On Saturday Swanley FC welcomed Westerham Reserves to Swanley Recreation Ground for their second league game of the season. Manager Karl Orpin had made a couple of changes to his squad from the week before, ensuring all players got minutes under their belts.
The first 15 mins were a bit cagey with both teams trying to work out each other, then Swanley started to get a grip of the midfield and put their stamp on the game. Lee Smith opened the scoring on 18 minutes with a sweet half volley from the edge of the box, that bent away from the keeper and into the back of the net.
Just before half time Harry Rowe picked up a nasty injury to his knee, and there was quite a bit of stoppage time added while the player received medical attention, however this then opened up for Swanley’s second of the match, scored by Kasey Ralph after a bit of a goal mouth scramble following a corner. Halftime 2-0.
Sevenoaks & District Football League Division Four table
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swanley | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 2 | Hawkenbury Reserves | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | AFC Green Court | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | Woodlands | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Southborough Reserves | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | St Lawrence Reserves | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Ide Hill 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Cudham United | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 9 | Pembury Reserves | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 |
| 10 | Weald Wolves | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 0 |
| 11 | Westerham Reserves | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -4 | 0 |
The second half continued in the same vein as the first, with some poor finishing from both sides and Westerham’s keeper again getting in the way of multiple opportunities, resulting in no change in the score. Finally on the hour mark, the next breakthrough came with Ryan Bater scoring a goal that the keeper couldn’t keep it out this time.
As the game stretched out, the finishing unfortunately didn’t improve much and it wasn’t until the 79th minute that the scoreline changed again. A wonderful free kick from the left boot of Lee Smith which went like a rocket into the top corner for his second of the day.
The match finished 4-0 to Swanley for their second win of the season and they now look forward to hosting St Lawrence reserves on September 19th.
Man of the match: Lee Smith (Swanley FC)
How Swanley FC lined up:
- Buddy Rielly
- Connor Hunt
- Charlie Bishop
- Harry Rowe
- Rhys Sevenoaks
- Lee Smith
- Ryan Bater
- Kane Courthey-Wicks ( C )
- Kasey Ralph
- Tony Angell
- Russell Townsend
- Jake Orpin
- Jack Grey
- Harley Rauch
- Tom Hooker
- Joe Sevenoaks
