter by the minute, the game fairly died on its feet, whilst all of the 256 people watching were struggling to feel theirs.
Sid Sollis came on with 16 minutes remaining and injected a bit of life and might have done better than steer his 83rd minute header straight at Huxter.
Having managed to avoid my third goalless draw of the season on Monday night with a 90th minute goal, this time there was to be no reprieve. The only consolation of the evening was the car heater easing those blocks of ice on the bottom of the legs back to life.
Pictures courtesy of David Couldridge
Tonbridge (0) 0
Burgess Hill Town (0) 1
Attendance: 256
Entrance: £6 Senior
Programme: £2.50
Mileage: 38/5,553
Match Report
Of course, the old adage of the pitch is the same for both sides is very true but if you only set out your stall to avoid losing the game, then a difficult pitch plays to your advantage and in their perilous position at the wrong end of the table, nobody can really blame Burgess Hill for their tactics.
Whether this game should have started, or not, Tonbridge created more than enough chances to win the game but a combination of good goalkeeping from Max Huxter and poor finishing denied them.
The Angels created seven good chances during the first half. Alex Akrofi dragged a shot wide of the far post barely a minute after the start and Luke Blewden shot past the same post after six minutes. Huxter made his first fine save when he saved low to his left following a Nick Wheeler free kick that was headed goalwards by Akrofi.
Huxter was next in action on 15 minutes this time tipping a Nathan Elder header onto the crossbar.
The ex-Tonbridge striker Billy Medlock brought the only first half save out of Anthony Di Bernardo when his low, angled drive was turned around the post. From the resultant corner, Anthony Richmond rose to head wide.
Tonbridge created two early second half chances when, from outside of the box, Luke Allen shot straight at Huxter, but perhaps the chance of the match came after 52 minutes when Blewden crossed from the right to the head of Tommy Parkinson who steered his header wide of the far post. It was the type of chance we have seen Parky bury many, many times.
As the pitch became whiter by the minute, the game fairly died on its feet, whilst all of the 256 people watching were struggling to feel theirs.
Sid Sollis came on with 16 minutes remaining and injected a bit of life and might have done better than steer his 83rd minute header straight at Huxter.
Having managed to avoid my third goalless draw of the season on Monday night with a 90th minute goal, this time there was to be no reprieve. The only consolation of the evening was the car heater easing those blocks of ice on the bottom of the legs back to life.
Monday, 16 January 2017
Chatham Town 0 Faversham Town 1
Match 78/16/1385 - Monday, 16th January 2017 - Ryman South
Chatham Town (0) 0
Faversham Town (0) 1 King 90
Attendance: 179
Entrance: Ticket from abandoned match
Programme: £2
Mileage: 32/5,515
Match Report
In terms of entertainment value, the 27 minutes played in a monsoon in mid-November easily outstripped the 90 of the re-arranged fixture. But just as I was settling for only my third goal-less draw of the season, Faversham's substitute David Blaikie with his first touches of the ball fed a sublime pass through to Liam King who slid the ball past Alex Hyde and into the bottom right hand corner for the visitor's 90th minute winner.
For many seasons, Chatham had a great deal of sympathy within Kent football for being the club that was continually placed in Ryman North and subsequently missing out on the lucrative derby matches enjoyed in the South. Sadly, if the club doesn't start to put together a winning run in the near future, they will have an awful lot of derbies in the Southern Counties East.
Chatham's salvation, they are five points from safety having played two more games than those immediately above them, might come in a fixture list that will bring three of the bottom five to Maidstone Road with visits to three more of the relegation-threatened teams.
Faversham have also had an indifferent season and it is unusual to see Ray Turner's team languishing below mid-table, but they have games in hand and a winning run could see them among the play-off contenders in April.
You would not bet on either scenario ending positively with the quality on display for the most part as both sides set about digging out a much-needed result.
Chatham started reasonably well with Kyron Lightfoot catching the eye but it was all pretty toothless in front of goal where the goals of departed Luke Medley are going to be hard to replace.
Faversham's first sniff at goal came from a Josh Stanford corner that found the head of Jamie Maxted but he steered it wide.
Chatham had a similar chance, with identical result after 28 minutes when a corner from Ryan Flack was headed over by Freeman Rogers.
Reaching the break goal-less was, sadly, a true reflection of the game.
Within a minute of the restart, Chatham's George Benner headed a free kick towards his own goal but was bailed out by a goal-line clearance.
Faversham had the better of the second period. Josh Stanford directed a shot at the goalkeeper and George Monger also brought saves from Alex Hyde.
As the feet slowly turned to ice the goal-less draw looked ever more likely until the timely introduction of Blaikie.
Faversham walked away with the points but there is plenty to play for both clubs between now and the end of April.
Chatham Town (0) 0
Faversham Town (0) 1 King 90
Attendance: 179
Entrance: Ticket from abandoned match
Programme: £2
Mileage: 32/5,515
Match Report
For many seasons, Chatham had a great deal of sympathy within Kent football for being the club that was continually placed in Ryman North and subsequently missing out on the lucrative derby matches enjoyed in the South. Sadly, if the club doesn't start to put together a winning run in the near future, they will have an awful lot of derbies in the Southern Counties East.
Chatham's salvation, they are five points from safety having played two more games than those immediately above them, might come in a fixture list that will bring three of the bottom five to Maidstone Road with visits to three more of the relegation-threatened teams.
Faversham have also had an indifferent season and it is unusual to see Ray Turner's team languishing below mid-table, but they have games in hand and a winning run could see them among the play-off contenders in April.
You would not bet on either scenario ending positively with the quality on display for the most part as both sides set about digging out a much-needed result.
Chatham started reasonably well with Kyron Lightfoot catching the eye but it was all pretty toothless in front of goal where the goals of departed Luke Medley are going to be hard to replace.
Faversham's first sniff at goal came from a Josh Stanford corner that found the head of Jamie Maxted but he steered it wide.
Chatham had a similar chance, with identical result after 28 minutes when a corner from Ryan Flack was headed over by Freeman Rogers.
Reaching the break goal-less was, sadly, a true reflection of the game.
Within a minute of the restart, Chatham's George Benner headed a free kick towards his own goal but was bailed out by a goal-line clearance.
Faversham had the better of the second period. Josh Stanford directed a shot at the goalkeeper and George Monger also brought saves from Alex Hyde.
As the feet slowly turned to ice the goal-less draw looked ever more likely until the timely introduction of Blaikie.
Faversham walked away with the points but there is plenty to play for both clubs between now and the end of April.
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