Erith & Belvedere 2-0 Croydon

Steve Chioma banged in his first goals in an Erith & Belvedere shirt to effectively end Croydon’s faint hopes of pipping Whitstable Town to the Kent League crown, writes Thomas Hawes.

Chioma, who has had spells in the Polish Second Division as well as a trial with Southend United during his playing career, started up front with Steve White.

In a cagey first half, with both sides perhaps thinking about conserving energy for their second game over the Easter period, it was Croydon who came closest as a viciously driven free-kick bounced off of the post after 20 minutes.

Although Croydon had the better of the play in the opening period, they struggled to break through the towering Deres central defence partnership of Paul Gross and Michael Gonzague.

The Deres gave a warning of their dominance that was to follow in the second period when Mark Nougher forced Danny Harwood into action.
 
Paul Gross and Tom Maycock fired shots straight at Harwood on 33 minutes, but the breakthrough was to come before half-time for the Deres.

Mark Nougher lobbed the ball in hope over his head and fortunately for the Deres, Chioma was under the ball.
 
However, his first touch was excellent and the winger come striker duly converted the opportunity as he tucked the ball past the onrushing Harwood to net his first goal for the Deres on his home debut.

From that point on, Erith took control of the game and it seemed that only a piece of magic or fortune would give the Trams a chance of taking something away from Park View Road.
 
Unlike in the 2-0 midweek defeat at Faversham, Erith won more that their fair share of the second ball (as well as being aided by some terribly misplaced Croydon passes) and this was a key factor in the Deres success.

The second half belonged to the home side and they made sure of the points when White mugged a Croydon defender who was hoping that the bal would run out of play for a goal-kick. 
 
White kept his composure and just when it looked like he was going to pull the trigger, he laid the ball back to strike-partner Chioma who side-footed home his second of the afternoon via the underside of the crossbar.

Chioma had half chances for his hat-trick and in the 97th minute Austin Berkley should have added the icing on the cake but he couldn’t convert from 8 yards out having embarked on a mazing run.

The Deres now turn their attention to the daunting prospect of taking on league leaders Whitstable Town at Park View Road on Saturday (3pm)..
 
With a difficult run-in, the Oysters will be hoping to take three points from this encounter ahead of another tricky away match against VCD Athletic.
 
With the Deres being one of the form sides in the Kent League, the match promises to be a cracker.

Erith & Belvedere: Murray, Crawley, Diggins (Morgan 90), Maycock, Gonzague, Gross, Smith (Berkley 88), Deane, Chioma (Collins 90), White, Nougher.
Subs: Pearce, Percy

Croydon: Harwood, Watts, Moore (Read 55), B Warner, Dabrowa (Freeman 70), Young, Murdoch, Kirby, Whiteman, John, Hill (S Warner 76).
Subs: Quarshie, Connoly.

Attendance: 122