Faversham Town 3-2 Hythe Town - We wasn't at our best today, admits Faversham boss Ray Turner

FAVERSHAM TOWN  3-2  HYTHE TOWN
Ryman League Division One South
Tuesday 1^st January 2013
Stephen McCartney reports from Salters Lane

FAVERSHAM TOWN boss Ray Turner says it feels great that his club are in fifth-place in the Ryman League Division One South table following their massive victory over fellow promotion rivals Hythe Town.

Hythe Town, fresh from their 2-1 home win over neighbours Folkestone Invicta on Boxing Day, arrived at Salters Lane sitting in third-place in the table with 37 points from 20 games.

Faversham Town went into the game on the back of a 1-1 draw at Sittingbourne on Boxing Day, sitting in fifth-place with 33 points from 19 games.

But it was Faversham Town who extended their unbeaten run to five games after winning this game 3-2 and as a result moved to within a point of their Kent rivals.

Faversham Town grabbed a 2-0 lead at the break, courtesy of Aaron Lacy scoring against his former club direct from an in-swinging corner, before Dave Botterill slotted home after visiting keeper Dean Ruddy had initially blocked his penalty.

But Hythe Town scored twice within 159 seconds to claw themselves back into the game, courtesy of Jake Hobbs’ sublime free-kick and skipper Dave Cook’s finish, but Faversham sealed the victory when Darren Marsden’s chip inflicted Hythe Town’s first away league defeat since going down to a shock 2-1 loss at Three Bridges on the first day of September.

“I’m not convinced it was the most prettiest of games, I’m not going to claim that for one moment, but I think we had to match their work rate and their effort and their endeavour and that’s what we did,” said Turner afterwards.

“The fact that we’re in the top ten is great for the football club.  We’re a small club amongst many big clubs and the longer we can stay up there people will start to talk about us, which will be nice.”

Turner added: “It’s a fantastic victory for the football club.  I thought we were absolutely bullied by Hythe last year on both performances and that was one of the things that stuck in my mind.  We wanted to put it right.

“I didn’t think we was at our best today.  I’m sure Scott will say that he deserved something out of the game as well.

“Simon’s made one fantastic save in the second half but to come back when you’ve been pegged back to two-all shows the character.

“I thought when we went 3-2, we defended extremely well on the whole and people worked hard and they earned the result.  I asked them to earn the result because you’ve got to earn a win against Hythe because they will push and they push and they push and they won’t stop and that’s a testament to Scott’s side and that’s why they’re up there, but it’s a massive three points for us.”

Hythe Town boss Scott Porter, who returns to the home dug-out following a touch-line ban when second-placed Maidstone United visit Reachfields Stadium on Saturday, blamed individual mistakes for their second away league defeat of the season.

“I’ve said to the boys, don’t waste the opportunity to start the New Year off where we left off really,” he said.

“Very frustrating.   We had a lot of possession in the game and three mistakes, three goals.  A corner’s gone straight in, penalty, then Johnny Walker’s get caught last man.  

“I’ve said to the boys in there, I will tell them the next time a team scores a good goal against us – they haven’t – it’s just been mistakes!

“We’ve got ourselves back in the game second half and we gave it away again.

“It says it all when the keeper got man-of-the-match. I’m not going to sit here and say too much about that! That tells you the story of the game so it’s very disappointing that we haven’t come away with at least a point, but three mistakes, three goals and I think there were three shots and they’ve scored three goals.

“But I can’t say they were three shots because one was a penalty and one was a corner, so it’s very disappointing to come away with nothing.”

Faversham Town created the first chance of the game after only 104 seconds when left-back Jamie Maxted played the ball into Adrian Stone’s feet on the edge of the Hythe Town penalty area and he played the ball inside to Marsden, whose right-footed drive from 20-yards stung Ruddy’s fingers before the American stopper gathered the ball at the second attempt.

Hythe Town’s opening chance arrived in the 12^th minute.

Hobbs’ fed influential skipper Cook, who was playing in the hole behind lone striker James Everitt, and after taking a touch he cracked a low right-footed drive, which forced Faversham keeper Simon Overland into making a smart save low to his right to parry the ball into Everitt’s feet, but the former Folkestone Invicta striker was thwarted by the quick thinking keeper who flicked his hand out to turn the ball away.

Both sides then cancelled each other out, but the game livened up as soon as the bright sunshine went down behind the dressing rooms in the corner of the ground.

Halfway through the half, Hobbs whipped in his fourth corner of the game and the ball came out to Craig Cloke, who brought the ball under control a couple of times before hooking a volley over the Faversham Town crossbar from 20-yards.

Taser Hassan cut inside Faversham right-back Lacy before playing the ball inside to Ronnie Dolan, whose right-footed drive flashed wide of the near post after taking a deflection.

Everitt played the ball in from the left and Hobbs’ speculative left-footed volley from 25-yards sailed over the roof of the stand at the car park end of the ground.

But despite their dominance, Hythe Town failed to create any clear cut chances that tested Overland.

Porter said: “We’ve dominated the whole of the first half, everyone could see that.  We’ve dominated without any clear cut chances, but it just wasn’t clinical enough to be fair.”

Faversham Town grabbed the lead, against the run of play, after 31 minutes and Porter pointed the finger of blame at his keeper.

Highly-rated Faversham striker Kieran Oliver, 18, who lives in Rochester, won plenty of praise off Turner after the game as his work-ethic won his side the corner.

Turner said: “Both of those situations (that led to our first two goals) were created by young Kieran Oliver. He won the corner by chasing things down and he won the penalty. He was a constant threat for the two centre halves today and he done himself the world of good, the kid.

“It’s nice to have someone come through the youth system and it gives a freshness to the side. I think it helps and gives a boost to senior players seeing a young kid like that out on the pitch and playing so well and so much energy to our side.  I think Clokey and Kingwell are outstanding centre halves but I’d imagine that’s as hard as they’ve had to work today.”

Lacy trotted over to the left-hand side and whipped in the ball with his right-foot, which swung in over a crowd of players and Ruddy inexplicably allowed the ball to curl around him and into his net.

“It was against the run of play,” admitted Turner. “There’s a lot of bodies in the way of Dean so I don’t know if it’s got a flick of someone but he put a great delivery in so they obviously didn’t defend it as well as they probably would have liked.”

A frustrated Porter added: “Poor. It was poor!  It’s just like watching schoolboys!  You should never get beat from a corner. It’s as simple as that!  There’s enough bodies in front of the goalkeeper and the goalkeeper himself so very disappointed.”

When asked whether he blamed Ruddy for the goal, Porter replied, “I’ve told him that at half-time, you can’t get beat from a corner.”

Shocked Hythe Town almost levelled when a long throw from Cloke found Everitt, who took a touch before stabbing a left-footed shot across Overland and wide of the far post

A dinked pass from Faversham midfielder Toby Ashmore found Stone at the far post and he played the ball inside to Oliver, whose left-footed snap shot under pressure sailed over from 25-yards.

Hythe Town almost equalised in the 41^st minute when Dolan played a short free-kick to John Walker and the left-back fed Hassan, who cut in before unleashing a low right-footed angled drive from 20-yards, which forced Overland into making a low save to his right to push the ball around the post.

But Hythe Town committed suicide inside injury time when right-back Greg Smith played a poor back pass towards his goalkeeper, but Ruddy came rushing out and slid in to bring Oliver down and referee Paul Yates pointed to the spot.

Botterill stepped up and his left-footed penalty was blocked by Ruddy, who dived low to his right, but Botterill reacted first as a crowd of players rushing towards the ball, before calmly rounding the keeper to slot the ball into the net with his left-foot from three-yards out with 46:00 on the clock.

Turner revealed Botterill would have faced his wrath had he not tucked home the rebound.

“I wouldn’t be happy if he hadn’t scored the rebound!” said Turner.

“We was 2-0 and I thought we were fortunate enough to come in to potentially be drawing so to be 2-0 up was a real bonus but I knew they’d be a big response from Hythe and there was and in the end we ended up matching that.”

Porter said: “He’s (Ruddy) brought him down. The full-back should have cleared the ball.  Boggy pitch, you can’t be giving a pass back like that in conditions like that!

“It summed up our first half really and he’s made the save and no-one’s followed it in.

“Going in 2-0 you wonder how the hell we’ve come in 2-0 down, but frustrating, but two silly mistakes.”

Both managers were asked what they were thinking during the half-time interval.

Turner admitted: “I wasn’t happy!  I wasn’t happy with the first half performance. I thought we were flat. I thought they dominated a lot of the exchanges. I didn’t think we passed the ball well enough. I didn’t think we were calm enough in possession and I thought they wanted it a little bit more.

“I ripped into the players to be honest at half-time because I wasn’t happy and I knew the response that was coming from Hythe and it proved to be correct.”

Porter wanted a response from his side and said: “Just told them I wanted a little bit more creativity in the final third and a little bit more quality in and around the box and deliveries going into the box because we had a lot of that first half, but the deliveries weren’t that good.”

Faversham created a half chance inside the first three minutes of the second half but James Peacock – a late replacement for Aiden Sherlock, who was forced out of the starting line up with a groin injury – nodded Lacy’s long throw wide.

Porter withdrew right-back Smith for striker Brendon Cass and his side clawed themselves back into the game in the 54^th minute.

Stone was booked after Dolan was fouled as he cut in towards the edge of the box and Hobbs stroked his right-footed free-kick around the wall from 25-yards and Overland dived to his left to get his fingertips to the ball but he failed to prevent the ball finding the right-hand corner of the net.

Porter was pleased that winger Hobbs had opened his goalscoring account for the club, especially after scoring 29 goals for Kent League side Beckenham Town last season.

He said: “He’s got that in his locker to be fair.  He hasn’t scored all season so hopefully that will kick start him now.

“It’s a great free-kick, a great goal and I feel we could get another one, which we did.”

Turner added: “We’ve given away a few cheap free-kicks today and they’re very dangerous from set-pieces. I think the guy’s been clever, he’s run across him, but it is a free-kick.

“I was just thinking shall we stick someone on the line, but to beat Simon on his performance today, it’s obviously a good strike and fair play to the guy that scored.”

Hythe Town swiftly levelled when Faversham fell asleep following a quickly taken short corner from the right.

Hobbs was given time and space to float over a cross, which sailed over everybody but was retrieved on the by-line by Hassan, who played a lovely low ball across the face of goal and Cook side-footed the ball over the line from three-yards out to score his eighteenth goal of the season.

Porter was pleased that his players listened to his half-time plea.

He said: “That’s what happens when you put decent balls in to the box.  It’s as simple as that!

“We didn’t do enough of that today. We had the possession but the balls in the box wasn’t of the quality that you’re not going to score goals from.  He’s put one in there, which was quality and we’ve scored so that just tells you the story.”

Turner admitted at that point his side were “Up against it!  Momentum is very key in football matches. Clearly all the momentum was with them at that stage but actually we had a little spell just after. I thought we settled back down. I had a tactical change.

“I thought once it went two-all we actually seemed to get stronger in a funny sort of way, which is testament to their character in the side.”

Turner’s only substitute of the game, Danny Lawrence, cut the ball back to his former Herne Bay team-mate Marsden, whose first time shot from the edge of the penalty box sailed over.

But highly-rated Marsden won the game for Faversham with a classy finish with 23 minutes left.

Porter blamed Walker for his mistake, which allowed Marsden the chance to latch onto a ball over the top, but the midfield play-maker produced a composed finish, chipping the ball with his right-foot over the advancing Ruddy and the ball dropped in underneath the crossbar of an empty net.

Turner was full of praise for the midfield magician.

He said:  “I thought he was outstanding in a game that’s a real battle. I think his quality stood out and whenever he was on the ball he looked like he could create something and with Kieran as well linking up with him there was always a chance and he’s taken his goal ever so well.

“I’m really pleased with him (Marsden), he’s got better and better in the last few games for us.

“I think that goal sums him up. He worked ever so hard but when he had the chance to show a cool head and show a bit of quality he did that by lobbing the goalkeeper.”

But Porter added: “Another mistake!  John Walker should clear the ball! The goalkeeper’s off his line and it’s a good finish, but it’s another mistake from us!  That ball should have been put 40 yards up the pitch. He shouldn’t have had the chance to bring it down. It should be gone!

“We keep giving silly goals away but because we’ve worked bloody hard to get back into the game and it’s another crap goal.”

However, a world-class save from Overland denied Hythe Town the share of the spoils in the 73^rd minute.

Faversham left-back Jamie Maxted allowed the ball to sail over his head and Hobbs whipped in an excellent ball which was met by a powerful header from Cook, but Overland spread his big frame and blocked from point-blank range.

Turner said: “They’ve chucked a few things in the box. It was an outstanding cross and Cookie’s attacked it as he does but Simon’s got a big frame and he’s absolutely spread himself magnificently.  He’s one of the reasons we’ve been doing so well recently. He’s earnt us the three points today!”

Porter said: “A great move, a great ball in, great header, great save, I suppose!  I don’t know if it’s hit him or not, I don’t know, but it just wasn’t going to be today.  It’s disappointing because it’s individual mistakes that has cost us again.  If you cut them out, you win the game quite comfortably.”

Ruddy dived to his right to parry Lawrence’s low right-footed angled drive, before Stone was played in by Marsden’s clever pass, but the quiet Faversham striker drove his right-footed shot into the foot of the side-netting – referee Mr Yates awarding Faversham a corner to save the former Herne Bay winger’s blushes.

Turner added: “I think late on we looked dangerous. Stoney’s had one where he maybe should have done better with out on the right on a one-on-one situation and DL (Lawrence) has cut in and had a shot.

“We was always going to potentially be dangerous from breaking situations because they gambled a little bit and took the right-back off, which is what they’re entitled to do that, so it was a case of can we get another goal?  They were pushing for the equaliser.”

Hythe Town pressed for a late equaliser but Faversham were resilient in defence and maintained their promotion push with a vital three point haul.

Turner knew victory was vital to keep on Hythe’s coat tails.

He said: “I think the league is really starting to settle down. I said to the boys I think the four teams (Leatherhead, Hythe, Maidstone United and leaders Dulwich Hamlet) that are ahead of us before the game are the four strongest sides potentially in the league and they’re starting to show some form.

“Losing today would have put us seven points behind Hythe.  The difference being seven points behind with a game in hand and one point behind with a game in hand is a huge difference and we’ve managed to stay in touch with those top four, which is fantastic for this football club.”

Porter added: “I look at the stats, I look at things, league position and I put it into my team talk and that was one of them.  Faversham have clawed their way back in but you’re not going to get a better chance to get out of this league but every team can beat each other and it proved that today.

“It’s frustrating when you do lose games like this, when you dominate so much of it.”

Faversham Town: Simon Overland, Aaron Lacy, Jamie Maxted, Dave Botterill, Matthew Bourne, Ashley Brown, Toby Ashmore, James Peacock (Danny Lawrence 61), Adrian Stone, Darren Marsden, Kieran Oliver.
Subs: Danny Hockton, Aiden Sherlock, Luke Harvey, Dan Ellis

Goals: Aaron Lacy 31, Dave Botterill 45, Darren Marsden 67

Booked: Adrian Stone 53, Danny Lawrence 90

Hythe Town: Dean Ruddy, Greg Smith (Brendon Cass 51), John Walker, Pat Kingwell, Craig Cloke, Ronnie Dolan, Dave Cook, Nick Barnes, Jake Hobbs (George Savage 83), James Everitt (Craig Thompson 77), Taser Hassan.
Subs: Ashley Porter, Tom Elliott

Goals: Jake Hobbs 54, Dave Cook 56

Booked: Greg Smith 38, Brendon Cass 78, Craig Thompson 85

Attendance: 201
Referee:  Mr Paul Yates (Maidstone)
Assistants: Mr Philip Rowley (Canterbury) & Mr Michael Marsh (Herne Bay)