Written by Scott W (Twitter: @ScottMHC14)
Hello & welcome to my semi-regular round-up of the action in the Bostik League Premier Division here on my blog. Here’s a round-up of the action that took place on Saturday 21st October followed by the updated Bostik Premier Division table. Enjoy.
For the Bostik North & South round-up, add this URL: https://survivor16b.wordpress.com/2017/10/21/bl-div-north-south-r-up-21-10-17/
Billericay Town 2 – 1 Enfield Town
Venue: New Lodge | Attendance: 1,559
Billericay made a second-half comeback to prevail over Enfield Town at New Lodge. The visitors led on 35 minutes as Taylor McKenzie struck. ‘Ricay levelled with 18 minutes to play through substitute Billy Bricknell’s penalty. The hosts completed the recovery job six minutes from time as Sam Deering grabbed the winner to give his side their ninth straight league win. Enfield lost their first game in four in the league here.
Dorking Wanderers 3 – 2 Needham Market
Venue: London Road | Attendance: 175
Dorking resisted a late scare to triumph over the Marketmen at London Road. Lewis Taylor gave the hosts the advantage on 18 minutes. Jamie Griffiths restored parity six minutes after the re-start. James McShane restored Wanderers lead seven minutes later and had a two-goal cushion with 20 minutes remaining through Sam Beard though Griffiths’ second of the afternoon five minutes after that ensured a nervy finish for Dorking though they still secured their fifth league win of the season. Needham have lost their last four straight league matches now.
Dulwich Hamlet 3 – 2 Burgess Hill Town
Venue: Champion Hill | Attendance: 1,971
Dulwich struck late to grab all three points in another five-goal thriller at Champion Hill. Nathan Ferguson gave Hamlet the lead 11 minutes before the interval. Substitute Tony Garrod levelled for the Hillians three minutes after coming on as a half-time substitute. Dulwich re-took the lead only a minute later through Nyren Clunis though an unfortunate OG by Quade Taylor on 59 minutes made it all-square once again. Michael Chambers got the winner for the hosts with five minutes to play to secure Hamlet’s sixth win in their last seven league matches.
Harlow Town 1 – 1 Margate
Venue: The Harlow Arena | Attendance: 168
Harlow got a last-minute leveller to deny Margate the win at the Harlow Arena. The Gate led through Jay May’s opener on 31 minutes though Alex Read struck on the stroke of 90 minutes to secure a point for out-of-form Town.
Harrow Borough 1 – 2 Brightlingsea Regent
Venue: Earlsmead | Attendance: 158
Ten-man Regent secured an important win over Harrow at Earlsmead. Jake Gould put the visitors ahead 18 minutes in, before Tom Richardson doubled that advantage six minutes after the re-start. Richardson was then dismissed on the hour for two bookings and Boro’ halved the deficit only a minute later through Curtis Ujah’s goal. Regent held on though to collect their sixth league win of the campaign.
Kingstonian 2 – 1 Wingate & Finchley
Venue: Fetcham Grove | Attendance: 215
Kingstonian got an injury-time winner to break Wingate hearts at Fetcham Grove. Sam Alderson put the K’s ahead after only four minutes, though Ahmet Rifat levelled for the visitors nine minutes before the interval. Just as it was looking like the match would end level, Alec Fiddes’s 92nd-minute winner sealed the win and end a four-match losing league run. After the match, the K’s announced that Whyteleafe boss Leigh Dynan will be their new manager, replacing Craig Edwards who resigned last week.
Leiston 1 – 5 Folkestone Invicta
Venue: Victory Road Attendance: 321
Leiston succumbed to a first-half goal blitz as Invicta got the points at Victory Road. Scott Heard got the ball rolling for Invicta as his goal on eight minutes gave them the lead. Ian Draycott [17’] and Samuel Hasler [26’] strikes extended that advantage before Adam Yusuff’s spot-kick on the stroke of half-time gave the visitors a big lead at the break. Matt Blake pulled one back for LTFC 16 minutes into the second half though another spot-kick from Yusuff [74’] put paid to any doubt of where the points were heading, securing Folkestone’s 5th win in their last seven league matches.
Merstham 6 – 2 Lowestoft Town
Venue: Moatside | Attendance: 120
Merstham pulled off an excellent win over Lowie at Moatside. Ryan Hall put the hosts ahead on 12 minutes before Dan Bennett doubled that lead on 25 minutes. Hall completed a first-half hat-trick [31’ & 35’] to give his side some daylight though Lowestoft responded through Cruise Nyadzayo [37’] and Travis Cole [40’] to keep things interesting at the break. Late goals from Reece Hall and substitute Youssef Bamba [90’] sealed a highly-encoraging afternoon for the Moatsiders, securing their 5th win of the season here while ending Lowie’s four-match unbeaten run.
Metropolitan Police 3 – 1 Thurrock
Venue: Imber Court | Attendance: 106
The Met secured the win against a Thurrock side finding wins hard to come by at Imber Court. First-half goals from Gavin James [20’] and Lloyd Macklin [22’] gave the hosts the advantage at the break. James struck for the second time three minutes after the break before Macklin’s OG on 68 minutes pulled a goal back for Thurrock though the Met held on to extend their unbeaten league run to six matches.
Staines Town 3 – 0 Leatherhead
Venue: Wheatsheaf Park | Attendance: 317
Staines defeated Leatherhead at Wheatsheaf Park to claim their sixth win of the campaign. Elliott Buchanan’s goal ten minutes before half-time gave the Swans the lead before second-half strikes by Mohamed Bettamer [63’] and Max Worsfold [81’] sealed the win to extend the hosts’ unbeaten league run to four matches while the Tanners have now lost five of their last seven league matches.
Tonbridge Angels 1 – 2 Tooting & Mitcham Utd
Venue: Longmead | Attendance: 549
Tooting took advantage of a stroke of luck to grab all three points at Longmead. Joe Turner struck to give the Angels the lead on 11 minutes though Tooting levelled only three minutes later through Omar Folkes. The aforementioned stroke of luck came through an OG just shy of the hour mark and the Terrors held on to record their third straight league win.
Worthing 1 – 2 Hendon
Venue: Woodside Road Attendance: 614
Worthing finally made their return to Woodside Road though leaders Hendon struck late to spoil the homecoming parade. Seven minutes after the break, Alfie Young put strugglers Worthing ahead though Niko Muir levelled with 18 minutes remaining and substitute Josh Walker nabbed the winner three minutes from time to secure the Greens’ 5th win in their last seven league matches. The wait for their first league win of the campaign goes on for the Rebels though they are in danger of being cut adrift at the foot of the table.
Bostik Premier Division table (after October 21st matches)
| Position | Team | P | W | D | L | GD (+/-) | Points |
| 1 | Hendon | 15 | 10 | 0 | 5 | +17 | 30 |
| 2 | Dulwich Hamlet | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | +14 | 30 |
| 3 | Billericay Town | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | +20 | 27 |
| 4 | Leiston | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | +7 | 25 |
| 5 | Staines Town | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | +14 | 23 |
| 6 | Kingstonian | 15 | 7 | 1 | 7 | -7 | 22 |
| 7 | Harrow Borough | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | +2 | 21 |
| 8 | Metropolitan Police | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | +1 | 21 |
| 9 | Tonbridge Angels | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | +1 | 21 |
| 10 | Wingate & Finchley | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | -1 | 21 |
| 11 | Brightlingsea Regent | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 21 |
| 12 | Merstham | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | +10 | 20 |
| 13 | Folkestone Invicta | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | +6 | 20 |
| 14 | Margate | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | +5 | 17 |
| 15 | Dorking Wanderers | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | -3 | 17 |
| 16 | Lowestoft Town | 13 | 5 | 1 | 7 | -3 | 16 |
| 17 | Leatherhead | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 16 |
| 18 | Enfield Town | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | +1 | 15 |
| 19 | Burgess Hill Town | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | -5 | 12 |
| 20 | Needham Market | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | -6 | 12 |
| 21 | Thurrock | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -9 | 12 |
| 22 | Harlow Town | 14 | 3 | 3 | 8 | -13 | 12 |
| 23 | Tooting & Mitcham Utd | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | -20 | 12 |
| 24 | Worthing | 15 | 0 | 3 | 12 | -23 | 3 |
survivor16b 