VCD Athletic 2-0 Rusthall - There is a tinge of disappointment - I'm not going to lie - because at points in the season we thought we could win the league, says VCD Athletic joint-manager Danny Joy

VCD Athletic 2 – 0 Rusthall
Location	Oakwood, Old Road, Crayford, Kent DA1 4DN
Kickoff	12/04/2025 15:00

VCD ATHLETIC  2-0  RUSTHALL
Presence & Co Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division
Saturday 12 April 2025
Stephen McCartney reports from Oakwood

VCD ATHLETIC joint-manager Danny Joy says there is a tinge of disappointment within their ranks having to settle for a runners-up spot in this Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division title race.

Tommy Warrilow’s Faversham Town will claim the title and promotion back into the Isthmian League South East Division after a two-year absence with a point at Tunbridge Wells on Tuesday night, as VCD Athletic ended Rusthall’s 20-match unbeaten run in all competitions with a comfortable 2-0 win.

Ollie Freeman’s shot struck the far post and was turned in by Rusthall’s left-back Mustafa Hashemi for an own goal, as VCD Athletic seized early control before a clinical strike from central midfielder Rajan Sahni sealed the deal inside the opening 33 minutes.

Rusthall twice skimmed the top of the crossbar during the first half while the second half was played out in a cagey stalemate with little happening to excite the crowd of 174 inside a warm and sunny Oakwood.

VCD Athletic went into the game on a run of four games without a win, including a 1-0 defeat at relegation-threatened side Lydd Town last Saturday.

“Well needed, very well needed,” admitted Joy.

“There’s been a lot of questions asked in the last month. Obviously, we weren’t having the results that we were expecting but we showed a lot of character today.

“It’s been a little bit flat, obviously things have happened in the club, a lot of them thought about winning the Vase.  We’ve been in the mix to win the league all season, so to bounce back and recover and shake that off is credit to the boys.

“We’ve had a hard week in training and we’ve had a lot of heart to hearts about what’s happened and it was important today, it was important for the group and it was important just to instil a bit of belief back in the team.

“I think the first half we were very good and the second half they controlled it. I mean their gaffer has just come over and said ‘fair play to you, I’ve had to change shape to deal with your side,’ so we take that as a compliment but yes, they’re a good side and not a side you look forward to play again in the play-offs, that’s for sure.

“But today was about us because it’s been a tough time and they’ve shown a lot of ***eho*e today.”

Joy added: “The players gave everything! They gave us lots of determination, which was more important. The quality – we always know the quality is there – but after the month we’ve had, the determination and the desire to win had been questioned by a lot of people so yes the most important thing today for us was the effort as a group and even the subs that came on made a massive difference.”

Rusthall manager Jimmy Anderson is leading the Jockey Farm outfit to their highest position in their 125-year history.

“Just fine margines really today, I thought two mistakes but ultimately we got beat by the better team.  We didn’t create much at all today,” admitted Anderson.

“To be fair, I felt it was a game, it’s two good teams, both tried to play football on a lovely surface.

“It’s weird. They scored early to kind of kill the game a bit. There was no atmosphere – we had more fans than them – but it was dead quiet today and as a team we couldn’t get going.

“We had plenty of the ball, on the Veo, we probably have more possession of the ball but that’s credit to them.  I can’t remember forcing their keeper into many saves and it wasn’t because their back four was brilliant. I felt like we didn’t grab the game enough today.”

Rusthall could have changed the outcome with their first chance after only 74 seconds.

VCD Athletic central midfielder Liam Gillies had his pocket picked by Yassin Fares on the half-way line before Fares released 32-goal striker Charlie Clover, before feeding the ball back to Fares, whose left-footed drive deflected off Vickers’ centre-half Ben Fitchett inside the box and looped and clipped the top of the crossbar.

Anderson said: “I didn’t think their keeper saved it but we started well and then made the mistake and didn’t track our man with their goal.”

Joy added: “What a player by the way. I thought Walks got a finger on it to be fair.

“They started well. We knew they were going to come out of the traps lively and it did take us 10 minutes to sort of settle into the game but I mean the thing is you’ve got to ride your luck. It’s all about that.

“No team dominates 90 minutes at this level because everyone is in with a shout of winning games but I thought Walks got a hand on it.”

VCD Athletic were given a helping hand as they grabbed the lead with only two minutes and 43 seconds on the clock.

Outstanding centre-half Dexter Peter played the ball along the deck to central winger Francis Babalola, who played 23-goal striker Ollie Freeman in behind Rusthall centre-half Daniel Blunn.

The unmarked Freeman stroked his left-footed angled drive across keeper Serine Sanneh, the ball bouncing off the bottom of the far post and the ball was turned in to the bottom right-hand corner by Rusthalll’s left-back Hashemi.

“That’s a big fortune of luck. I think someone was next to him to tap it in the net if it hadn’t had happened,” said Joy.

“Ollie gets in good positions.  To be fair, the first half playing into the front man and building. We cut them open three or four times so when we did score it was pleasing because we work hard on things like that.”

Anderson added: “That’s the thing, like they’ve started off great. If you score within the first five minutes, it’s going to have a knock of effect. 

“Ollie Freeman is up there with Charlie (Clover) with goals this season. He’s taken it early, he’s hit it clean, it’s come off the post and unfortunately my left-back has put it in.”

The game then turned into a drab, slow-tempo stalemate, with both sides creating chances during the first half and nothing much after the interval.

Both managers were asked about the slow tempo to the game.

“I don’t know really. I think we like to keep the ball, we like to control the pace and be patient,” replied Joy.

“When you’re 2-0 up early, when you go 2-0 up early in the game, you don’t really want it to be a high tempo basketball game.  We’re quite happy to have a slow tempo and retain the ball, so we can keep our shape.

“We know when we need to defend and we know when to go forward but from our point of view I would say rather saying it was a slow tempo performance, I would say it was a professional performance and we done enough.”

Anderson added: “I have no idea, obviously the weather conditions have slightly changed (20 degrees). It’s a hot day. I feel like even the pitch and the surface is pukka, the ball rolled a bit slow on it because it’s not wet.  If you had a little drizzle on it, it would zip around a lot more but ultimately I feel like it was a game where both teams kind of respect each other and know each other’s quality and fair play to them, they’ve won the game.”

Rusthall centre-half George Snelling had his pocket picked by Freeman within the right channel before the former Bearsted striker released Babalola on the overlap and he cut into the box and his cut-back from the by-line was gobbled up by Rusthall’s number 98 goalkeeper (that was his squad number when he was at West Ham United) at his near-post.

Rusthall swiftly went up the other end with a couple of headers just inside the Vickers’ half from Clover and attacking midfielder Jack Kirby, before Fares fed the ball back to Kirby and his left-footed shot from 15-yards was blocked by Andy Walker, 43, low to his right (19:26).

“I don’t know, I feel like we should score that, like other days we score that but yes it was a good move,” admitted Anderson.

“We had loads of possession today and we created chances but when we got into the final third we didn’t create those clinical chances to actually kill it off or grab the game. It was just one of those days.”

Joy added: “Big save! We had too much space in the middle of the park. They were difficult to play against because they left four high and two dropped in, so it was difficult to pick them up and they found some pockets.

“Rusthall are a real good side and another day they probably coming away thinking they could’ve had a point but that’s Walks’ job and that is why Walks is here. It’s a big save, big experience and when he’s called on, he never lets us down.”

Joy was concerned with the loss of Fitchett to a hamstring injury in the 28^th minute, so Joy and Ross Baker were forced into a tactical switch.  George Whitelock came off the bench to slot in at left-back, with Michael Fenn leaving that role to partner Dexter at the heart of defence with Harry Lawrence retaining his right-back berth.

“Story of our season.  That is the third time Fitchett has had an occurring hamstring injury and its sort of come out of nowhere again.  Massive loss, massive loss today but potentially a massive loss further in the season but we’ll have to see.

“I think Babs (Babalola) was potentially more of an impact injury so maybe he can shake that off but Fitchett’s one doesn’t look good, probably the third time now, the same injury.”

When asked about the centre-half potentially missing the play-offs, Joy replied: “Potentially, potentially. We’ll asses the injury in the week. He’ll get all the recovery that he needs and we’ll help him to get there but it will be a big loss to the side.”

The home side produced a well-worked final third move involving Babalola, Gillies and Freeman, who ended in Snelling taking out Freeman just a couple of yards outside the Rusthall penalty area.

Sanneh lined up a five man wall but Dymond’s right-footed free-kick from 20-yards went under the wall and Sanneh dived to his left and used a strong hand to make a comfortable block with 29:54 on the clock.

“Connor’s on the set-pieces, Connor very rarely does anything that doesn’t cause problems when it comes to set-pieces, whether it’s corners, free-kicks,” said Joy.

“It would’ve been nice to creep in or bounce to someone but it was a good save by the keeper, probably one you would expect him to make. I don’t think there was enough pace on it.”

Anderson added: “I didn’t think it had much power on that. He’s got down, it’s clear what he’s done but I expect Serine to save that.

“Like you said, it’s a slow game. I felt like either team cancelled themselves out. At that point they were already winning the game, so they have something, so the one thing they did do the keeper takes his time, they slow the game down right in the first five minutes, as soon as they took the lead.”

VCD Athletic killed the game off by doubling their lead with 32 minutes and 14 seconds on the clock.

Fenn played a 20-yard forward pass along the deck straight down the heart of the pitch – the ball was dummied by Babalola – and ran through to Sahni, who clinically drove his left-footed shot past the Rusthall goalkeeper from 20-yards, as Blunn switched off defensively once more.

“It was important, it’s important when you’re on top to keep the momentum, keep the pressure. We got a lot of bodies in forward positions and first half especially,” said Joy.

“I thought we caused them a lot of problems, especially on the counter. It was a good finish from Rajan. Rajan has come into the side the last couple of weeks. He retains the ball very well and took his chance really calmly today.”

Anderson added: “It was a good move. We didn’t track runners. Like I said, the two goals, we didn’t track runners.

“Is it individual errors? No, probably collectively, we’re a team so it’s collective. As a team they pulled us apart for the two goals. It’s a good finish.

“I’m pleased for Rajan, he’s a good lad. He’s missed a lot of football, he got a bad injury.

“We were still in the game. I said that at half-time. We’ve come back many times this season and I’m not one of those managers what says ‘next goal counts.’  Like we could’ve scored in the 70^th minute, we would’ve grabbed the game then.”

Rusthall’s holding midfielder Frank Griffin played a sloppy, dangerous ball across the face of his own penalty area and breathed a huge slice of relief after the home side’s left-winger, Nathaniel Alawole cut into the box and swept his shot across the keeper and bouncing past the foot of the far post from 15-yards on the angle.

“It was a good chance to be fair, it was a good chance. We kinda felt if we had scored that we would’ve probably won the game and killed the game there and then,” added Joy.

“It was good, it was nice because we were creating. We’ve gone a little bit stale in the last few weeks and we haven’t been creating many chances, so that’s pleasing for us.”

Referee Tom Nicholls pulled out a yellow card to book Whitelock for fouling Rusthall’s right-winger Jack Lyons from behind.

Lyons’ low left-footed free-kick was blocked on the edge of the box and Lyons recycled the ball back into the box and central midfielder Thompson Adeyemi flicked his free header onto the top of the crossbar (38:46).

“Yes, yes, should score I think, I think,” admitted the Rustics manager.

“The free-kick was poor from Jack and he’s got a lot more quality than that but with the header, it’s a free header. It should hit the target.

“Thompson’s been fantastic since he’s come in. He was great today. He’s picked up a little injury – we’ll asses him in the week. I’m not too sure (of what the injury is) yet, we’ll need to asses him.”

Joy added: “I think he just got there in front. You’ve got to ride your luck, especially when things haven’t been going well. That little bit of luck has gone our way today and we’ve needed it.  There’s no denying it, we needed a little bit of luck today.”

With Babalola receiving treatment from Emily Sawyer just behind the by-line, Anderson called over his brother, right-back Louis, who in turn went over to several of his team-mates to pass on details of the away side’s tactical switch.

Rusthall went with three at the back (Hashemi (left), George Snelling (central), Blunn (right), with Lyons (left) and Anderson (right) wing-backs, two in midfield and Kirby in behind Fares and Clover in attack.

Griffin threw the ball into the VCD Athletic penalty area, the ball was cleared away at the near-post and Kirby lacked composure, cracking his right-footed half-volley high over the bar from 15-yards, with a crowd of players in front of him.

There was still time for Rusthall to create one further stoppage-time chance, a sweeping move involving Anderson, Kirby and Fares on the counter-attack but Kirby drilled his right-footed drive flashing just past the foot of the left-hand post from 30-yards.

Anderson was full of praise for his attacking midfielder.

“You’re making it seem like we had a lot of chances but I didn’t think we did but if you’re putting them down as a chance yes, half-chance, not even that.  He’s had a shot from 30-yards. It might be a hopeful shot, shall we say.

“Jack Kirby was the best player on the pitch today, for me. I thought he was very, very good today.”

The referee blew his half-time whistle (55:26) and a slow tempo half moved into snail’s pace during a poor second half.

Joy said: “Don’t defend, don’t be defensive. We have a tendency to play really well in the first half and be in front and then sort of sit back, which as it happened that probably did happen a lot in the second half but that wasn’t the intension. The intension was to try to kill the game as quick as we could.

“Listen, Rusthall are a good side and they changed their shape in the second half and they got the ball into wide areas a lot quicker and they caused us more problems but for us a clean sheet is massive. It builds momentum, builds confidence, especially defensively but the idea was to try to kill the game.”

Anderson added: “To relax. That we’re still in the game. I still felt we were in the game – just keep believing, keep doing what we know what we can do.

“Credit to them, I said that at the end of the game as well to their two-managers, I changed the formation three times today in game to try to get us something. I haven’t really done that all season, so credit to them and they still cancelled us out.

“We’ve lost, we’re allowed to lose. It feels like a long time that we lost a game (2-1 at Fisher, 9 November), so it feels like a long time and the run was going to come to an end. 

“I’m glad it’s come today, potentially like that’s the only positive that I can see in it that we’ve lost today and hopefully it’s not a wake-up call but maybe that moment where the boys just need to go ‘look, we need to raise our levels again!’

Senior assistant referee James Beadle warned the VCD Athletic management about Walker’s first-half timewasting just before the second half got underway.

The first goalscoring chance fell to Rusthall in the 17^th minute.

Lyon swung in a left-footed free-kick from within the right-channel, the ball was cleared out to Griffin, who hooked his right-footed shot through a crowd of players across Walker and past the far post from inside the D.

Time ticked on, nothing happened, Rusthall had plenty of possession, did nothing with it.  Peter showed once again that he should be playing at least in the Isthmian League Premier Division with another faultless performance in defence, keeping Clover in his pocket but Fares was such a threat down the left that three Vickers players were booked in the second half for cynical fouls.

Anderson said: “No, that’s what I mean. The atmosphere, the game, just basically cancelled each other out. We tried to play, they tried to play at times, they defended. We carried on trying to play.

“I felt like we played the whole second half, the majority of it, in their half. I was quite pleased. I felt there was a good reaction from my boys.

“We changed the formation but look they’re 2-0 up. They don’t need to come out and start playing and they just need to defend their lead and fair play to them, they’re a good side, they’ve lost four (league) games all season.  This ain’t a disgrace to get beat by these here.”

Joy added: “I’ve got to be honest, we know Charlie (Clover) is a real good centre-forward but he relies on service and their two wide boys (Lyon and Fares) are fantastic footballers, young, dynamic and they did cause us problems.

“Rusthall score goals for fun as well by the way. For us to come away with a clean-sheet and it was tough because Yassin, especially in the second half, was virtually unplayable. What a future the kid’s got but from our point of view, another clean sheet and we can move on.

“Dexter has been fantastic for us, obviously we needed his experience. He’s been very important and being left-footed as well gives us balance. He’s powerful, he’s dominating. It was a good performance today, as well from Dexter.

“Dexter has been playing at higher levels but he’s openly admitted that he’s not played technically played the most football at clubs he’s been at, so it’s been an adjustment for him as well to come in and try to play out from the back. He’s been massive for us.”

VCD Athletic were to be denied a flattering third with 37:58 on the clock.

Substitute Joe Thomas was inside the centre-circle and swept the ball out wide to Olawole down the right. He stabbed the ball inside to Thomas on the overlap and his cross was parried by Sanneh at his near-post and the Rusthall keeper dived to his right to deny Lawrence scoring.

Joy said: “From a management point of view, when you’re 2-0 up, I’m over the moon with that! If we don’t really give up massive chances, they probably had more of the possession in the second half. We were always a threat on the counter but at 2-0 up, I thought we were very professional and we didn’t really look like every coming unstuck today.

“I think the boys were blowing. Mentally it was tough today. We’ve had a tough spell and maybe another time someone would’ve been there to tap it in the net but we’re still creating, which is important for us.”

Anderson added: “I think that was a cross (from Thomas), so I don’t call that a save, it’s a cross and he’s cut it out.  I don’t know, maybe, maybe, that’s what I mean, even you said yourself, second half was a bit, it was 45 minutes of nothing.”

Rusthall never looked like scoring and their final chance summed up the lack of quality from both of these play-off chasing outfits.

Lyon threw the ball short to Kirby, who cut onto his right-foot and switched the ball over to Anderson on the other side of the pitch and the now wing-back drilled his right-footed shot from 35-yards out, about 35-yards high over the crossbar towards the tennis courts.

Rusthall’s five of six corners came in the first half.  VCD Athletic’s first of two corners came in the 86^th minute which tells you all you need to know about this boring game.

“I thought Dexter (Peter) had a really good game but he didn’t look like he came out of second gear,” admitted Anderson.

“Yassin’s a great player, we’re lucky to have him. He loves it here with us and he was good today. He can be better but he was good today and he will have his say come the end of the season.

“Michael Fenn got man-of-the-match for VCD and they kept (Charlie Clover) quiet, or whether you say it didn’t fall for him. It was one of those days. Charlie’s been fantastic for us, he’s top goalscorer in the league, so hopefully he and we can get more goals.”

The referee blew his final whistle (50:14) and the shrill of his whistle woke up the fans in the sun-kissed crowd.

Article continues below…

WHO WILL JOIN FAVERSHAM TOWN IN THE ISTHMIAN LEAGUE NEXT SEASON?
Champions promoted into Isthmian League South East Division.
Teams second, third, fourth and fifth quality for play-off semi-finals with second and third being at home against fifth and fourth respectively

1 Faversham Town P35 W24 D9 L2 F89 A27 PTS 81 GD+62
Manager: Tommy Warrilow
Tuesday 15 April – away – Tunbridge Wells (13)
Monday 21 April – Home – Lordswood (20)
Saturday 26 April – away – Rusthall (4)

2 VCD Athletic P36 W22 D10 L4 F78 A35 PTS 75 +43 (one point deducted)
Joint-managers: Ross Baker and Danny Joy
Monday 21 April – Home – Sutton Athletic (14)
Saturday 26 April – away – Bearsted (10)

3 Fisher P36 W19 D8 L9 F61 A37 PTS 65 GD +24
Manager: Ajay Ashanike
Monday 21 April – away – Whitstable Town (6)
Saturday 26 April – Home – Hollands & Blair (15)

4 Rusthall P35 W18 D8 L9 F76 A55 PTS 62 GD +21
Manager:  Jimmy Anderson
Saturday 19 April – Home – Whitstable Town (6)
Monday 21 April – away – Tunbridge Wells (13)
Saturday 26 April – Home – Faversham Town (1)

5 Punjab United P36 W18 D7 L11 F61 A55 PTS 61 GD +6
Manager: Jugjit (Chipie) Sian
Monday 21 April – away – Stansfeld (16)
Saturday 26 April – Home – Erith & Belvedere (7)

6 Whitstable Town P32 W18 D5 L9 F67 A43 PTS 59 GD +24
Player-Manager: Jamie Coyle
Sunday 13 April – Maidstone – Larkfield & New Hythe  - Kent Senior Trophy Final
Tuesday 15 April – Home – Lydd Town (19)
Thursday 17 April – away – Lordswood (20)
Saturday 19 April – away – Rusthall (4)
Monday 21 April – Home – Fisher (3)
Wednesday 23 April – away – Corinthian (9)
Saturday 26 April – Home – Glebe (11)
Sunday 11 May – Wembley – AFC Whyteleafe – The FA Vase Final

“I still think there’s a bit of disappointment. We’ve been in some really good positions during the season but I think when you step back, it’s been a fantastic season,” said Joy.

“For a team to come from 12^th that was re-built the first season, to come from 12^th to second and only been beat so far four times this season, is fantastic.

“But there is a tinge of disappointment – I’m not going to lie – because at points this season we thought we could win the league.

“But a little bit of experience, missing players through suspensions and injuries, it’s caught up and I think it’s taken us a few weeks maybe to shake them off but hopefully today is a turning point for us.

“We’re now in play-off mode, so it’s two games that warm up for the play-off Semi-Finals.

“Sutton will come here and I’m good friends with Peter Norlan and I’ve been with Pete for years but I know they’re going to come here and they’re going to be good because every time we play them, they’ve been tough and they beat us in the cup.”

VCD Athletic will have home advantage in the Play-Off Semi-Finals and will host the winner-takes-all Final should they get through, as the highest place finisher.

“Massive, massive. I think it’s a belief thing. I think the way we play, it’s easier for teams to play against us away because pitches are a big leveller.  I think the way we play the boys sort of raise their confidence, raise their belief when we’re at home because of the pitch because it suits us but obviously during the season you’re not going to have that luxury every week.

“But yes, home advantage is massive because we’re strong here. I think we’ve lost once (in the league) here.

“Whoever we play is on form, whoever we play are going to come here and isn’t going to roll over.

“I think (this promotion race) is exciting for the neutral. I think the potential of getting promoted is exciting but the potential of the other side of the coin of what could happen is daunting but if we’re at it, we’re going to be in with a good chance.

“The fact at the start of the season, no one probably even had us probably making the play-offs. If we came in the play-offs late, we’d say ‘cor, what a fantastic season’, but I think the fact that we’ve been here all season, there is that little bit of disappointment (that we haven’t won the league title).

“We’re proud of the boys. We’ve come so far and the style of football we try to play – we can’t always play but we try to play and we’ve kept at the top of the league all season is credit to the management team because we work hard on the training ground and credit to the boys because they’ve been fantastic all season for us.”

For Rusthall, Jamie Coyle brings his Whitstable Town side to Jockey Farm next Saturday – as the race for the play-off reaches its climax.

Punjab United manager Chipie Sian admitted his side were out of the play-off picture after losing 4-1 at home to Whitstable Town on Tuesday night – no doubt he will believe they can still grab a place following Rusthall’s defeat here today.

“Really tough, really tough, like VCD but we’re at home though so that’s a positive,” said Anderson.

“But I know they were here watching today. There were a few teams watching today, the ones that weren’t playing, so that’s fair enough, that’s good. We watch games but it’s going to be tough.

“We’ll respect them, I’m sure they’ll respect us. That’s why they’re coming to watch us.

“They have a tricky week, shall we say, they have a lot of games, so let’s see how it is on Saturday.   Obviously, we’re going to try to win the game, if not, we’ll try not to lose and we’ll go again.”

When asked about Rusthall’s play-off hopes, Anderson replied: “We’ve got three games. Everyone keeps saying to me, even them, ‘we’ll see you in the play-offs’, it's too early to say that!

“The boys have done so, so well this season. I’m really proud of them and as a collective group as well, as well as a management group, we were bottom of the league in October and we’ve climbed and we’ve climbed and we’ve climbed and we’ve climbed.

“These (VCD) were top of the league and out of sight and now to be like, I think we’re two spots behind them now and before the game to be coming here second-v-third, it’s mad. It’s mad but it’s down to the boys, the group is phenomenal and like I said to them, we’re allowed to lose a game. It’s just now we need to react. It’s going to be hard. It’s in our own hands. If we make the play-offs, then my god, it’s been an unbelievable season!

“Like I said to the boys, come after the Faversham game (on the final day) if we’re in the play-offs, then we’re in the play-offs. That’s the only time we can look at it.

“In October we were bottom of the league on five points then from them on we’ve won and we’ve won…. It’s been incredible.  At this moment in time it’s the best season Rusthall’s ever had at the higher level they’ve ever played so my team in there, they’ll be fine, we’ll be fine.”

With more exciting twists and turns to come in this enthralling ninth-tier promotion battle, these two sides can lock horns one more time here in the tension filled play-offs.

Anderson said: “We’ve got games to worry about, we’ve got to worry about Whitstable first. Let’s not think about anything like (Rusthall playing Isthmian League football for the first time next season).

“I said to them at the end, this could be a play-off game so take it all in, take it in that they’re celebrating, that’s fine. They’ve won, they’ve beaten us today, but like I said, two teams have got to respect each other but it was just a bit of a flat game.

“If we finish in the play-offs, then we could face them, so who knows? I don’t know, let’s see, let’s see, one game at a time….”

VCD Athletic: Andy Walker, Harry Lawrence, Michael Fenn, Connor Dymond, Ben Fitchett (George Whitelock 28), Dexter Peter, Nathaniel Olawole, Liam Gillies (David Ozobia 71), Ollie Freeman (Adebola Sotoyinbo 60), Rajan Sahni (Joe Thomas 77), Francis Babalola (Charlie Heatley 45).

Goals: Mustafa Hashemi 3 (own goal), Rajan Sahni 33

Booked: George Whitelock 38, Michael Fenn 53, Connor Dymond 64, Harry Lawrence 90

Rusthall: Serine Sanneh, Louis Anderson, Mustafa Hashemi (Kalani Barton 77), George Snelling, Frank Griffin, Daniel Blunn, Yassin Fares, Thompson Adeyemi (Louie Clarke 71), Charlie Clover, Jack Kirby, Jack Lyons.
Subs: Tom Lawrence, Abdullah Khalil, Jeffrey Njuguna

Booked: Yassin Fares 45, Daniel Blunn 62

Attendance: 174
Referee:  Mr Tom Nicholls
Assistants:  Mr James Beadle & Mr Olusegun Ojeleye
Observer:  Mr Ian McGrath