Sevenoaks Town 1-1 Beckenham Town - We've just been robbed off three points, claims Darren Anslow

SEVENOAKS TOWN  1-1  BECKENHAM TOWN
Kent Hurlimann Football League
Monday 23^rd April 2012
Stephen McCartney reports from Greatness Park

FURIOUS Sevenoaks Town manager Darren Anslow claimed referee Steve Perry robbed his side of a shock victory over Beckenham Town on a controversial wet night at Greatness Park.

Sevenoaks Town leapfrogged over Deal Town into the bottom three following their hard-earned point, but it could have been so much more in their penultimate home game of their miserable Kent Hurlimann Football League campaign.

The home side controversially took the lead on the half-hour mark when George Savage (who appeared many yards offside) rounded visiting keeper Nick Blue to slot home.

It looked like they were going to hold on, but Beckenham Town scored a last-gasp equaliser, timed at 50:58, when dead-ball specialist Jake Hobbs scored from a free-kick.

The Bexleyheath-based official wrongly sent off Sevenoaks assistant manager Martin Barnard following comments made by Anslow towards the man-in-the-middle, before Anslow followed moments later, before the final whistle finally blew with 54:29 on the clock.

Anslow said: “I’m really pleased to be fair.   I’m really, really pleased.  We had four Academy players playing, difficult side to play against.

“I think personally, in my opinion, on their day, they’re probably the best side in the Kent League.  Obviously Herne Bay have won the League but after Herne Bay they’re the best side in the league.

“We dug in. I don’t think we deserved that.  We defended fantastically well, with a sixteen-year-old boy in goal, a sixteen-year-old lad up front.  I thought they done fantastically well.  I’m really, really proud of them.

“I was hunting around to get a side. We’ve been stitched up a little bit in terms of fixtures, Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and not even easy games, so Erith Town here (on Saturday) a point, here a point. 

“The boys have risen seriously after the final when we were poor.  We’ve come and battled. We probably deserved a little bit more against Erith on Saturday and possibly a little bit more here today. 

“People will look at that and think it’s a good result.  I just don’t think it’s a good result. I think we’ve just been robbed off three points by the same official who missed a tackle on Richmond Kissi (at home to Woodstock Sports).

Beckenham Town manager Jason Huntley added: “I think we’ve dominated the game, if I’m being honest.  I know people are saying different but second half especially, we were camped in their half.

“We had a hell of a lot of possession.  We had some good half chances.  The one we had three or four in the area and then they broke away and scored their goal. 

“Fair dues to them, they defended for their lives and they done well and then they got their goal.  It was a bad night to play football.  The conditions were terrible and slippery but we played well second half.”

Beckenham Town, who leapfrogged over Tunbridge Wells into fifth-place thanks to this point, should have opened the scoring after 65 seconds.

Hobbs whipped in a corner from the right and striker Ben Slade rose to power his header over from six-yards.

Sevenoaks Town created their first chance inside the opening five minutes when striker Gerald Akosa latched onto Sean Brown’s pass and called Blue into making a low save to his left.

Hobbs drove a right-footed free-kick from 25-yards straight into the gloves of sixteen-year-old Sevenoaks keeper Rilwan Anibaba, who played for Kent Invicta League side Lewisham Borough earlier in the season.

In what was a bright end-to-end opening, Sevenoaks went close when Aaron Guard’s whipped in a free-kick from the left channel and Frazer Cronin came up from the back to send his downward header just wide of the near post.

A poor crossfield pass from Beckenham right-back Jamie Turner was picked up by Savage, who raced forward and stroked a right-footed shot just past the near post after fifteen minutes.

Huntley insisted his side should have been awarded a penalty three minutes later when Beckenham striker Elstrom Die was upended by advancing keeper Anibaba after the former Fisher striker latched onto Jamie Turner’s pass from midfield.

“You won’t get a more blatant penalty this year as far as I’m concerned,” stormed Huntley afterwards.

“The ref was bang in the position but we’ve had a fair share this year but when it’s as blatant  as that you expect them to be given, but take that away, we wasn’t firing as well as we have been lately, I must admit.”

But conditions deteriorated as soon as the heavens started to open.

Beckenham Town were denied by an excellent diving save from Anibaba – before Sevenoaks opened the scoring on 30 minutes.

Hobbs swung in a corner from the right and Slade’s downward header was destined to find the far corner, but the keeper dived to his right and stuck out a strong right arm to push away and Jason Rose’s follow up shot was blocked inside a crowded goal-mouth.

Sevenoaks drew first blood by taking the lead.  Tom Skelton played the ball over the top of the Beckenham back-four and found Savage in acres of space just inside the penalty area.  Blue advanced off his line and tried to smother the ball at the winger’s feet, but Savage kept his composure and rounded the keeper and slotted a right-footed shot into the corner.

Huntley said: “From where I was, I thought it was way offside!”

Sevenoaks squandered an excellent chance to double their lead when the hardworking Akosa cut the ball back for Guard, who was taken out by Jamie Turner, but Chris Round blasted his left-footed free-kick wide from inches outside the penalty area.

Sevenoaks’ sixteen-year-old striker, Jo-Jo Oginbuye blasted wide from 25-yards after being released by Guard’s fine pass.

Beckenham were off target when Taylor and Hobbs tried their luck from 40-yards as did Taylor, whose right-footed drive from such a distance went straight at the Sevenoaks stopper.

Huntley added: “Second half I thought we acquitted ourselves well.  We played the football. We kept them in their own half when we went three up front they just left one up front so I thought they were happy to try to win the game 1-0.”

Seven minutes into the second half, Sevenoaks winger, Round, who was wearing the number 19 shirt, swung in a dangerous corner from the right, which was headed off the line by an alert Taylor.

Another pacy run from Sevenoaks striker Akosa saw him play in Skelton, who had ghosted in behind the Beckenham left-back Danny Tipple, but Skelton sent a powerful right-footed drive over.

And at the other end, Beckenham striker Slade cut in from the right before firing inches wide of the near post.

Sevenoaks went close with a fine move on the hour mark when Guard released Akosa down the left channel and the striker cut the ball back to Round, but his left-footed drive sailed just over the Beckenham crossbar.

Beckenham Town were denied an equaliser halfway through the half when Hobbs curled a right-footed shot from 25-yards, which dipped in front of the diving Anibaba, who swiftly got down low to his left to push the ball away and Joe Jackson’s follow up deflected wide.

Round started and almost finished a fine Sevenoaks move when he initially played the ball to Savage, who released Akosa racing down the right and his crossfield pass was hit on the turn by Round, his right-footed shot sailing just over.

Sevenoaks sat back for the final twenty minutes and Beckenham enjoyed plenty of possession as they went in search for an equaliser.

Anslow said he got his tactics spot on, against a Beckenham side that have scored three goals in each of their last five games.

He said: “I thought they all worked their socks off.  I can’t fault them.  We waited until we got there.  We named our eleven because that was easy to do and we just waited until we got their team sheet to see who they were playing before we decided how we were going to set up and I thought the set-up actually worked because we countered their wingers.  Jake Hobbs didn’t get a lot of the ball tonight and it worked.  I think tactically we got it spot on.”

But Sevenoaks should have wrapped up their sixth league win of the season when Akosa was once again released down the right and he played the ball inside for Guard, who had time and space before cracking a right-footed drive from 20-yards, which brought the very best out of visiting keeper Blue.  The keeper dived low to his right to push the ball away and swiftly got back up on to his feet before substitute striker James Golding could pounce.

Inside injury-time Barnard and then Anslow were dismissed from the Sevenoaks technical area, before Beckenham grabbed a point.

Anslow stormed: “It’s strange that he (the referee) sees certain things and not other things. He can’t even get it right when you call him something when four foot away in the dug-out.  I keep going on about him, don’t I?.  Something’s got to be done about him.  Unless people start putting in reports and start making them down they’re not going to be dealt with.”

Anslow added: “For me, shocking!  Not just one way, both ways.  It’s cost us at the end of the game!”

When asked what he said to the referee that got him sent-off, Anslow replied, “I said to him at 49 minutes, how many minutes ref?  He said ‘you’ve still got another five minutes left’ and I went ‘where have you got ten minutes from?’

“Maybe I see differently, I don’t know.  I’m looking at my side, but I’m sitting there on 48 minutes thinking we’ve got three points here and I’m still waiting until 55 minutes until we come off the pitch.  There wasn’t that much stoppage time, but then there you go.”

Joe Stephenson was penalised for a foul on Tipple some 25-yard from goal and despite being faced with a six-man wall, Hobbs stroked his right-footed free-kick around the wall and the ball nestled inside the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

Anslow disagreed with the referee’s decision to give Hobbs a goalscoring chance.

Anslow claimed:  “But the free-kick, everyone’s laughing. He’s actually said to my players ‘you’ve won the ball, but I thought you was a little aggressive’. 

Huntley was asked his thoughts on the incident.

He said: “From where I was, it looked like a tackle. He caught him. He’s given the free-kick.  I wasn’t sure if I’m being honest.  I don’t know. He was nearer than me.  I’m a long way from where it was.

“That weren’t the undoing of them really. We had a few decent chances in that half.”

Left-winger Hobbs, who took his goalscoring tally to 28 for the season, should be playing at a much higher level than the Kent League and Huntley is lucky to have him at Eden Park Avenue.

Huntley said: “We got the goal we deserved at the end, definitely, without a shadow of a doubt and maybe on our second half performance we could’ve, deserved to win it.

“He’s done really well this year, Jake. He’s got some outstanding goals and on the other side of the coin he has got a lot of pens though to be fair.  I think he’s got thirteen, but he’s still got to put them in and his other half of goals have been spectacular goals.  I mean his free-kick tonight, he does that normally.”

When asked whether he can keep the former Welling United player at the club, Huntley replied, “We’re hoping to.  We’re going to speak to all of the players next Saturday when we’re coming back from Herne Bay and we’ll have a little chat with all of them.  We’re hoping to keep the majority of players we’ve got and I think if we do I think we’d put ourselves in a good position for next season.”

Beckenham almost snatched the win at the death but Jackson drilled a low shot wide after Anibaba met Hobbs’ cross from the left with a powerful header away.

Huntley said: “Our problem this year when we play the lower teams we’ve sort of gone down to their level a little bit.”

When asked whether his side gained a point or dropped two, Huntley replied, “I’d say two dropped personally.  We were camped in their half second half, which was clearly visible.  I’m pleased that we’ve got a point, but I did think we deserved to get all three.

“Darren didn’t have his full strength squad out.  The kids he put in worked hard for him so they deserved a point for their work ethic along. They didn’t give up.  Other teams give up. They worked until the last minute.”

Sevenoaks Town: Rilwan Anibaba, Joe Stephenson, Tom Skelton (Mike Bishop 88), Aaron Guard, Jordan Clark, Frazer Cronin, George Savage, Sean Brown (Mark Bishop 86), Jo-Jo Oginbuye (James Golding 70), Gerald Akosa, Chris Round.

Goal:  George Savage 30

Booked: Joe Stephenson 90, Chris Round 90

Sent Off:  Martin Barnard 90, Darren Anslow 90

Beckenham Town: Nick Blue, Jamie Taylor, Danny Tipple, Jason Rose, Malik Fofana, Harry Draper, Jamie Turner, Jake Hobbs, Ben Slade, Elstrom Die, Joe Jackson.
Subs: Byron Beard, Alfie Nunn, Jason Clews, Danny McKone, Nick Curran

Goal:  Jake Hobbs 90

Booked: Harry Draper 54, Elstrom Die 56, Jamie Taylor 71

Attendance: 47
Referee: Mr Steve Perry (Bexleyheath)
Assistants: Mr John Quirke (Maidstone) & Mr Ollie Woodrow (Maidstone)