Beckenham Town 4-1 Chichester City - If we're around the play-offs at the end of the season, we'll be very happy, says Beckenham Town assistant manager Phil Wilson

Beckenham Town 4 – 1 Chichester City
Location	Eden Park Avenue, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3JL
Kickoff	06/12/2022 19:45

BECKENHAM TOWN  4-1  CHICHESTER CITY
Isthmian League South East Division
Tuesday 6 December 2022
Stephen McCartney reports from Eden Park Avenue

BECKENHAM TOWN assistant manager Phil Wilson says his side are now finding their feet after sixteen games into their maiden Isthmian League South East Division campaign.

Jason Huntley’s men rose four places into second-place with 32 points from 16 games – three points behind Ramsgate who visit Eden Park Avenue on Saturday (14:00) - after putting in an impressive performance to beat Chichester City.

Miles Rutherford’s men were hit by a two-goal blitz inside the opening 13 minutes as Beckenham Town started the game on the front foot with right-back Harvey Brand driving in his fifth goal of the season and emergency centre-half Danny Waldren heading in from a corner.

Attacking midfielder Jamarie Brissett notched his fifth goal of the campaign in the second half, before left-winger Josh Clack found the top far corner from 35-yards to notch his seventh goal of the season to pull a goal back for Chichester City, before Steven Townsend slotted in his fifth goal with 11 minutes remaining.

“I think that’s it, a good night’s work.  We started very well again and that start sets the tone for the rest of the game and allowed us to control the game,” said Wilson, whose side have now won their last three league outings against three Sussex sides, beating Burgess Hill Town (2-1) and East Grinstead Town (2-0) and now Chichester City here tonight.

“I think we could’ve done it a little bit better at times but that’s nit-picking because it was a good performance all around.  Four goals as well, it’s good, I’m happy.”

When asked about his side’s fast start, Wilson replied: “Not any differently to how we want to start.  I think when we play well we set the tone and we’ve been doing that for the last few games to be fair and if we don’t start well it leads us to be a bit sloppy.

“It’s a long journey (from Chichester to Beckenham) and we were victims of it the other week (losing 4-1) at Littlehampton and really that’s a blip in what’s been a really good run of games.”

Beckenham Town were without their 18-goal talisman striker Louie Theophanous through work commitments so the towering Alfie Bloomfield slotted in the number nine central striker role.

“I think there have been times this season, probably prior to November, we were maybe a little bit too reliant on Louie, so we worked hard to making sure other boys were getting into play as well.

“Alfie gives us something a little bit different up there. He works harder than Louie and he occupies the two centre-halves well with his running effort and he also more naturally wants to bring more people into play whereas Louie plays off the shoulder.  Obviously, you want Louie in your team every week but if we can play like that without him, then we’re happy.”

The home side created their first chance after only 55 seconds when Waldren pinged a sublime first time pass over the top of Chichester City’s centre-half Connor Cody to play in Townsend, who had too much time unmarked inside the box and visiting goalkeeper Kieran Magee used his legs to make the save.

“The worst thing you can do is let Steve Townsend think,” joked Wilson.

“He had too much time to do that at that point. He said, ‘he had so much time, he wondered if he was offside to start with’.  It was a good save but I expected Steve to score from there.”

However, Beckenham Town’s high-tempo start was rewarded with them taking the lead with two minutes and 38 seconds on the clock.

Waldren played the ball out to Brand, who took a touch and drove a right-footed angled drive across the keeper and into the bottom far corner to score from 25-yards.

Wilson said: “We rested Rob Carter today.  We’ve only got Rob and Mudiaga (Wanogha) as centre-halves but we know Danny Waldren can always do a job there and the one thing you get with Dan playing at the back is that he’s got a good range of passing. He knows Harvey makes those forward runs and it was a great finish from Harvey as well from the edge of the box.”

Chichester City went close to pulling a goal back in the ninth minute when left-back Robert Hutchings whipped in a free-kick with his left-foot from the right and up came centre-half Ben Pashley to glance his header over Nick Blue’s crossbar.

Beckenham Town’s left-back Archie Johnson made a brave last-ditch block tackle to prevent Ethan Prichard pulling the trigger at the far post and the home side swiftly hit Chichester City on the counter-attack.

Freddie Nyhus released Townsend down the left and the left-winger cut onto his right-foot and his curler was tipped around the far post by Magee.

“It was a good finish from Steve that one and it was a good save from the keeper. He got down well.  I didn’t see the save but I heard the glove so it was definitely a corner,” added the former Dulwich Hamlet goalkeeper.

Beckenham Town deservedly doubled their lead from the resulting corner, the goal timed at 12:00.

George Goodwin swung the ball in from the right and up came Waldren to glance his header over a crowd of players to find the far corner of the net.

“We were moaning on the side because we wanted to do a short corner but they didn’t fancy it and they shut us up.  I don’t mind if they go against us and score,” admitted Wilson.

“It was a good header from Danny. He’s a threat in those areas and we’ve got a few boys now who can put a good delivery in and George didn’t let us down on that front.”

Chichester City were an impressive side and centre-half Connor Cody is a rare player at this level as he travelled with the ball at his feet some 30-yards on a couple of occasions and his team-mates often rotated in midfield and up front, which would have been a scouts nightmare as several players played in different positions.  All that was missing was clinical finishing, especially as three balls ended up in the gardens at the back of the stadium during the second half.

“They are a good team. We had them watched and we knew they move the ball about well and I thought their deliveries were excellent and I think if they were a bit more cut-throat in the box, they might’ve caused us a little bit of trouble,” said Wilson.

“When they did get on top they put in lots of good crosses in and I think at times we were sitting a little bit deep when we were defending, off the ball.  We’re happy for the opposition to have the ball at times. We just need to make sure we can press the midfield better in the second half and I don’t think they got in as much.

“Their number five (Connor Cody) was very good at bringing the ball out and he caused a lot of problems.”

Right-back Ryan Davidson cut open Beckenham’s centre-half Mudiaga Wanogha with a sublime through ball along the deck for striker Tom Chalaye, who poked his shot past the far post as Blue came off his line to narrow the angle.

Adam Biss floated in a cross from the second phase of his own corner into the box where Chalaye rose to send his free header over the crossbar in the 17^th minute.

This was to spark the Sussex side onto the front foot and many crosses came into the Beckenham Town penalty area but Chalaye was well marshalled by Wanogha and Waldren and Blue wasn’t troubled again in the first half.

Beckenham Town dealt with Chichester’s fourth corner (of eight) and Davidson recycled the ball back into the box but Chalaye found a pocket of space at the near post to poke his shot past the right-hand post – before winger Prichard got in behind Brand to drive his shot past the foot of the near post after another delivery into the box.

With the home side in a two-goal lead at the break, Wilson revealed the half-time team-talk was “positive.”

“The start allowed us to control the tempo of the game.  We wanted us to get on the ball a little bit more. We didn’t press as much in the second half because we didn’t need to chase to get the ball down so much.

“We asked Alfie Bloomfield to sit in on the deepest midfielder a little bit more to stop them playing through the middle and they weren’t causing us much trouble with the longer balls, as long as we kept our shape.

“That said, 5-10 minutes into the second-half it did turn into a bit of a basketball match.  I don’t think we were clearing with much quality and probably the same for them.  The chances were coming because people were being pulled out of position because it was too frantic. 

“I’m glad, as the half went on, we did get control of it, probably after our third goal.”

Beckenham Town took 59 seconds to create their first opening of the second half when the impressive Brissett drove at the Chichester defence before cracking a left-footed shot screaming past the left-hand post from 25-yards.

Beckenham Town missed a decent chance shortly afterwards when Johnson clipped a lovely ball from left-back down the channel to put Nyhus through on goal but he lacked composure and his shot sailed past the top of the near post as goalkeeper Magee came off his line to narrow the angle in a one-v-one situation.

Wilson said: “I think he’s feet are too small to try those dinks. One thing we asked him to do at half-time was to make those deeper runs from midfield. He’s had a good run of games where he’s found a bit of form Freddie, so add a few more goals to it, he’s really getting on again.”

Beckenham’s third corner (of six) of the night was swung in from the right by Nyhus and striker Alfie Bloomfield’s back-heal was instinctively kept out by Magee at his near post.

“It was a good save. It was quite a reaction save.  It wasn’t straight at him and it bobbled around a little bit.  I think they had quite a few players around the ball. If I was in their dressing room I would want us clearing that,” added Wilson.

Chichester City went close to scoring in the 18^th minute of the second half when Chalaye got in behind Johnson and had space down the right to drill in a low cross towards the far post towards unmarked substitute midfielder Oliver Munt, who took a touch before hitting a shot over the top of the near post.

“Even their goal has come from outside the box.  We’re limiting teams to chances like that then we’re happy.  Perhaps sometimes we need to get out of the ball a little bit quicker but if we’re reducing teams to chances from that distance, then I’m happy,” said Wilson.

Beckenham Town killed the game off, however, by scoring their third goal of the night with 21 minutes and 22 seconds on the clock.

Johnson played the ball into Nyhus and Townsend’s sublime through ball split open Davidson to play Brissett in Magee got something to the driven shot but couldn’t prevent the ball nestling into the back of the net.

“To be fair to Magic (Brissett’s nickname), when he gets in those positions, you back him to score.  I thought he was excellent again today, really controls the tempo of the game for us and deserved his goal,” added Wilson.

“It’s good now because we were probably relying on Louie (Theophanous) too much at the start of the season but now we’ve got some of our attacking players chipping in with goals as well.

“The fitter Steve Townsend is getting, he’s looking more dangerous again, back to the form we’re kind of used to and Tyler Anderson is getting himself back to fitness so when he’s firing on all cylinders, he’ll be one chipping in with goals too.”

Chichester City were a good side and their efforts were rewarded with a goal coming with 23 minutes and 19 seconds on the clock.

Munt played a low ball in from the right, a centrally positioned Chalaye laid the ball back to an unmarked Clack, who unleashed a right-footed drive sailing into the top far corner from 35-yards out, leaving Blue rooted to the spot.

Wilson said: “It was a great finish.  My moan in it would be possibly Harvey Brand needs to get out a little bit quicker and probably a little bit of a hangover after just having scored and being a little bit lackadaisical at the back in getting out there quicker.

“I think where they haven’t caused us much threat from there, we’ve given them that opportunity to have that strike and he couldn’t have got that any more in that top corner.”

Beckenham Town scored their fourth goal of the night with 33 minutes and 35 seconds on the clock.

Bloomfield stretched out his long leg after suffering a knock during the build-up and went down in a bid to receive treatment but Beckenham Town played on.

Substitute central midfielder Freddie Cray split open the Chichester City defence with a sublime 25-yard diagonal pass to play in Townsend, who took several touches inside the box and buried his shot past he advancing keeper.

“I was worried he had taken too many touches but when he did get his shot off, it was a good finish,” said Wilson.

“Freddie Cray has come in the last couple of weeks and I thought he did well when he came off the bench.  That sort of passing is what he brings to the team and actually defensively when we need to keep our shape you’ve got little Freddie Nyhus in there as well and they sat and defended well in that last bit of the second half as well.”

Bloomfield was replaced by Nick Curran for the final 10 minutes and Curran showed his versatility by slotting in behind fellow substitute, striker Bradley Goldberg.

Curran flicked the ball on to play Townsend through on goal and Magee got finger tips to the shot to deny the winger in a one-on-one situation again.

Wilson said: “I probably don’t think it was Bradley Goldberg’s best 20 minute cameo he’s given us but he’s been about football for a long time so he knows how to run games down and he’s always a threat in and around the box as well.

“Brad’s a great addition, he’s experienced and he’s not always available but we know that and it’s good to have him there.”

Blue switched off and kicked the ball straight at a pressing Chalaye but Johnson capped off a solid performance to get his goalkeeper out of a hole inside their own penalty area to cut across the Chichester striker to clear the ball away, as the closing stages was an end-to-end affair between two impressive sides.

Attention now turns to the mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash against Steve Lovell’s side on Saturday.

Beckenham Town are joined in the play-offs with Chatham Town (30 points from 15 games) Whitehawk (29 points from 15 games) and Cray Valley (29 points from 16 games).

Ashford United slip down a place into sixth with 29 points from 16 games, while Chichester City – who drew 1-1 against Tommy Warrilow’s men at Homelands Stadium at the weekend – remain in ninth-place in the table with 22 points from 16 games.

“We’re just a much more organised unit. I think we’re finding our feet now in this league and the boys are feeling that confidence as well,” said Wilson.

“It should be a good game, a top-of-the-table clash and makes it exciting for Saturday.

“I mean, at this point, it’s nice to be up there but it doesn’t mean anything, we’re not halfway through the season yet.  Would we have taken this now? Yes, absolutely.  There’s still a long way to go so we’ll keep going and if we’re around the play-offs at the end of the season, we’ll be very happy.

“I expect Ramsgate to come here full of confidence and I think you’ll have two teams that are in form. Both teams are difficult to beat.  Steve Lovell likes his teams to play football so I expect them to come and play football here. I don’t think they’ll change how they play for us.

“Ramsgate have been one of the favourites all season. They were one of the fancied ones at the start of the season. I expect them to come at us, an exciting game, end-to-end.”

With Beckenham Town working with a lower budget than Ramsgate, Chatham Town, Cray Valley and Ashford United (sorry not aware what kind of budget Whitehawk have being from Sussex), last season’s Combined Counties League Premier Division South champions are enjoying a great start of their maiden campaign in the eighth tier of English football.

Wilson said: “At the start of the season if you would’ve said to us at Christmas we’d be in and around the play-offs, if we can hold where we are at Christmas, then it would be brilliant.

“I mean to say the position in the league is secondary to the performances at the moment.  I think the performances are the most important.

“As long as you’re in and around the crowd come January-February then that’s when you can kick on and have a think about what the end of the season might bring for us.”

Another big game for Beckenham Town, then?

Wilson said: “It’s good. That’s a credit to the team. They make these games big games and when you’re at the right end of the table they’re big games.  It’s much nicer when you’re at the top end playing in these big games, that’s a credit to the boys and their effort throughout the season.

“We’ve kept the majority of the team from last year but it’s just that togetherness that we’ve had for the last couple of years.  That team spirt is hard to break down.”

Beckenham Town winning back-to-back titles/promotion into the Isthmian League Premier Division, then?

“I’m not even talking about that yet!  If we’re there or there abouts come the end of the season, I’ll be a happy man,” came Wilson’s expected response.

Beckenham Town: Nick Blue, Harvey Brand, Archie Johnson, George Goodwin (Freddie Cray 71), Mudiaga Wanogha, Danny Waldren, Steven Townsend, Freddie Nyhus, Alfie Bloomfield (Nick Curran 80), Jamarie Brissett, Tyler Anderson (Bradley Goldberg 70).
Subs: Stefan Cox, Jamie Brown

Goals: Harvey Brand 3, Danny Waldren 13, Jamarie Brissett 67, Steven Townsend 79

Booked: Steven Townsend 54

Chichester City: Kieran Magee, Ryan Davidson, Robert Hutchings, Jamie Horncastle (Joe Clarke 73), Connor Cody, Ben Pashley, Kaleem Haitham (Oliver Munt 59), Adam Biss (Emmett Dunn 58), Tom Chalaye, Josh Clack, Ethan Prichard.
Subs: Isaac Bello, Joe Moore

Goal: Josh Clack 69

Attendance: 126
Referee: Mr Howard Collins
Assistants: Mr Dani Mansour & Mr Robert Alderton