Hythe Town 3-4 Lordswood - It was embarrassing from my point of view, fumes Scott Porter

Stephen Elliott and Denness both scored two goals apiece as second-from-bottom Lordswood screamed into a 4-0 lead just before the hour-mark, as Hythe supporters were desperate for stand-in referee Mr Phil Rowley to abandon the game as the fog made watching the game difficult.

But Adam Hooper’s handball gifted Hythe a penalty and Brendon Cass netted his 15th goal of the season with a twice taken penalty, after visiting keeper Ryan Burbridge was penalised for moving on his line as he pulled off a fine save.

Substitute Dan Cook swiftly pulled a goal back as he scored against his former side, before Kieran Byrne scored his sixth goal of the season but tired Lordswood held on to secure their third league win of the season to climb up three places to twelve in the Kent League table after 12 games.

“I knew what we was going to get today and I knew second half especially,” a proud Lillis told www.kentishfootball.co.uk   afterwards.

“All I can do is give my boys utmost credit because up until an hour before kick-off I didn’t have a team to put out!  I mean there’s illnesses and injuries and all sorts.  I had three pull out straight away and in the end we were down to bare bones.”

Hythe Town boss Scott Porter admitted he was “annoyed” with his side’s shambolic performance.

“The club done everything they can to get the game on, which we wanted on today to obviously catch up with the games and pick up another three points,” the 31-year-old told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“I knew it was going to be tough.  I can only say so much in the changing room with a game plan and what you wanted to do and if people don’t listen and don’t do it, it’s frustrating.

“I’m annoyed because it was a great chance to make ground on everyone.”

Porter added: “We didn’t turn up!  It was embarrassing to be honest with you and that’s not taking nothing away from Lordswood - they came and they worked hard but if you don’t roll your sleeves up and dig in and do the simple stuff and win your personal battles, people aren’t going to lie down for you and that’s exactly what they did do today.  They worked hard and we’ve given individual goals away, mistakes, which is frustrating, with the players that we’re doing it and I will be making a change!”

Fourth-placed Hythe could have climbed up into second place with a victory here today, but their attitude was wrong for the opening hour as Lordswood fought for their lives all over the pitch.

There was no sign of snow or ice at Reachfields Stadium, but light drizzle meant that the pitch cut-up during the warm-up and players had to cope with sticky conditions underfoot - as well as the fog, which came down early in the second half, but as the officials could see both goals and each  corner flag from the centre circle, this exciting game came to a conclusion.

To abandon such a game would have been cruel on Lordswood, who raced into a four goal lead, as it appeared that a lack of training and a curry night and “a great night afterwards” the Tuesday before Christmas took its toll on Hythe’s sluggish players.

But had Craig Thompson’s hooked right-footed volley looped over Burbridge and into the Lordswood net after just 63 seconds - instead of over the crossbar - then it might have been a different story.

Another chance fell Hythe’s way in the 13th minute when Greg Smith floated a free-kick into the penalty area and Thompson’s cushioned header across goal fell to Gary Mickelborough but his hooked shot looped into Burbridge’s arms.

Burbridge made a comfortable save a yard in front of his goal-line as he caught Lee Winfield’s 30-yard free-kick, which bounced once inside the six-yard box before being gathered.

Lordswood grabbed the lead - through route one football - in the 21st minute.

Central defender Nick Berkhauer pumped a ball straight down the middle of the pitch for Denness to flick into Elliott’s path and he raced through and sent a delightful right-footed chip sailing over Kieran Mann’s head into the top left-hand corner from the edge of the penalty area.

Another Winfield free-kick caused havoc inside Lordswood’s crowded penalty area but a sliding Gary Mickelborough cleared the crossbar from six-yards.

Mickelborough turned provider when he centred for Cass who turned at the near post and swept the ball straight at the Lordswood goalkeeper.

Lordswood grabbed a second goal in the 34th minute as Hythe switched off following a short corner routine on the left, involving Hooper and Matt McHugh, and Denness was left unmarked at the near post to power his header into the roof of the net.

Another Hythe chance went begging when right-back Greg Smith delivered the ball into the Lordswood penalty area and Thompson peeled away from his marker to glance his header straight at Burbridge.

Two efforts from Byrne and Thompson from outside of the penalty box sailed over but watching conditions worsened as the fog came down for the second half.

Porter hauled off his two full-backs, Smith and John Walker at the break and reverted to a 3-5-2 formation and his players responded by bombarding the Lordswood penalty area.

Porter blamed his keeper Mann for gifting Lordswood a third goal after 53 minutes as Elliott smashed a low curling right-footed drive from 30-yards which bent around the red-faced goalkeeper to find the bottom near corner.

He said: “I haven’t spoken to him about it.  I haven’t spoken to anyone.  It’s just individual errors again.  It’s a shot from 30-yards, it’s on the floor and it should be saved and that’s the bottom line.

“Every goal (we conceded) was an individual error and it just frustrates me so much and it keeps happening and people have got to stand up and be counted and I won’t be putting up with it much longer!”

Hythe’s best chance arrived when Cass released Thompson through on goal but the striker flashed his shot agonisingly wide of the right-hand post.

But things got even better for Lordswood as they raced into a four goal lead after 59 minutes.

Hitting Hythe on the counter attack, Denness picked the ball up in midfield and ghosted through the heart of the home side’s defence before slamming a low drive into the bottom left-hand corner, which had Lillis sprinting out of his technical area and onto the pitch to celebrate with his players.

Denness rediscovered the form that he showed on a regular basis in the Ryman League for the likes of Chatham Town and Ashford Town.

Lillis agreed, saying, “I think that’s the best game he’s played for us!  He knew what he had to do because he’s not performed to the best of his ability at the moment but he said to us ‘the best is yet to come,’ but today I think when we get the ball into him, no-one could touch him!”

Yes, Hythe Town were 4-0 down at home to Lordswood!

Lillis said: “What a Christmas present that is!  We did deserve it and if we kept our composure a little bit more we might have sneaked a couple more!

“But then I knew we was going to get tired.  We haven’t played for weeks, we haven’t been together.  Christmas period boys’ over indulge, like we know, and I knew that the pressure they put on us we just rolled our sleeves up and got on with it.

“Second half, like I said, for what we had, and the people we had ill and playing with injuries today, I’m proud of them.”

Porter saw it differently, saying: “You can’t go 4-0 down and expect to win games so it was embarrassing, our performance today!

“All credit to Lordswood, you’ve got to give them credit for what they’ve done, but I just think we were below par.  We didn’t turn up.  We just felt we could turn up and not dig in and roll our sleeves up.  You can’t expect to do that, individual errors cost us again.  I’m fully pissed off!”

But when Byrne’s cross from the left was handled by Hooper - who was all alone inside the Lordswood penalty area - this sparked a mini-revival.

Cass stepped up and smashed a right-footed penalty towards the top right-hand corner, but Burbridge pulled off a fine stop.

Lillis cheers of jubilation turned to despair as referee Mr Rowley ordered a re-take and strikers of Cass’s calibre aren’t going to miss again, as the former Folkestone Invicta striker found the bottom right-hand corner, despite the keeper guessing the right way, in the 65th minute.

He added: “I’ve just asked him (the referee) all he aid he (Burbridge) came off his line but I said he was on the line when he saved, so I don’t know!

“Referee’s make mistakes.  I think that was one of them!”

It was game on when Mickelborough rolled the ball across the penalty area for Cook to fire a right-footed drive into the net just three minutes later.

Lordswood were tiring and were on the ropes as Hythe upped the tempo and played their part in the best Kent League game of the season.

Hythe’s third goal duly arrived with 73 minutes on the clock when Gavin Ransley’s ball over the top released Byrne, who looped a right-footed shot into the roof of the net, despite Burbridge’s brave efforts to keep the ball out.

Denness worked tirelessly for his team-mates as the lone striker and he was twice denied by Mann and Hythe midfielder Ronnie Dolan unleashed a right-footed drive, which curled into Burbridge’s grateful arms at the other end.

Lordswood had to endure almost six minutes of painful time added on but they held out to secure a heroic victory, a result that leaves Hythe in fourth place in the table, four points behind leaders Herne Bay, with two games in hand.

With Holmedale, Corinthian, Erith & Belvedere and Sporting Bengal below them in the Kent League table, Lillis can look forward to next Monday’s trip to Herne Bay.

“Everyone expected us to get beat but we showed great spirit today,”  said the former Herne Bay manager.

“We’re not a bottom three side by a long shot and the boys knew that and I think a lot of managers know that.

“Obviously it’s nice to come away and beat a top side like that!  Alright, they put a lot of pressure on us second half, I understand that, but the side we had out with injuries and all that, the whole situation we’re in, yes, that’s got to be (our best result of the season).

Looking forward to their trip to Winch’s Field, Lillis asks, “At the end of the day what I can ask is what the boys gave me today.  

“Herne Bay are a good side, they’re a better footballing side, so I’ll have to rethink and go from there again.”

Hythe supporters questioned their players’ lack of fitness and heart.

Porter said: “You can only tell certain people to do certain things and if they don’t prepare properly in their own mind I can’t do nothing about it.  I can only put things into people’s head. I want them to prepare.

“No team’s going to come down here and lie down.  People are going to come here, we’re one of the favourites to win the league and I said it every time, people are going to come here and raise their game by so much percent, a massive percentage and we’ve got to raise ours.”

Porter takes his side to another struggling side, Holmesdale, next Monday and he warned: “If you’re going to get success out of this league you’ve got to roll your sleeves up and dig in and grind results out.

“You need a reaction of course after losing today.  We could’ve gone second and they’re (Lordswood) second from bottom.

“It was embarrassing from my point of view.  I’m really pissed off about the whole thing.”

Hythe Town: Kieran Mann, Greg Smith (Dan Cook 46), John Walker (Lee Shearer 46), Pat Kingwell, Gavin Ransley, Ronnie Dolan, Kieran Byrne, Lee Winfield, Craig Thompson, Brendon Cass, Gary Mickelborough (Sam Conlon 76)

Subs:  Dan Scorer, Ashley Porter.

Goals: Brendon Cass 65 (pen), Dan Cook 68, Kieran Byrne 73

Booked: Brendon Cass 48, Lee Shearer 76

Lordswood: Ryan Burbridge, Michael Dodsworth, Adam Hooper (George Hayes 85), Nick Berkhauer, Wes Hammond, Martin Taylor, Matt McHugh (Dominic Elmes 58), Lee Maskell (Marc Morrison 46), Rob Denness, Richard Styles, Stephen Elliott.

Subs: Rob Norman, Grant Mclleron.

Goals: Stephen Elliott 21, 52, Rob Denness 34, 59

Booked: Michael Dodsworth 26, Nick Berkhauer 65, Marc Morrison 83

Attendance: 181

Referee: Mr Phil Rowley (Canterbury)

Assistants: Mr Dan Geary (Maidstone) & Mr Dave Shrewsbury (Folkestone)