Kentish Football 
Sittingbourne 0-1 Leatherhead - We just can't stop making stupid mistakes, says Danny Ward
Ryman League Division One South
Tuesday 11th September 2012
Mike Green reports from Bourne Park
It was new-versus-old at Bourne Park, as former boss Richard Brady returned with several former Sittingbourne players in the starting line up for his Leatherhead side and left with all three points.
But Brady will know just how close Jim and Danny Ward's new look Sittingbourne side came to upsetting one of the pre-season promotion favourites in Ryman League Division One South.
But in the end is was one moment of opportunism from Leatherhead striker Tommy Hutchings just before half time that settled the game as he took advantage of a poor back pass to beat the unlucky Sittingbourne keeper Adam Molloy to the ball on the edge of the box.
Molloy was so desperately unlucky that after challenging Hutchings outside the box that the ball fell so invitingly for the Leatherhead striker who lifted the ball over the despairing keeper and the ball dropped agonisingly from a home perspective just under the cross bar.
It all left Danny Ward shaking his head after the game as he admitted, "We just can’t stop making stupid mistakes - we've got a very inexperienced squad - we knew this was going to be a test.
“We always knew that this season was going to be a learning curve where we're actually further along than we thought we would be! And that’s why we're disappointed - we've played one of the teams that are among the favourites to win the League tonight and we should have won the game!
“We've matched them all over the park, but we've suffered yet again from stupid mistakes - it a game that we deserved to win and but from a mistake from our centre half we would have done, but he's only young and he's still learning - OK it was a good finish from the lad but apart from that they didn't have many more chances.
“We missed a few chances and the first goal is so, so important, and that’s the problem with playing with young inexperienced players who are playing up a level now where that first goal is so important in matches its unbelievable!"
That said, Danny was also frustrated that his young charges didn't do themselves justice in certain areas of the pitch - particularly in the final third.
He said: "We didn't play well enough tonight - we're better than that! We got behind them enough tonight but didn't create enough. Its so frustrating – that’s now three games where we haven't scored and we've made chances - tonight the keepers made a couple of great saves from Treadwell - but we've got to score them and if Treadwell scores in the first half I do think that we go on and win the game.
“The final ball was very frustrating tonight - the decision making was very poor, they were beating a man then going back to beat them again. You don’t need to beat them again - just do your job and get the ball into the box and then go from there, and then they can turn round and say well I've done my bit! But the problem is that I keep forgetting just how young they are."
Yet it could have started so well for the home side if Nick Treadwell was only a couple of inches taller as inside the opening minute a super passing move on the edge of the Leatherhead box saw Hicham Akhazzan fire the ball across the face of goal, and Treadwell arriving at the far post just couldn't stretch enough to turn the ball home.
The game then developed into an intriguing contest as chances came at both ends with the best of the home sides again falling to Treadwell who this time saw his close range header (from Akhazzan’s free kick) brilliantly turned aside by Leatherhead's former Brickies keeper Matt Reed, whilst at the other end, Molloy (Reed's successor in the Sittingbourne goal) got down smartly to deny Adam Gross, as the former Dartford and Erith & Belvedere defender drove in a low shot to the keeper’s left.
Then just as the Ward's were preparing their half time team talk, disaster struck! Hutchings took advantage of a poor back pass; riding his luck in his challenge with Molloy before looping the ball under the bar from the edge of the box.
Encouraged by the timing of their goal, it was natural enough that the visitors’ enjoyed their best spell of the game in the opening stages of the second half.
Hutchings held off three challenges to shoot wide when Greg Andrews was surely better placed for a short pass, before Jamie Coyle expertly placed a header wide of Molloy, and as he scrambled back, the Brickies keeper was relieved to see the ball bounce past the right post to safety.
Molloy then produced a near impossible magnificent point blank save to deny Andres header - somehow the keeper was able to deflect the ball onto the bar and away to safety as Andrews superbly met Charlie Holness' right wing cross.
That came at the midway point of the second half, and it was almost as if their keepers heroics inspired his team mates and in particular strikers Joe Nwoko and Joe Taylor.
Taylor (only introduced to the action in the closing stages of the first half after injury forced off the unlucky Akhazzan) only joined the Brickies in the last few days, his fledgling partnership with Nwoko showed some really encouraging early signs with their running off the ball for each other at times was superb.
And indeed but for two very marginal offside yet correct decisions, Taylor would have surely marked his debut with the goal that the home side deserved for their efforts.
Indeed Taylor did put the ball in the net on 70 minutes - after Nowoko's charging run had laid him in - but the assistant's flag went up to deny him a debut goal.
As the game wore on Nwoko's charging runs were causing the home side more and more problems, and led to some very crude challenges to try to stop him, with perhaps the worst coming from the otherwise outstanding Jerry Nnamani which earned the former Sittingbourne man a place in Mr Fissenden's notebook as the visitors held on for the points.
Whilst the Brickies front two of Nwoko and Taylor worked well together, and were one of the big pluses on an unfortunate night, Danny Ward admitted: "The front boys played really well together with some great touches and when you remember that they only met last Thursday for the first time, it just underlines what a good squad of 18 players here and there are lots of things to work with. But some of the movement between the two of them was terrific and but for a couple of dubious linesman's flags we could have got a couple of goals out it - we definitely deserved one if not more!
"Make no mistake the boys are all together, so we'll all go again on Thursday at training as we've got Horsham here in the Trophy on Saturday - some one is going to get a hiding from us and hopefully that will start at the weekend.
“It’s fantastic and is all there to be had, and its another part of our learning curve but it is the FA Trophy. Most of these boys tonight were playing in the FA Youth Cup last season as they never played senior football, so its another part of their learning curve, and its all about learning for us - we'll be in on Thursday for training and working on set pieces, but someone is going to get a beating one of these weeks and hopefully it'll be Saturday.
"All we need is for the ball to go in off someone’s back side and that'll be it and we'll be away, but it just needs one bounce off of someone’s back side and we'll be off and running."
Sittingbourne: Adam Molloy, Curtis Winnett (Connor Coyne 81), Tom Skelton, Nick Davis, Aaron Gough, Luke Girt, Tom Loynes, Nick Treadwell, Joe Nwoko, Jason Dolby, Hicham Akhazzan (Joe Taylor 36).
Subs: Elie Kayembe, Tunde Aderonmu, Anthony Woodward
Booked: Jason Dolby 62, Tom Loynes 78, Aaron Gough 86
Leatherhead: Matt Reed, Jamie Coyle, Adam Gross, Jerry Nnamani, Chris Boulter, Elliott Thompson (Billy Manners 68), Charlie Holness, Mark Simmons, Kev Terry, Tommy Hutchings (Tashan Francis Adeyinka 85), Greg Andrews (Bentley Graham 81).
Subs: Dan Palfrey, Louis Chin
Goal: Tommy Hutchings 43
Booked: Elliott Thompson 23, Tommy Hutchings 34, Greg Andrews 66, Jerry Nnamani 68
Attendance: 141
Referee: Mr Ian Fissenden (Gillingham)
Assistants: Mr Roger Wells (Coulsdon, Surrey) & Mr Dane Johnston (Coulsdon, Surrey)
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