Sporting Bengal are in the Essex Senior League nowadays. Never a nice area to go to - Mile End. Slade Green folded about 4 years ago and previously mentioned. The Kent League is hoping to have a 20 team league next year so may be taking teams on from further afield (like Whyteleafe). There's talk of Crowborough joining etc...
Good old Sporting Bengal, the whipping boys of the Kent League when Maidstone were there. Where are they now? Does VCD still have Ford as the manager? He was a horrid little man! Also Fisher are the dirtiest team I can recall seeing for many years. Good, I love non league football.
haha no Martin Ford left VCD a few years ago now.
His son Joe is manager of Cray Valley. Think he's only about 23.
Fordy had a brief spell at the Deres a few years ago. He's the manager at Fisher now!
I might pop along to Lordswood this weekend (a two minute walk from me) as they are playing Erith & Belvedere. It costs £7 but should be a good game for the neutral!
They also play VCD on Tuesday too so Lordswood hold the title in their hands.
I'm not that happy with Lordswood at the moment. Deres played them a few months back and drew 3-3, Lordswood played as if their lives depended on it. A couple of weeks ago Lordswood rested their entire first team squad against VCD and VCD won with ease - 9-2!
Haha, to be fair he's a good manager, he's taken them as far as he can. Can see him managing in the Ryman South with Whitstable or Herne Bay next season.
VCD Athletic laid out their stall when Nick Reeves converted a 2nd minute penalty and, 6 minutes later, James Duckworth made it 0-2 at Beckenham Town. On the quarter hour Uche Ibemere added the third then Sherwin Stanley waded in with Vickers 4th in the 22nd minute.
Things quietened down for the rest of the first half which ended 0-4 to Vickers. Mo Conteh got in on the act by scoring Vickers 5th in the 68th minute then the final act, Reeves again duplicating his 2nd minute action with a conversion in the final minute or was it the final act?. In time added at the end Dean Carpenter hit number 7 so that VCD ended up 7-0 winners.
Erith & Belvedere twice had the ball in the net in the first half only for them both to be ruled out for offside away at Whyteleafe. The Leafe's Dean Palmer got his marching orders for two yellow cards early in the second half then Kieron McCann finally broke the stalemate on the hour and put the Deres 1-0 up. Drew Crush then doubled the Deres lead in the 75th minute. Richmond Kissi made it 3-0 with his 90th minute strike them Paul Springett added the 4th in time added on at the end to give the Deres a 4-0 win.
Back from Whyteleafe and a vital 3 points. Was a huge pre match bonus that Whyteleafe had loads of first teamers out and only one player on the bench. Though with a score of 0-0 at half time things weren't looking good, with VCD 4-0 up at Beckenham.
Whyteleafe went down to 10 men after half time and from then on things became simpler - Deres ran out comfortable 4-0 winners. VCD demolished Beckenham 7-0 so with 2 games each remaining the Deres are ahead by 2 points and the goal difference now favours VCD by 2.
Watched bromley for many years in the Ryman one and prem. really enjoyed the football there, the closeness to the pitch, the fact the players feel bad for a loss etc
As expected little joy down at Lordswood yesterday. A missed penalty, lots of possession, but Lordswood defended for their lives - ended a 0-0 draw.
In Crayford VCD beat Corinthian 3-0.
All this means both teams have played 31, both on 73 points, with VCD top on goal difference (+66 VCD, +61 Deres).
This takes us to the last game of the season on Tuesday. Deres are at home to Greenwich Borough. VCD are away to Lordswood. If either side collects more points than the other from those games they'll win the title.
The more likely scenario is that both teams will win, with the target for the Deres to try and beat Greenwich Borough by 5 more than VCD beat Lordswood. Deres have scored 106 to VCD's 97, so equal points and GD would be enough for the Deres. So the mission for E&B on Tuesday will be to try and score a hatfull against third bottom Greenwich Borough (who yesterday lost 4-1 to fourth bottom Fisher).
Worth coming along to Park View Road on Tuesday, will be an eventful night, whatever the ultimate outcome.
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In other developments yesterday, both VCD and E&B secured promotion!
With the season close to ending the 'best runners up' places are becoming clearer. VCD's and Deres' worst case Points Per Game ratio compares well to the other possible runners up in the other Step 4 feeder leagues, and a top 2 place in the PPG league, and therefore promotion, is assured.
Congratulations to all at E&B !! The champagne must be flowing on both sides of PVR - must be very unusual for ground-sharers to both have winning seasons.
Congratulations to all at E&B !! The champagne must be flowing on both sides of PVR - must be very unusual for ground-sharers to both have winning seasons.
*promotion to be officially confirmed, however.
I think May 8th is when the FA will announce the composition of the leagues from Step 1 - Step 5, once all the playoffs and reprieves are dealt with up and down the country.
As for champagne, the lads were absolutely gutted yesterday, going up in second place isn't really cause for celebration at the moment.
Notable stat : the Deres had scored in 68 consecutive league matches before yesterday's game, what a time for the run to end.
Deres game kicked off 15 minutes late due to waiting for a replacement lino to turn up (original lino got stuck in traffic on the A2). So from the off there was the advantage of knowing how VCD were getting on.
A 3-3-4 formation was played for the whole game!
At half time in the VCD game at Lordswood it was 0-0 there, with the Deres 3-0 up and half an hour gone against Greenwich Borough at PVR. 4-0 at half time. The in-play the table was Deres 76pts (+65gd), VCD 74pts (+66gd).
About an hour into the VCD game, news came in on Twitter that VCD had been awarded a penalty and Lordswood were down to 10 men. A minute later and a tweet confirmed the penalty missed! And within moments the Deres were 7-0 up and coasting with Greenwich also reduced to 10 men - Deres 76pts (+68gd), VCD 74pts (+66gd) - effectively meaning VCD had to get a win and see a 3 goal swing in the goal difference.
80 minutes gone and news came in that VCD had drawn 0-0.
The title was won!
Greenwich nicked a consolation goal at the end to make it 7-1, so the final table is Deres 76pts (+67gd), VCD 74pts (+66gd).
In all the Deres had time to hit the woodwork twice, miss a penalty and numberous other chances. The Greenwich keeper also made some great saves.
The Kent League trophy began the evening at Lordswood but with likelihood of it being needed elsewhere it departed midway through the second half and arrived at PVR with the League chairman about 20 minutes after the final whistle at PVR.
Comments
They also play VCD on Tuesday too so Lordswood hold the title in their hands.
VCD Athletic laid out their stall when Nick Reeves converted a 2nd minute penalty and, 6 minutes later, James Duckworth made it 0-2 at Beckenham Town. On the quarter hour Uche Ibemere added the third then Sherwin Stanley waded in with Vickers 4th in the 22nd minute.
Things quietened down for the rest of the first half which ended 0-4 to Vickers. Mo Conteh got in on the act by scoring Vickers 5th in the 68th minute then the final act, Reeves again duplicating his 2nd minute action with a conversion in the final minute or was it the final act?. In time added at the end Dean Carpenter hit number 7 so that VCD ended up 7-0 winners.
Erith & Belvedere twice had the ball in the net in the first half only for them both to be ruled out for offside away at Whyteleafe. The Leafe's Dean Palmer got his marching orders for two yellow cards early in the second half then Kieron McCann finally broke the stalemate on the hour and put the Deres 1-0 up. Drew Crush then doubled the Deres lead in the 75th minute. Richmond Kissi made it 3-0 with his 90th minute strike them Paul Springett added the 4th in time added on at the end to give the Deres a 4-0 win.
Whyteleafe went down to 10 men after half time and from then on things became simpler - Deres ran out comfortable 4-0 winners. VCD demolished Beckenham 7-0 so with 2 games each remaining the Deres are ahead by 2 points and the goal difference now favours VCD by 2.
Deres are away to third place chasing Lordswood. Very rarely get much joy down there.
VCD are at home to third place chasing Corinthian.
A win for the Deres and a draw or defeat for VCD would secure the title for the Deres today. Anything else and it'll go to the final day.
In Crayford VCD beat Corinthian 3-0.
All this means both teams have played 31, both on 73 points, with VCD top on goal difference (+66 VCD, +61 Deres).
This takes us to the last game of the season on Tuesday. Deres are at home to Greenwich Borough. VCD are away to Lordswood. If either side collects more points than the other from those games they'll win the title.
The more likely scenario is that both teams will win, with the target for the Deres to try and beat Greenwich Borough by 5 more than VCD beat Lordswood. Deres have scored 106 to VCD's 97, so equal points and GD would be enough for the Deres. So the mission for E&B on Tuesday will be to try and score a hatfull against third bottom Greenwich Borough (who yesterday lost 4-1 to fourth bottom Fisher).
Worth coming along to Park View Road on Tuesday, will be an eventful night, whatever the ultimate outcome.
====
In other developments yesterday, both VCD and E&B secured promotion!
With the season close to ending the 'best runners up' places are becoming clearer. VCD's and Deres' worst case Points Per Game ratio compares well to the other possible runners up in the other Step 4 feeder leagues, and a top 2 place in the PPG league, and therefore promotion, is assured.
If you like football and you 'like' spreadsheets - check this link out for how this all comes together - the Deres/VCD PPG compared to rivals is confirmed in cell X37.
I think May 8th is when the FA will announce the composition of the leagues from Step 1 - Step 5, once all the playoffs and reprieves are dealt with up and down the country.
As for champagne, the lads were absolutely gutted yesterday, going up in second place isn't really cause for celebration at the moment.
Notable stat : the Deres had scored in 68 consecutive league matches before yesterday's game, what a time for the run to end.
Deres game kicked off 15 minutes late due to waiting for a replacement lino to turn up (original lino got stuck in traffic on the A2). So from the off there was the advantage of knowing how VCD were getting on.
A 3-3-4 formation was played for the whole game!
At half time in the VCD game at Lordswood it was 0-0 there, with the Deres 3-0 up and half an hour gone against Greenwich Borough at PVR. 4-0 at half time. The in-play the table was Deres 76pts (+65gd), VCD 74pts (+66gd).
About an hour into the VCD game, news came in on Twitter that VCD had been awarded a penalty and Lordswood were down to 10 men. A minute later and a tweet confirmed the penalty missed! And within moments the Deres were 7-0 up and coasting with Greenwich also reduced to 10 men - Deres 76pts (+68gd), VCD 74pts (+66gd) - effectively meaning VCD had to get a win and see a 3 goal swing in the goal difference.
80 minutes gone and news came in that VCD had drawn 0-0.
The title was won!
Greenwich nicked a consolation goal at the end to make it 7-1, so the final table is Deres 76pts (+67gd), VCD 74pts (+66gd).
In all the Deres had time to hit the woodwork twice, miss a penalty and numberous other chances. The Greenwich keeper also made some great saves.
The Kent League trophy began the evening at Lordswood but with likelihood of it being needed elsewhere it departed midway through the second half and arrived at PVR with the League chairman about 20 minutes after the final whistle at PVR.
A great night at PVR and great scenes.