Lordswood 1-2 Erith & Belvedere - Ref Carter gets his knickers in a twist

Erith & Belvedere made it three league wins on the spin ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Faversham courtesy of goals from ex-Lordswood player Nick Smith and Steve White, writes Thomas Hawes.

Despite picking up another three points to stay hot on the heels of sixth placed Hythe Town, the Deres will have to pay a hefty fine for picking up seven yellow cards and a farcical red card. 
 
Substitute Mark Nougher had only been involved in the game for four minutes when he was booked for wearing blue cycling shorts underneath blue shorts - something that Nougher has done for the whole season.
 
Whether or not the referee thought that these cycling shorts gave the winger an unfair competitive advantage remains to be seen.
 
Nougher was ordered to take the cycling shorts off, which he did, but was then told to walk round the perimeter of the pitch to the dugout before asking the referee for permission to enter the field of play again.

Nougher, however, decided to cut across the pitch to get to the Deres dugout.

He should have known better than to disobey the infamous referee Mr Carter, who is an Army Sergeant, and was promptly shown a second yellow card.

The Nougher incident was the most notable of a number of perplexing decisions by Mr Carter against both sides.

These perplexing decisions spoiled what was an entertaining end of season tussle that had been played with a good spirit.

Mr Carter disgraced himself even more at the final whistle as he responded in a very abusive way to the justified complaints aimed at him from players, supporters and officials of both Lordswood and Erith & Belvedere.

Both sides had opportunities to take the lead in the opening 10 minutes.

White blasted over from 18 yards, whilst at the other end Richard Percy had to clear the ball off the goal-line.

In one of the more amusing incidents of the day, a dog entered the pitch with 10 minutes on the clock.

Having greeted the Deres defence, the dog left the pitch and Lordswood took advantage of this lapse in concentration as Ricky Freeman fired the ball past Neil Murray and into the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed for a handball incident prior to the goal.

On 16 minutes, an Adrian Deane corner found Tom Maycock, who volleyed the ball straight at Lords keeper Gavin Hopper. 

Hopper couldn’t hold onto the ball and Nick Smith showed his predatory instincts as he reacted quickest to fire the ball in from a yard out to give the Deres the lead against his former club.

Both sides had half-chances to score in the remainder of the first half, but the windy conditions and bobbly surface at North Dane Way meant that this match was never going to be a classic, although both sides managed to produce an entertaining encounter.

Lordswood got their equaliser eight minutes into the second period after Ricky Freeman charged through the Deres defence before rounding Murray and side footing the ball into the empty net.

After an excellent start to the second half, Lordswood were unlucky not to be in the lead - only some great saves from Neil Murray kept the scoreline level.

Freeman was causing the Deres defence all sorts of problems and Michael Gonzague was lucky to escape with just a yellow card when he brought down Freeman, who looked certain to score.

It was the away side who were to get the decisive third goal as on 64 minutes Micky Collins barged his way through the Lords defence before laying the ball off to striker partner White who took a touch before finding the bottom corner off Hopper’s net to keep the Deres in 7th place.

The win also sees the Deres move top of the Kent League Form Table, which takes into account the last six games that each team has played.

The Deres will have a major say in where the Kent League title goes as they take on title-challenging Croydon on Good Friday and league leaders Whitstable Town on Easter Saturday.

With both games at Park View Road, Deres fans are set for an entertaining Easter and the games will be a good measure of whether or not the current squad is capable of challenging for promotion next season.

Firstly though, the Deres must turn their attention to Tuesday’s match at Salters Lane, where they face a Faversham Town side that will be eager to turn around their recent poor run of form.

Erith & Belvedere: Murray, Scowen, Percy, Crawley, Gonzague, Maycock, Smith, Berkley (Gross 72), Collins (Nougher 77), White (capt.) (Chioma 77), Deane.

Attendance: 60