Eltham Palace 3-1 APM Contrast - San Siro to Green Court Road is a drop for Wright - Terry Naden

ELTHAM PALACE  3-1  APM CONTRAST
Haart of Kent County League Premier Division
Saturday 5^th May 2012
Stephen McCartney reports from Green Court Road

ELTHAM PALACE manager Terry Naden says he wants to sign younger players if they are to become a Kent Invicta League club next season.

The Crockenhill based club completed their Haart of Kent County League Premier Division campaign in third-place in the table after they comfortably defeated a poor APM Contrast side at Green Court Road, just seven days after losing to the same side by the same score.

Striker Lee Jull finished the campaign on a high note with two goals to give Eltham Palace a two-goal lead, before the Aylesford based visitors’ grabbed a goal back seven minutes before the break when defender Paul Atkins finished off a sweeping breakaway goal with an exquisite chip.

Eltham Palace sealed the win inside injury time when goalkeeper-turned-forward Ben Smith came off the bench and slotted home inside time added on at the end of the game.

Naden, 32, was pleased with the victory, by saying, “Really pleased because we’ve struggled, to be fair, since Christmas, so it’s just nice to get a win.   It doesn’t really do a lot in terms of the league table so I’m not overly concerned about the result so it was just nice to get a win.”

APM Contrast manager, Kris Browning, 37, was a disappointed figure afterwards.

“Well, I thought the first half was a bad showing on our part really,” he admitted.

“After the season we’ve had, which ain’t been a bad season at half-time being 2-1 down, I wasn’t pleased with our first half performance.

“I thought second half we came out and I thought we did very well.  We got ourselves back, a foot-hold in the game and I think we were very unlucky not to come away with at least a draw today.”

Both teams fielded players who have played at a much higher level of football, who have dropped down to Kent County League level to enjoy playing football on a purely amateur basis.

The biggest name on the pitch was playing in the heart of midfield for Eltham Palace, Jermaine Wright, 36, the cousin of former Arsenal striker Ian Wright, who has turned out for the likes of Millwall, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Crewe Alexandra, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Southampton, Blackpool, before dropping down into non-league football with Croydon Athletic and Lewes.

Wright is the only player who now turns out in the Kent County League who has played a UEFA Cup tie at the San Siro, when he played for Ipswich Town in a 4-1 defeat against Inter Milan back in December 2001.

Naden explained why a player who was playing League Football at Blackpool as recently as 2009 has dropped down to the lower reaches of English football.

He said: “Jermaine came down with us, it’s his first year with us.  He was playing with Lewes up until last year.  Before that he was playing at the highest level. He was with the Ipswich side that went into Europe with George Burley. He played at the San Siro so San Siro to Green Court Road is a bit of a drop for him, but he’s done really well.

“He’s best pals with my number two (assistant manager, Paul Mann) and he always said when he hung up his boots playing properly he would come down and help us out.

“He just gives us that little bit of quality in midfield. He keeps the ball well for us, but the problem is with all of those names (who have played at a higher level), I’m getting those names on the way down.   We as a club need a few more coming in that are hungry for success and want to push on.  We’re a bunch of pals ultimately and people come to us because they enjoy playing for us.  It’s a reasonable set-up down here and we try to do things as properly as we can.

“We’ve got players but we’ve got players going the wrong way.  If I’m honest we need players, a few more younger players coming up, but all of those players have been superb for us this year and we need to add another two or three of that quality if we are to be competitive next year.”

There were some other familiar names in the Eltham Palace side, with Marc Meridian (Thamesmead Town), Dean Kearley (Thamesmead Town), Aran Hayrettin (Erith Town), and substitute Scott Lewis (Slade Green) turning out.

APM Contrast, who finished their campaign in sixth-place, also fielded a couple of high-profile names.  Skipper, Graham Porter, 37, turned out in the Conference for Gravesend & Northfleet and Margate, while former Ashford Town stalwart Ian Ross came off the bench to play the final fifteen minutes.

Browning was also quick to praise the commitment shown from Porter.

He said:  “The experience he’s got and the appetite for the game he’s got is superb.

“To have him at the club is just a joy. He never loses it.  He’s so composed.  It’s very hard for players to play at that level to step down because there’s not a lot of time that they’re used to in Conference football so you get the odd studs down the calf’s and everything else, but he’s adapted really well.  He’s been a godsend to us really and one of the reasons we’ve got a good defensive record.”

And Ross harbours a coaching role at the club next season.

Browning added: “He joined us a couple of seasons ago.  He will be stepping up now into the first team management team as first team coach. His experience as well from his Wimbledon days and his Ashford days is going to be invaluable, so we’re slowly, slowly, but surely building a little side, club together.”

APM Contrast had the first chance of the game after just 65 seconds, but Luke Wallond (who turned out for Kent League sides Tunbridge Wells and Lordswood) struck a speculative right-footed drive from 35-yards, which was well wide of the target.

But Eltham Palace were more clinical with their first chance as they opened the scoring inside the opening ten minutes.

Playing three men up front, left-sided striker Lee Sugden, played a fine ball inside to central striker Jull, who turned and picked his spot with a right-footed drive from 25-yards, which gave visiting keeper Dean Fincham no chance.

Manager Naden said: “He took it really well. He hasn’t scored many goals so it was good for him. He got two today and it’s good for him to get a couple of goals under his belt. 

“That’s been our trouble all season. We don’t score enough goals.  We’re not clinical.  We created some other good chances as well but we just don’t take them and that’s been the story of our season.”

Browning added: “We were slow out of the blocks.  It’s always a difficult place to come.  The pitch is never the best and we’re 2-0 down, which didn’t help matters, but where most teams may have folded last game of the season we stuck at it.”

APM Contrast missed a decent chance from a set-piece when Ben White sent a towering header over after Jimmy Matthews – who was an attacking threat early on – swung in a corner from the right flank.

The home side should have increased their lead in the 15^th minute when Wright swept the ball forward to release Robert Taylor down the right channel and he played in a cross towards the far post but the unmarked Sugden hit a right-footed shot on the turn, which sailed over the crossbar.

Eltham Palace gifted APM Contrast a chance when Fincham’s long clearance caused panic on the edge of the penalty area but Damien Rollinson failed to take advantage and flicked his shot wide of the right-hand post.

They were made to pay for that miss as Eltham Palace deservedly doubled their lead in the 33^rd minute.

Wright played the ball towards the edge of the APM Contrast penalty area and a poor piece of defending from central defender Alan Backshell gifted the ball to Jull, who swept a left-footed shot past Fincham to find the left-hand corner.

But to their credit, APM Contrast recovered from their poor start and started to fight back.

Porter floated in a free-kick from the right, which forced Eltham Palace’s stand-in keeper Warren Ciolek to poorly punch the ball away, but Wallond failed to take advantage and his right-footed half-volley from 12-yards sailed over the crossbar.

But a sweeping counter-attacking move brought APM Contrast back into the game when they pulled a goal back in the 38^th minute.

A Eltham Palace raid broke down and the ball was cleared out to Rollinson through the middle and he laid the ball off to his right to defender Atkins, who sent a delicate chip over Ciolek from 30-yards, the ball dropping down into the top far corner.

Browning said: “Paul got us back into the game and gave us a bit to go out second half with so I’m pleased with the second half how we responded and everything else.

“It was a good finish. Paul has got that in his locker.  He sets his standards high and he’s done that a few times this season.  It’s no luck. He likes to get forward. It was a hell of a finish.  He kind of dragged us back into the game, which he does.  It needed something like that to get us back into the game because I was looking at 2-0 down, three, four or five.”

Naden added: “He took it well to be fair to the lad, but at the same time he shouldn’t have had the opportunity.  If we protect the ball better on the edge of their box we don’t give them the opportunity.   We made it too easy for them.”

Browning felt his side should have been awarded a penalty just before the break when White was upended by goalkeeper Ciolek inside the penalty area.

He said: “A couple of refereeing decisions, where I thought we should’ve had a penalty and then there was a handball on the line, which I thought was a clear penalty as well, so we feel unlucky there with a couple of decisions that went against us, but Eltham Palace had their game plan, they stuck to it and they ran out 3-1 deserved winners.”

The away side begun the second half well and they should have snatched an equaliser after just 93 seconds when Atkins lofted the ball into the Eltham Palace penalty area but striker White headed the ball straight into Ciolek’s hands.

An even better chance came their way in the 52^nd minute when White curled a low, right-footed free-kick around the wall from 20-yards, which forced Ciolek into making a fine save low to his left to parry the ball and the loose ball was stabbed towards goal by substitute Alan Buddon at the far post but the ball looped on to the top of the crossbar and dropped down and was cleared away.

Eltham Palace immediately went up the other end and forced a corner.  Mark Naden swung in the ball from the left and the ball was flicked on at the near post by Sugden but a jumping skipper Rob Quick failed to convert with his close-range header at the far post.

The game then turned into a mid-field battle and the next chance to the home side inside the final twenty minutes when Wright fed Jull inside the box and he was denied a hat-trick when his left-footed shot went across Fincham, but the diving keeper stuck out an outstretched left arm and managed to make a fine save.

Naden explained why the game petered out during the second half.

“Again, our fitness levels are nowhere near good enough for the County League, let alone if we do have the opportunity to go up.  We’re nowhere near good enough for that and that’s hurt us a couple of times.  We go gung-ho and when you go 2-0 up I think it’s a dangerous scoreline because everyone then tries to impress themselves and want to go forward.

“If it breaks down like we saw a couple of times, we just got opened up and up until then they didn’t really trouble us so we let them back into the game, but again we’ve done that too often this season and we’ve been punished in other games but we weren’t today.”

He added: “It was scrappy.  We turned it into a battle. We stopped playing, but that’s down to our fitness levels.  We do that too often.   We’re always good first half and second half our fitness levels let us down and we give things away.

“We turned it into a battle. If I’m honest I thought they were average at best their side and I thought that last week when they played us and they done us at their place and deservedly so but it was through our sloppiness as opposed to them being a decent side.”

APM Contrast also went close when Atkins’ cut the ball across goal from a tight angle from the by-line and Eltham Palace right-back Merridan hooked the ball off the line on the other post.

Another fine pass from Wright put Taylor through on goal and he only had the visiting keeper to beat from 22-yards, but Fincham stood up and blocked the driven shot with his right-leg.

APM Contrast skipper Porter came up for a 76^th minute corner, which was swung in by Mark Smith, but Porter glanced his header across goal and just wide of the far post.

Browning added: “We did have the chances. That’s been our problem all season.  Defensively we have been outstanding.  Our goals against (30 in 25 league games) has been very low, but the final third we have lacked this year (with 39 goals) so we need to address that pre-season.

“We need to get a finisher here, a couple of goalscorers in because everywhere else we’re not too bad defensively or defensive midfield, but we need a midfielder who is going to chip in with 10-15 goals and a couple of decent strikers who everyone is after and are like gold dust.”

Eltham Palace were to hit the crossbar within a minute when Merridan showed glimpses of his former self, cutting in from the right and curling a right-footed shot against the crossbar from inside the penalty area.

And they were unlucky not to increase their lead when Mark Naden cut the ball back to substitute Lee Bunce, who whipped in a first time low cross with his right-foot and Taylor produced a fine turn on the edge of the penalty area and dragged his shot wide of the near post from fourteen-yards.

Mark Naden and Bunce combined again, but this time Jull headed just wide of the far post.

Eltham Palace rubbed salt into APM Contrast’s wounds when Ben Smith, who is normally a goalkeeper, came off the bench to slot home a good goal nearly four minutes into injury time.

Mark Naden’s cross from the left found Merridan on the edge of the penalty area and he swept the ball through to Smith, who rolled a lovely shot with his left-footed past a stranded Fincham to find the bottom far corner from ten-yards.

Naden said: “Mezza (Merridan) done very well. If he had a little bit more in the lungs he would’ve taken it on himself and maybe had a pop, but Smith, who came on he’s actually our goalkeeper and he’s played in goal all year, but he asked me for the final game of the season if I could give him five minutes up top - so I did and to be fair to the lad he’s come on and he’s nicked the winner.

“Back in the day he was a centre forward but that was about four stone ago so the lad Wazza (Ciolek) has come in and he’s helped us out. He ain’t a keeper, he’s played bits and pieces for us out on the pitch. I think you could see today he’s not really a keeper.  He’s flapped at a few today. Smithy done well so it will give him a few bragging points today.”

Reflecting on APM Contrast’s campaign, which is due to finish against Farnborough Old Boys Guild whenever both clubs can agree a date and venue, Browning said: “I suppose at the start of the season and the injuries we had and the players we lost etc, I was looking more middle of the table, so to finish sixth, just above midtable, is a good position for us to finish in.

“We’ve got to the semi-finals of the League Cup and the Quarter-Finals of the Kent Cup and then got to the final of the Sevenoaks Cup so we’ve had enough games and had a good cup run. 

“I’m quite happy how the season’s been.  I know what I need to get in for next season, what we need to address.”

Eltham Palace: Warren Ciolek, Marc Merridan, Mark Naden, Harry Rogers (Scott Lewis 66), Dean Kearley, Aran Hayrettin, Lee Sugden (Lee Bunce 66), Jermaine Wright, Lee Jull, Robert Taylor (Ben Smith 88), Rob Quick.
Subs: Ross Cannon, Dean Knight

Goals: Lee Jull 10, 33, Ben Smith 90

Booked: Mark Naden 65, Rob Quick 69

APM Contrast: Dean Fincham, Mark Smith, Jimmy Matthews (Ian Ross 75), Graham Porter, Alan Backshell, Adam Collis (Alan Buddon 46), Rob Sedge, Paul Atkins, Ben White, Damien Rollinson, Luke Wallond.
Sub: Kris Browning

Goal:  Paul Atkins 38

Booked: Graham Porter 69

Attendance: 27
Referee:  Mr Trevor S Bailey (Gravesend)
Assistants:  Mr Jamie Barry (Welling) & Mr Andrew Hyde (Dartford)