Glebe 3-1 Erith & Belvedere - It's a very good win for us, it puts us right back in the promotion race, says Glebe assistant manager Mark Dacey

Glebe 3 – 1 Erith & Belvedere
Location	Foxbury Avenue, off Perry Street, Chislehurst, Kent BR7 6SD
Kickoff	04/02/2022 19:45

GLEBE  3-1  ERITH & BELVEDERE
Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division
Friday 4 February 2022
Stephen McCartney reports from Foxbury Avenue

GLEBE assistant manager Mark Dacey says his side are right back in the title race after their victory over Erith & Belvedere at fortress Foxbury Avenue.

The Foxes remain in third-place tonight having banked 55 points from 23 games, closing the tap to one point on second-placed Sheppey United, who are six points adrift of leaders Chatham Town in an exciting three-horse Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division title race.

Erith & Belvedere – in fourth-place in the table with 45 points from 25 games after tonight – gave promotion-chasing Glebe a right scare during the first-half.

However, Bradley Wilson notched his fourth goal of the season to grab Harry Hudson’s side the lead five minutes before the break.

Glebe talisman, Jamie Philpot, slotted in his 40^th goal of the season early in the second half, just one goal behind Chatham Town’s marksman Dan Bradshaw in the goalscoring charts in all competitions.

Diminutive Sam Johnson tapped in a third goal before Erith & Belvedere lost both central defenders.  Calum McGeehan was sent off for a professional foul in the 73rd minute before his partner Rob Curtis was forced off with a calf strain moments later.

Erith & Belvedere striker Danny Lear – who missed two glorious first-half chances – drove in his eleventh goal of the season inside the final six minutes but they couldn’t prevent Glebe claiming their fifth win on the bounce.

“It’s a very good win for us, it puts us right back in the promotion race,” said Dacey, who was sent out by manager Harry Hudson to do the post-match interview.

“We’ve cut the deficit from 10 points down to one, though Sheppey do play tomorrow so it’s a great bounce back from what was a disappointing result when we lost in the Vase.

“Erith & Belvedere play good football. We’ve played them three times now, both times in the league and in the London Senior Cup and both have been very competitive games, full of goals and even at 0-0 in the cup it was an entertaining game.

“If they can find a little bit more cutting edge in front of goal, they’ll be title challenges, that’s for sure.”

Erith & Belvedere were without Danny Murphy, who was serving the second of his five match touchline ban so Luke Rooney (who impressed during the 5-3 home defeat to Glebe back in November) and is presently ruled out due to a leg injury that he sustained in a freak injury on Christmas Day, was in the technical area alongside Marlon Patterson.

Joint-manager Patterson said: “I thought the boys were really good first-half.  I thought we started the game bright.  I thought we started the game really well, positive but it’s football. The game is very unforgiving. If you don’t take your chances they come back to haunt you and that’s what they’ve done in the second half.

“I thought we were the better team, we had our noses in front and if you don’t take your chances the game’s very unforgiving.

“We had a game plan, we stuck to it and it worked.  A goal just before half-time, it kills you but we came out and I thought we were bright again, started bright, a bit more even but they had their tails up but we made another mistake and the game’s kind of out of sight really.

“What I got out of tonight, the boys showed good character and this is probably one of the better performances first half and I just think we have to take our chances.”

Glebe went direct when they missed two early chances inside the opening six minutes.

Centre-half Corey Holder hit a long ball out of defence, the ball was controlled by Philpot’s chest before Johnson played the ball out to left-back Matthew Parsons and his deep cross was controlled by Charlie Penny inside the box but Philpot sliced his first-time shot past the right-hand post from 16-yards.

Holder then launched a long diagonal ball out of defence and Erith & Belvedere’s left-back Reece Barrett opened the gate to let in Philpot, who cut into the box before cutting the ball back for Wilson to lash his first time drive over the crossbar from similar distance.

“We cover a lot of ground and trying to do defensive work and they get up and in previous weeks Brad has at least hit the target and found the back of the net, so it was a big chance for us,” said Dacey.

However, Erith & Belvedere missed a glorious chance to take the lead in the tenth minute.

Winger Stefan Cox fed the ball to debutant Nathan Palmer – who scored 11 goals for league rivals Holmesdale as a striker but was playing in the centre of midfield tonight – and he threaded the ball in behind for Lear but goalkeeper George Kamurasi rushed off his line and smothered the ball at the striker’s feet.

“I think we had two or three of those and you can’t let teams like this, especially Glebe, take nothing away from Glebe, Glebe are a very good outfit and I believe they will be there in touching distance in the league. They’re most certainly pushing it to the wire so with teams like that you can’t give them chances,” said Patterson.

Dacey added: “George has been brilliant for us, he’s made some saves that ultimately have kept us in the game and allowed us to go on and win it.

“Danny Lear’s a handful. I think he’s my favourite front man in the league outside of what we’ve got here.  He runs channels really well, he’s got great speed, great strength and if he puts them away the game becomes completely different but George for us is making one, sometimes even two massive saves on a weekly basis so he’s a huge reason why we’re picking up maximum points.”

Lear was dominating Holder during the first half. Right-back Lee Lewis launched the ball up field, Lear jumped up to latch onto his own flick on before flashing a cross across the face of goal but James Hawkins lacked composure inside the box and the ball was cleared away.

Glebe’s left-back Matthew Parsons hit a long ball and Curtis was slow to react and Philpot nipped in to hook a left-footed half-volley past the near post from 25-yards.

Erith & Belvedere started to play on the front foot after 25 minutes before Glebe wrestled back control.

Curtis’ intended square pass towards his captain Barrett, was intercepted by Wilson close to the half-way line and the Glebe midfielder charged forward before teeing up Philpot, who drove a first-time right-footed shot from 30-yards, which was saved in the midriff of sweeper keeper Rilwan Anibaba.

Anibaba pulled off a great save to deny Glebe taking a 34^th minute lead, following Glebe’s second and final corner of the game.

Wilson floated the ball in from the right and holding midfielder Kalvin Morath-Gibbs found a pocket of space at the near post to head towards the bottom right-hand corner, which Anibaba dived low to his left and used a strong left hand to push the ball towards safety.

“We work really hard on set-pieces, we’ve been very successful from scoring from set-pieces this season,” said Dacey.

“The delivery was great, the movement was great and he’s pulled out similar to George, an unbelievable save.”

Patterson added: “When we were on top of the game he’s made two excellent saves and that’s when you think actually this is the turning point here and we can come out of this game with three points but then we concede a goal just before half-time and it takes the stuffing out of you.”

When asked about his goalkeeper often leaving his penalty area, Patterson replied: “I mean that’s the gift of the curse as well for our keeper Rilwan. He’s excellent when it works but again it kicks you in the backside when it doesn’t.”

Just 13 seconds later, Wilson put the ball back into the box from the right and an unmarked Philpot hooked a shot straight at Anibaba for a comfortable save.

Erith & Belvedere’s second big chance of the night came shortly afterwards.

Cox played the ball in behind Parsons and Holder to put Lear through on goal but once again Kamurasi advanced and got his huge frame down low to his right to smother Lear’s poked shot just a couple of yards inside the Glebe box.

“I mean look, on another day against one of the lesser sides in the league, if you want to call it that because I think they’re all good teams but against one of the lesser teams you can probably afford to miss those three or four chances of the first half and go out in the second half and probably go and nick two goals but again a team like Glebe they’ve got quality all round the park,” added Patterson.

Dacey added: “I think that was probably a better chance, the second one, because he wasn’t being closed down as quickly but being six foot six George is a big man to beat and unless you’re going to strike it early, you’re always going to struggle to beat him.”

A lapse in Glebe’s defence allowed Cox a chance to score but he took a touch before slicing his curling shot around the foot of the far post.

However, Glebe grabbed the lead with 39 minutes and 15 seconds on the clock.

Some poor defending from Lewis saw him lose the ball to a pressing Wilson, who cut in from the left before placing his right-footed shot into the bottom left-hand corner from 22-yards.

Dacey said: “On the run of the half you’d say ‘we didn’t deserve it’, but Chatham, Sheppey, ourselves, when you’re going for these promotion races these things happen.

“We weren’t great for 40 minutes, we were very poor but we stayed in the game and we kept it alive and ultimately when you come up against anybody when you’ve been poor and then you score the first goal it can knock the stuffing out of teams, especially so close to half-time.”

Patterson added: “For 40 minutes we made one sloppy pass and got punished and that’s the difference between the levels between the bottom half of the table and the top half.”

Anibaba ran out of his penalty area with the ball at his feet on several occasions tonight and was almost caught out from Wilson’s first-time drive from the edge of the centre-circle but the Erith & Belvedere keeper jumped up on his goal-line to pluck the ball out of the air.

“Brad’s technically very, very gifted. He’s also scored from the halfway line twice already this season, both in the Vase and Rilwan’s very high so we made Brad aware that he was off his line quite consistently so if he hits that slightly earlier or slightly harder that might potentially creep in,” said Dacey.

Another long ball from Holder was cleared out to Glebe’s right-back Dami Olorunnisomo, who found space some 25-yards from goal and his angled drive was well saved by Anibaba, diving low to his right and using a strong right hand to make the save.

Both Dacey and Patterson were asked their thoughts at the break.

Dacey said: “We switched Antone Douglas and Corey Holder over, not because Corey couldn’t deal with (Danny Lear) but maybe that little bit of lack of game time was possibly a little bit of a downfall for Corey.  We felt Dougie was able to deal with it slightly better and ultimately we completely shut it out.

“Matt Parsons stayed attached more to Dougie, which meant Stefan Cox had to come deeper and then we can deal with that by putting Tom Heaver in central midfield.”

Patterson added: “It was quite a difficult conversation really because I wanted to go in there screaming and hollering but they’ve done everything to plan, man-for-man, they were brilliant. It’s just one little bit of lacklustre (play) and we got punished. I just said to them and go out second half and continue what they were doing first-half.”

Glebe were kicking uphill during the second half and doubled their lead with five minutes and 15 seconds on the clock.

Parsons whipped in a cross from the left which split open Barrett and McGeehan and Philpot was initially to be thwarted by Anibaba, who spilt the ball and from a tight angle Philpot slotted his low shot into the bottom near corner, beating McGeehan on the line.

“Parsons, for me, is the best left-back going forward in the league. His deliveries are top,” said Dacey, who then spoke about the race for the Golden Boot.

“Dan Bradshaw is a hell of a striker but Philpot is going to chase him all the way and the angle that he scored from was an unbelievable finish. He has no right to score from where he did!

“It’s going to go all the way, both of them are exceptional and I’m going to feel sorry for who comes second because I think in most other seasons you win it. That one will go right down to the wire.”

Patterson added: “I think when your luck turns, whether it’s for the good or the bad it continues to happen and that’s literally what happened for us.”

Erith & Belvedere then went with three at the back (Barrett left, McGeehan central and Curtis right), and Palmer had a chance to score from 30-yards but his right-footed drive was smothered by Kamurasi, low to his right.

“Nathan is very seasoned now, he brings you a lot of energy. He brings goals, he's very tenacious and I think he can be a major part of what we want to achieve,” said Patterson.

Dacey added: “Nathan Palmer is a good player. We were quite surprised to see him in the middle of the park, as deep as what he was. He can tick over a ball nicely. The guy has got a goal in him for sure but it’s going to take something special to beat George.”

Clinical Glebe notched their third goal of the night, timed at 14 minutes and 18 seconds on the clock.

Ainsley Everett whipped in a cross from the left channel and Philpot found a pocket of space inside the box to chest the ball down and stroke a shot on the turn towards the near post but Johnson was there to place his first-time right-footed shot into the bottom near corner from three-yards out.

“I thought it was offside. I thought the whole bench thought it was offside.  He’s in the right place, right time. It’s a clever finish but I think we got away with that one,” admitted Dacey.

Patterson added: “I think the game’s kind of stretched at that point. We were searching for a goal and again another one has gone against us.”

When asked if his side deserved to be three goals down at that point, Patterson replied: “We were is the answer but did we deserve it? Maybe not. I think we’ve got to take our chances!”

Glebe substitute central midfielder Tom Hever released substitute striker Wazir Azeez through on goal before his progress was ended by a last-man foul from McGeehan and was shown a straight red card by referee Michael Butcher in the 73^rd minute.

Carter was treated for his injured left-calf, sustained in the move that lead to the red-card and once play resumed Wilson’s drilled free-kick from 30-yards was gathered by Anibaba at the second attempt.

“Again, at that point in the game everything’s kind of frantic. There’s frustrations, we’ll deal with that,” said Patterson.

“Look, it’s something as a player you’re frustrated. I suppose he could see what was going on in front of him in terms of us not scoring goals etc, missing chances and yes it was I suppose to save it becoming a little bit more embarrassing and he’s made the tackle and they haven’t score from it, it’s football.

“It’s never good to see (Carter’s calf injury), especially losing two centre-halves within 10 seconds, it especially puts you up against it.”

Dacey added: “It wasn’t necessarily overly late but I think because he was last man you’re not going to catch Lanre chasing him that way, he’s got unbelievable energy. He’s biding his time really well. He’s just caught him late. Lanre’s just gone the wrong side, done really well and you either got to let him go through and probably finish or try to make the tackle and he did and it’s unfortunate for them.”

The Deres reverted to a four-man backline with Lewis and James Dyer playing as full-backs, while Drew Allassani and Barrett in the centre.

Erith & Belvedere kept plugging away, however, and they were rewarded with a goal of their own with 38 minutes and 5 seconds on the clock.

Cox, now playing in a rare role in central midfield, released Lear down the left channel and he easily cut inside Holder and stroked a right-footed drive underneath the diving Kamurasi to slot into the back of the net.

Patterson said: “Danny worked his absolute socks off and the man providing him the ball as well, Stefan Cox, I want to make a special shout out to Coxy. He done really well today and we hope to have him a part of our plan next week of what we’re trying to achieve.

“We utilise him the best as we can. As you can see he performs well,” replied Patterson when asked about Cox playing some of the game in a more central midfield role rather than out on the wing.

Dacey added: “Danny’s an absolute handful all three games this season. He’s been really difficult to deal with. I think George might be a little bit disappointed as well.  We over controlled and over played in an area that we didn’t need to. We could’ve just tipped the ball over nicely and we didn’t deal with the counter-attack well enough.”

Richard Jimoh was thrown into the action late on and he had a chance to pull a second goal back.

He gambled on Anibaba’s long kick bouncing inside the Glebe penalty area and when it did he took the ball around Kamurasi but his shot from a tight angle was cleared off the line by Glebe’s right-back Olorunnisomo.

“He challenged George with it and I think he came out victorious and it got cleared off the line,” added Patterson.

Dyer’s left-footed free-kick from within the right-channel was grabbed hold off by Kamurasi at his near post and the referee then blew for full-time with no side coming here and taking a point off Hudson’s men, so far.

“I think everyone sets a marker when the season starts, they want their home to be a fortress and so far for us in the league it has been.  This is a very, very difficult place to come in the league,” added Dacey.

Chatham, who have drawn their last two away games 0-0, go to tenth-placed K Sports tomorrow, while Sheppey United welcome bottom-four side Punjab United to Holm Park.

Sheppey United won the 2019-20 Kent Senior Trophy by beating Isthmian League South East Division side Corinthian 3-1 in Chatham on Tuesday night and Glebe beat Ernie Batten’s side 2-0 in the league here on 18 January.

Glebe welcome Fisher here in the Challenge Cup Third Round on Tuesday night and Sheppey United in the Semi-Finals next Saturday, with the winners meeting Larkfield & New Hythe or Hollands & Blair in the Final in Maidstone on 10 April.

“I think both teams arguably on paper will be favourites if you manage to go through,” Dacey said of the Sheppey clash.

“It’s going to be another punch-for-punch battle. They’re a good side that we’ve watched plenty of times. We’re a good side that they’ve watched plenty of times.  They were here as well tonight. They’ve got some new signings, we’re bedding in different ways of playing so ultimately it’s just going to be whose better on the day.”

Reflecting on the title race, Dacey added: “We feel like we’ve had our blip, Chatham possibly are going through there’s a little bit now so ultimately it’s going to be all three teams just ticking off one game at a time and that’s what today was for us.

“This could’ve been a big banana skin for us and luckily we just managed to just get another win under our belt, which puts a bit more pressure on those two tomorrow to get a result.

“If Chatham concentrates on themselves and they keep winning, rolling out wins, it doesn’t matter what the rest of us do and when it comes to us and Sheppey you’re doing the same thing but you’re looking over your shoulder because one of the three of us soon is going to slip up.”

Erith & Belvedere welcome Haringey Borough to Park View Road next Tuesday for a London Senior Cup Third Round tie.

Haringey Borough are in fourteenth-place in the Isthmian League Premier Division table, having collected 31 points from their 27 league outings.

“We just want to go and win the game.  They’re two leagues above us. It’s not going to be easy at all.  I think they’re going to play, which will maybe suit us a little bit as well. It should be a good game. I’m looking forward to an exciting game,” said Patterson, who is pleased with their league position going into February.

“If I’m going to be critical there’s probably three or four results where we should’ve had wins.

“Like I said to my counterpart Danny (Murphy), if you said to me and Danny at Christmas or in January you’re going to be sitting midtable I would’ve bit their hand off but we’re sitting fourth in a really good position with a new team. There’s a lot of chances and we’ve tried to keep the same structure throughout the side and it’s paying off.

“We want to go as many games unbeaten as possible.

“Luke Rooney is a fantastic player. He’s probably the best midfielder in the league so anyone missing Rooney is going to struggle but we hope to have him back soon.”

Glebe: George Kamurasi, Dami Olorunnisomo, Matthew Parsons, Kalvin Morath-Gibbs, Antone Douglas, Corey Holder, Sam Johnson, Ainsley Everett, Jamie Philpot (Wazir Azeez 71), Bradley Wilson (Lauris Chin 78), Charlie Penny (Tom Hever 54).
Subs: Solomon Baugh, Ryan King-Elliott

Goals: Bradley Wilson 40, Jamie Philpot 51, Sam Johnson 60

Erith & Belvedere: Rilwan Anibaba, Lee Lewis, Reece Barrett, Drew Allassani, Rob Curtis (Neil Spencer 77), Calum McGeehan, James Hawkins (Daniel Pepple 69), Nathan Palmer, Danny Lear (Richard Jimoh 87), James Dyer, Stefan Cox.

Goal: Danny Lear 84

Booked: Stefan Cox 87

Sent Off: Calum McGeehan 73

Attendance: 184
Referee: Mr Michael Butcher
Assistants: Mr Stephen Roots & Mr Alexis Stacchini