Soccer Shorts: I regret my actions, says Sutton United boss Doswell

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DISGRACED Sutton United manager Paul Doswell has admitted he was wrong to lash out at Tonbridge Angels skipper Anthony Storey during his side’s 3-1 win at Longmead Stadium last weekend, writes Stephen McCartney.

The disgraceful scenes occurred after 34 minutes of the Ryman Premier League grudge match and followed Sutton’s striker Chukki Eribenne’s booking for a crude challenge on Angels central defender Leon Legge.

A “discussion” developed in front of the Angels dug-out, whilst Legge was receiving treatment and it was during these scenes that Storey was flattened by Doswell.

And the Sutton United boss, speaking to his club’s official website, said, “There are two sides to the story, but I regret getting involved and reacting to the comments.

“I should have risen above it, but I’ve learnt my lesson. It’s the first time I’ve been sent off in twenty years, and it will be the last.”

DOVER ATHLETIC have confirmed this week that goalkeeper Preston Edwards has extended his loan spell from Milllwall for a further month.

DARTFORD boss Tony Burman appears to have found a replacement for Cody McDonald, having snapped up Metropolitan Police striker Craig Carley.

Despite the striker having signed a two-year contract in March 2008, the Met decided that, due to his excellent service to the Imber Court club, no fee would be requested.

Carley signed for the Met in June 2007 from league rivals Walton Casuals, whom he had joined from then Combined Counties rivals AFC Wimbledon during the 2002-03 season.

However, in June 2008, he turned down the opportunity to join South African Premier side AmaZulus after a successful trial spell.

In a statement, Met Police manager Jim Cooper said, “I received a phone call from Tony Burman at Dartford earlier in the week regarding Craig's current availability. Craig was under contract to us. However, it was decided that he could speak to them.

“Craig met with Tony and saw the amazing set up at their ground and asked if a move could happen.

“To be fair to our club, a committee meeting was hastily arranged and it was agreed that no fee would be asked for him as he had been a fantastic servant to the club and we are still very thankful to the fans at Dartford who gave alot of money to a charity fund (The Jack Brown appeal) in the recent past.

“A pre-season friendly has also been agreed, assuming we are not in the same league.

“I would like to wish Craig all the very best for the future and can assure Dartford fans that they have a very good player coming to them.”

Burman, speaking to www.dartfordfootballclub.co.uk before the deal was unveiled on www.nonleaguedaily.com, said “I am not interested in whether it’s a big name or another unknown as long as me and my coaching staff think he is a good player and will improvve the squad, then I will try and sign him.”

Burman has challenged his side to bounce back from their single goal defeat at Ashford Town (Middlesex) last weekend, by picking up all three points from Tooting & Mitcham United tomorrow.

Looking ahead to the Princes Park clash, Burman said, “We have a tough home game against Tooting & Mitcham, who have picked up some very good points in recent games after a poor start by their standards.

“The players have again trained well this week and will be focused on tomorrow’s game.”

Dartford’s surprise defeat at Short Lane last weekend meant the Princes Park outfit slipped out of the Ryman Premier League play-off zone.

And Burman said, “There are still a lot of points to play for and in my opinion many more twists and turns to who may make or not make the play-off’s.

“The most important thing is the next game and to try and get as many points as you can and move on.”

On the injury front, Danny Dafter will be out for another four weeks, but with his attitude to getting fit it would not surprise Burman if he returns earlier.

Ryan Hayes and John Guest both trained last night and if there is no reaction today, they will be added to Burman’s squad tomorrow.

James White, meanwhile, has recovered from slight concussion from last week, but sits out through suspension and Steve Butterworth has a problem with his knee and will return soon.

MARGATE will be looking to build on the momentum that they gathered after going three games without defeat, as they travel to Wealdstone tomorrow, writes Steve Wells.

Margate will definitely be without Curtis Robinson (suspended) while Roberto Corbishley and Kieran Morris (both injured) also look set to miss out. Striker Nathan Bailey, who was replaced by Kenny Pratt on the half hour against Boreham Wood because of injury has struggled for form and with fitness, and it would be no surprise if Pratt retained his place in the side from the start, ahead of the former Dover man.

With Ryan Peters joining Wayne Wilson on five league goals with his successful spot kick last week, the battle for Gate’s top scorer will also heat up; particularly with Peters shooting for double figures by the end of the season.

MAIDSTONE UNITED joint-manager Alan Walker targets four points from their next two games - a trip to AFC Hornchurch tomorrow, followed by the re-arranged home game with Harrow Borough on Wednesday night.

The Stones haven’t won in nine league games, but Walker, speaking to www.maidstoneunited.co.uk,  believes his side will win their first game of 2009 this week.

“It has been quite a while now since we won a game and to a certain extent I am not surprised at the dip in form considering what has been going on at the club,” said Walker.

“However, the boys have done well in recent matches and I don’t think our results have mirrored our performances.

“We now have two decent games coming up against Hornchurch and Harrow Borough and I am confident that we can get four points from these fixtures.

“The recent spell of bad weather which led to the cancellation of games at short notice has affected the player’s base level of fitness and so we have been doing a lot of fitness work during our training sessions to rectify this which we hope will pay off during the forthcoming games.”

The Stones are pretty much at full strength for tomorrow’s trip to Bridge Avenue. James Pinnock returns to the side but Keelan Mooney and Steve Northwood are unavailable.

As a result, Adam Harris, Tom Parkinson and Steve Elliott will all come into the squad.

ASHFORD TOWN boss Steve Lovell, hoping his side bounce back following back-to-back defeats, has signed Godalming Town striker Shawn Beveney. The Guyana striker failed to hit it off with their Kent rivals Cray Wanderers earlier in the season, scoring just two goals during an injury blighted spell at Hayes Lane.

FOLKESTONE INVICTA were comfortable 2-0 winners at Walton & Hersham in midweek, courtesy of goals from James Dryden and Josh Burchell, writes Tom Marchant.

The victory was the perfect response to Saturday’s defeat at the Buzzlines Stadium to Leatherhead, where a last gasp goal from the visitors saw them leave 2-1 victors.

“Saturday we were terrible second half after a couple of good performances in the League away from home and I was really disappointed”, remarked manager Neil Cugley, when speaking to www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk.

“I made sure the players knew exactly how I felt afterwards and I repeated that again on Tuesday night before the game. Standards dropped on Saturday and I felt let down and I’m sure the fans did and that had to be put right.”

Cugley named an unchanged starting line up from Saturday, with Kieron Byrne (knee) still sidelined and Joe Neilson (work commitments) was unavailable.

“As has been the way recently we’ve been very short on numbers with Byrnesy injured and Joe amongst others unable to get off work. So we had one sub who was 17 years old in Jon Driscoll and one sub who was 48 in Dixy,” explained Cugley.

“All credit to the players as they rolled their sleeves up and had a go for me and I can’t knock them at all as they responded brilliantly with such a good result.

“It was a really good performance and I was delighted at the way they responded to the criticisms I had at the weekend. To go to Walton & Hersham on a Tuesday night with 11 players and little on the bench, you could not ask for more.

“Both goals have come through our wing backs, which was one of the areas I felt we could improve on; Burchy obviously got a goal and the first has come from JV getting down the flank, hitting a great cross in and they’ve had to clear it and we’ve scored from the resulting corner.”

The Seasiders home form however continues to be a slight concern to the gaffer although the Seasiders have won two out of their last four at the Buzzlines Stadium.

Cugley mused, “We have got a problem at home at the present time and where we’ve got a lot of young lads there is perhaps a little more expectation at home with mates and family in the crowd.

“A long time ago, when I played at Folkestone I can remember expectations were a bit higher when you played at home and you’ve got to break teams down and play a bit better than you do away.

“Away from home in the last three league games I think we have been excellent. We need to get our act together at home and it’s something we have to work on, it won’t happen overnight.”

Invicta make the trip to Corinthian Casuals tomorrow, a side who are second from bottom in the Ryman Division One South table.

Folkestone’s midweek victory should ease any outside relegation concerns and ensure their League status for next season – pending the resolution of the off the field situation.

The gaffer will hope to have Kieron Byrne back and Joe Neilson should also return, adding much needed numbers to the squad.

“I look forward to every match to see what these players are about. I get annoyed and disappointed when we lose but I think we’re doing alright and I’ve got good people around me. I can’t fault the attitude and commitment of the players, it has been spot on,” said Cugley.

“Off the field with the Supporters Club and people like Clive Arnold, they’ve been fantastic. I can only deal with the football side though and getting a winning side out, I’m not very good with tax problems! The support we had from the fans on Tuesday night away from home was excellent as well and they’ve stuck behind us.

“We’ve got 11 matches left now and we’ve got the bottom three all to play so lets get stuck in. I’m not saying we’re going to win all 11 but we can give it a real go, play our football and try and finish as high as we can. The players have got to keep believing in themselves and keep giving everything they can and that’s all I can ask of them.”

LORDSWOOD boss Kevin Metcalf admitted tomorrow’s opponents at Martyn Grove were his favourites to win the Bulmers Cider Kent League title.

The former Tunbridge Wells manager welcomes Paul Foley’s VCD Athletic tomorrow, but warns the Crayford side that the Lords are not going to be making up the numbers.

“I’m expecting a tough game against VCD as they were always one of my favourites for the title,” Metcalf told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“I’m looking forward to the game. We’ve got a full squad available, the average age of the side is nineteen and they all want to learn the game.”

Despite sitting one place above whipping boys Sporting Bengal United, Metcalf remains upbeat for the remainder of the season.

“Everything at Lordswood is going great,” he said. “We’ve built a young squad now to compete. I’ve always said that after Christmas we will pick up points and I still think we’ll finish midtable.

Metcalf has this week signed three players, with Mick Pearce (Maidstone United), Mick Holiday (Whitstable Town) and Jay Winter arrives from Tunbridge Wells.

“He added, “They are three good lads for the future and I’ve also spoken to Sittingbourne manager Gary Abbott about signing a couple of his lads.”

ERITH TOWN boss Steve O’Boyle says he knows what to expect when Tunbridge Wells come to Bayliss Avenue in a Bulmers Cider Kent League fixture tomorrow.

The Dockers’ boss is expected to hand Chris Hubbard, who arrives from Beckenham Town, his debut, and Lee Morgan returns from suspension. But Dean Burns remains doubtful through injury.

“We’ve had three close games with Tunbridge Wells and tomorrow’s game will probably be the same,” warned O’Boyle.

“They have some really good players and play a nice passing game, so we have to work hard to stop them playing.”

O’Boyle added both sides have a good chance off clinching the title this season, saying, “Both teams are within touching distance of each other, but we are hopeful we can carry on from the win against VCD Athletic in midweek and get three points to stay third in the table.”

GREENWICH BOROUGH boss Steve Firkins is pleased with the way that his side have been playing, ahead of tomorrow’s trip to struggling Beckenham Town.

“Since our home win against Deal Town before Christmas, I have been happy with the way my team has been playing of late,” Firkins told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“We have started creating a good ratio of chances and adapted our style slightly to accommodate the style of other teams.

“Also getting back to fitness are players such as Ken Jarratt-Elliott, Frankie Warren, Robert McCarry, Jason Mabbs and finally Danny Hunt.

“There are a number of teams that have hit a recent spurt of good form, such as VCD Athletic, but other than the recent home defeat to Lordswood, I think we have been one of the most consistent teams in the league.

“This is something that we must maintain to try and establish ourselves amongst the top five teams.

“As far as tomorrow’s game is concerned we won’t be taking nothing for granted. Beckenham have always been renowned as a good footballing side, and my team will have to be at their best to get any sort of result at Eden Park Avenue.

“One major disappointment is my team selection for tomorrow is that in-form striker Mark Sisson is out injured with a swollen ankle, but I’m quite confident that either Richard Monnan or Kane Hoadley can fill the forward slot alongside Danny Hunt.”

The cloud of gloom that seems to have permanently settled over Eden Park Avenue over the past few months doesn't appear to allow even a chink of brightness to permeate.

After an almost unprecedented five year suspension imposed by the Football Association in 2004, Beckenham Town await Monday's decision from the FA as to whether they will be allowed to re-enter the FA Vase next season.

Surprisingly, what at one time would have been a decision awaited with a quite natural air of excitement and anticipation appears to have found its way to the back of the priorities queue and when the club's website spoke to Secretary Peter Palmer this week his reaction was decidedly muted.

"We are hopeful that Monday's decision will go in our favour but we have no expectations beyond that,“ he told www.beckenhamtownfc.co.uk.

At this stage last season, Becks were on their way to the Semi finals of the Kent Senior Trophy, Kent League cup and still in with a chance of the Championship. It's an amazing turn around in such a short period of time and one which perhaps quite naturally has taken its toll on both the playing staff and the club's administration. Naively, it would be nice to think that a favourable decision on Monday would put some smiles back on gloomy faces - but it doesn't seem likely.

SLADE GREEN boss Martin Ford has made further signings. In comes goalkeeper Dylan McVicar on a month’s loan from Ryman One South side Whitstable Town, while Timmy Adekambi has signed from Ryman Premier League outfit Canvey Island, where he can play as a striker or in midfield.

Meanwhile, Sam May has parted company with the club has joined former Green boss Matt Longhurst at Chatham Town.