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ANDREW GIDLEY’S WEEKLY ROUNDUP

SATURDAY, 16th September

Abraham Opuku wasted little time in getting off the mark this season!

The Peckham Town striker, last season’s Sharpshooter of the Year winner with 45 goals, made his first appearance of the new campaign, and started with a hat-trick in the 6-0 win over Lydd Town Reserves. Opuku scored four twice against Lydd last season, and hit seven hat-tricks spanning August to April, Brian Morgan’s team finishing on the wrong end of a third successive heavy defeat against the South London club. Ali Amisu hit two more, taking him to eight for the season.

Kennington are another free-scoring team, and moved second following their 5-3 win at Metrogas. Tom Scorer hit two, with top scorer Carlum McLeod, Joe Fisher and Dale Davis getting the others. Jake Williams scored twice as Stansfeld (O&B) won 2-1 at Farnborough OBG to go third.

Fourth placed Greenways drew 0-0 at home to Staplehurst Monarchs United who hailed it as “a great performance from the 11 who turned up.” Ross Morley scored twice for the second week running as Tudor Sports upset morning leaders Bexley 3-1. Ashley Cameron put them in front early on, before Morley completed his double in the space of 10 minutes around the hour mark.
He fired home from the edge of the box with a precise left footed finish, before converting a penalty after being brought down. Bexley substitute Sam Fullilove pulled one back with 10 minutes left – and also missed a great chance of a second before the end.

Lewis James netted for Lewisham Athletic in their 1-1 home draw against Fleetdown. Tony Audino netted for the Dartford side who are still coming to terms with a serious injury suffered by Tom Eyres against Bexley the week before. Manager Martin McCarthy said: “It was terrible – he has a dislocated knee and fractured ankle.”

New Romney drew 0-0 against Borden Village who finished with eight men. Assistant Manager Paul Egan said: “We are becoming a team that seem to be frustrating other teams and being hard to break down. “We just need to find some luck, having shots cleared off the line, hitting post and crossbars. “I’m sure it will come.”

Division 1 Central & East top-two Kings Hill and Cuxton 91 both won. Daniel Melvin scored twice as Kings Hill beat Deal Sports 3-0, while Matt Gething’s hat-trick paved the way for Cuxton’s 4-0 win over K Sports Reserves, making it 15 without reply in their last three games.

James Paull’s winner earned Old Bromleians their 1-0 win over Division 1 West top side Club Langley.

Six-goal Reece Gillies was the pick of the scorers as Rochester City claimed their second double figure win of the season in Division 2 Central & East, 16-0 over Larkfield and New Hythe Wanderers. Adam Hill hit five and Connor Linton four.

George Harris got two as Division 2 West leaders Sydenham Sports made it four wins out of four with a 4-0 win at Nomads.

Deal Sports Reserves, CC Sport, Ashford FC and AFC Ashford Athletic all progressed in the Kent Reliance Junior Cup.

Damian Abel was another six-goal man in Hawkinge Town’s 12-1 NRG Gym ‘Bill Manklow’ Inter-Regional Challenge Cup win over Herne Bay Reserves. Rolvenden and Long Lane are also through while AFC Bexley went through on 4-3 in penalties in the NRG Gym ‘Barry Bundock’ West Challenge Shield finish in a tie which ended 3-3 after-extra-time against South East Athletic.

GALLERY 2017-2018

The Gallery pages return for the 2017-18.

League Photographer, Julie Hoare, went to Woodnesborough on Saturday. This was almost a family fun day with an oldies v youngies match, lots of families attending, a big marquee and culminated with Barry Bright, former FA Vice Chairman, cutting the ribbon on their new pavilion extension. The Club well supported by a lot of people community. They also have a smaller 3G pitch at the side of the pavilion which is used for their youth sides and training. They have a defibrillator in place which can be used by the village too. They intend to keep going and improve their car park and enlarge their changing rooms.

During the afternoon Julie saw the Kent Reliance Junior Cup Group A tie when Woodnesborough hosted AFC Ashford Athletic in an all County league encounter> At full-time the score was 2-2 with the visitors gaining the edge during extra time, running out winners 4-2.

To view the gallery click here

OCTOBER FIXTURES

League and Cup fixtures for October have now been released, the full list can be downloaded by clicking here

The September League and Cup fixture list is still available and can be downloaded by clicking here

KCL-TV CHANNEL

With the help of @MikeT_football we have launched The KCL_TV channel page has returned for the 2017-18 season courtesy of @MikeT_football, the page features video highlights of Kent County League teams in action which you can watch on your PC, tablet or smartphone.

On Saturday Mike covered the Premier Division match between Stansfeld (Oxford & Bermondsey) and Tudor Sports, Stansfeld edged the contest 3-2.

To visit the page and view the video click here

NEW COMPETITIONS FOR 2017-18

The Kent County League is delighted to announce it will be adding a Veterans Division for the coming season. In addition the League will be undertaking the administration of the historic Hospitals Cup competition.

Building on our partnership with the Kent FA discussions were held with them and a number of teams keen to play Veterans football. A meeting was held with those interested and nine teams have signed up to take part in the inaugural division.

Lee Suter, Senior Football Development Officer at the Kent FA commented “We have seen a great interest and growth in veteran’s football with more and more people wanting to remain active within the game but in an appropriate and flexible environment. Veterans football offers this to over 35’s including those transitioning from the more conventional setting of 11v11 football or those wishing to return to the game.

I am delighted one of our flagship leagues in Kent has the foresight and desire to offer this provision within their already successful structure. This is a really exciting project and I am looking forward to seeing it grow and flourish”.

The Hospitals Charity Cup Competition has a history going back to 1922 and includes teams from both the Kent County Football League and the Southern Counties East Football League.

Cyril Windiate, League Chairman, commented on these two additions “The Kent County League are delighted to announce they are taking over the administration of two established competitions thus enabling them to continue into the future.

Both competitions compliment the ethos of the League with the Hospitals Charity Cup now about to enter it’s ninety sixth season. It has been instrumental in providing significant donations to many worthwhile causes and only recently presented a cheque for £1,700 to the Kent Air Ambulance, a record for the competitions.

The Veterans League will complement the extremely popular Kent Veterans Cup and allow competitive football to flourish for players that may otherwise be lost to the game”.

KCL-TV CHANNEL

With the help of @MikeT_football we have launched the KCL_TV channel page which features video highlights of Kent County League teams in action. Watch on your PC, tablet or smartphone.

Latest updates include the Welling park v Crayford Arrows from Division 2 West, the Premier Division game between Kennington and Punjab United and in Division Three West, Sydenham Sports v HFSP & Ten-En-Be, see Sydenham score their 100th league goal in the season.

To visit the page and view the video click here

REFEREES ONLINE APPLICATION 2017-2018

The online application form for Match Officials for the 2017-18 season is now open, please click here to complete and submit.

BECOME A KENT REFEREE!

The Kent FA are holding a number of ‘Get into Refereeing’ Workshops from May to August 2017 at venues across the County. In addition the Kent FA are looking to encourage those players approaching the end of their careers to take up the whistle and are offering a special discount on the referee course fees, which could be as low as £50.00!

For further information email the Kent FA, Referee Development Officer, Nick Dunn by clicking here

SITUATIONS VACANT

Do you need new players or volunteers? The latest vacancies are listed below, for full details click here

STAPLEHURST MONARCHS UNITED – Urgently require an ambitious Coach (FA Level 2 minimum).

LARKFIELD & NEW HYTHE WANDERERS FC – In Division 2 Central & East are urgently looking for a new goalkeeper.

BELVEDERE FC – Are looking to add more players to their squad for the 2017/18 season, especially those whose preference is to play in defence and on the wing.

HILDENBOROUGH ATHLETIC FC – Are looking for good standard players for the new season.

METROGAS FC – Are looking for a new reserve team manager for the 2017/18 season. Also, they are looking for new players to strengthen their Premier Division and Division 2 West sides.

AEI SPORTS FC – (Division 3 Central/East) are looking for a couple of players to complete their squad for the 2017-18 Season, must be committed to training and weekly fixtures.

K SPORTS FC (Sunday) – Are looking to build on last season’s Runners Up finish in the M&MKSFL Premier Division – we are always looking for quality players to improve the squad

OTFORD UNITED FC – A well established football club are urgently seeking experienced players and young talent for the 1st Team in which will playing in the Kent County Premier Division.

PARKWOOD RANGERS FC – Are seeking new players for the coming season. We play out of Bexley Park S&SC.

STEP UP SPORTS CONSULTANCY

If you are looking for funding to improve facilities or for equipment, activities or coaching then Step Up Sports Consultancy may be able to assist. Annette Buswell and George Davis have extensive experience of Project Management and Fundraising and George has experience of running a club in Kent County League. To contact them to see if they can help click here for further details.

RELEASE THE PRESSURE

“Release the Pressure” is a new Kent campaign which aims to reduce the number of suicides by encouraging men feeling under pressure to seek help.

In Kent, suicide is the leading killer of men under 45; in 2014, there were 163 registered suicides of which 128 (79%) were men. The rate of suicide in the county is also higher than the national average. For more information click here

Tommy Sampson the League’s “Tackling Mental Health” campaign Ambassador has been speaking to KMFM of his own mental health issues and he urges all those with problems to seek help using the helpline number 0800 107 0160. Listen to the full interview with Tommy

The Kent County League Supports

SWEARING – Let’s Tackle It!

The Kent County League is proud to support the Kent FA Youth Council’s ‘SWEARING – Let’s Tackle It’ campaign. Supported by members of Kent FA staff, the Youth Council collaborated with Fixers UK, a charity which supports young people across the UK to take action and change things for the better, to orchestrate a campaign tackling foul and abusive language in the game. From initial concept development to the execution of filming a promotional video, the Kent FA Youth Council has directed the campaign to help eliminate and raise awareness of the negative impact of bad language in football. The Kent County League looks forward to offering our support for this initiative to combat foul and abusive language in the game, as we believe for football in the county to continue to grow in a positive way, such behaviour needs to be tackled. The Kent County League are committed to creating safe and inclusive football environments for everyone and as a result fully support the Kent FA Youth Council for bringing this issue to the forefront of grass roots football in Kent. You can watch the Youth Council’s video below.