A second half brace from centre back Ben Pearson was enough to see off a spirited Stansfeld performance and take Ide Hill to the top of the Kent County Division One West.
Looking to continue their unbeaten start to the season, Ide Hill got off to the worst possible start; a set piece was drifted in to the box within two minutes and Stansfeld had the time and space to hook it in from five yards out.
This would have been the kind of start which Ide Hill might have struggled with in previous years, however, they quickly established their dominance from a series of their own set plays and quick thinking forward play which had the visitors on the back foot.
The equaliser came after 15 minutes; a long diagonal ball picked Rob Piper out at on the far right hand side of the box. Piper, rather than take a touch, volleyed a controlled cross into the heart of the penalty area which centre back Charlie James confidently struck through the keeper to bring the scores level.
Ide Hill, now exhibiting some of the rapid attacking which has become something of a hallmark, should have been further ahead at half time, the returning Matt Bunn firing straight at the Stansfeld keeper when well-placed following a clever Columb Grant back heel.
In patches the visitors caused problems throughout, but the Ide Hill defence and goalkeeper Mike Mckay held strong to limit them to half chances before pulling away in the second half. Ide Hill took the lead on the hour mark when an in-swinging Callum Heath corner was met by the rising Ben Pearson to head home from eight yards.
Pearson wasn’t finished there though, and made the result safe with another strike, this time taking a Tom Wright header down inside the six-yard box and firing into the roof of the goal for 3-1.
Ide Hill now go into next week’s top of the table clash with Club Langley full of confidence and knowing that a positive result could go a long way towards shaping what could be a strong season.
