Football Review – A Non-League Football Review

Goals from Mitchell May and Joe Tyrie were enough for Sittingbourne to defeat an already-safe Phoenix Sports as they secured third place in the Isthmian League South East Division.

Neither sides made much happen in the first ten minutes or so, with both sides seeing ball going straight into the gloves of each keeper. The deadlock was broken in the 13th minute when Mitchell May slotted the boy beyond Andy Walker.

The hosts had looked to respond almost immediately but the ball ran straight through to the keeper before Sittingbourne took the ball down the other end and had it in the back of the net, but it was ruled out for offside. The pressure from the away side continued as the first half grew older, but they couldn’t make it count. Alex Bentley headed the ball towards goal, but Walker held on well before the away side couldn’t find Stefan Ilic, with the ball going out of play.

Phoenix had their chances in the first half too. Ryan Hayes couldn’t quite get his cross into the box, before Palace Francis did well on two occasions to dribble beyond the defence. On the second of the two, he found Gael Kileba, but the latters cross was straight out of play. Just before the half-time break, a good combination between Dexter Peter and Francis saw the latter played through, but Bobby Mason got a strong foot to the low cross that followed.

It was the hosts who had made the better start to the second half as they sought an early equaliser. A shot from inside the box was safely into the hands of Masom before Tashie-Jay Kwayie found the ball at his feet inside the box, but again, it was comfortable for the keeper. Temi Oladejo got beyond the defence and played it towards Francis at the near post, but the forward tried to be too clever and saw his touch take it through to the keeper.

Sittingbourne had finally found some possession away from their own half in the 60th minute, but a couple of corners as well as a free-kick fired into the box was well defended by the hosts. Against the run of the first half, the away side had a second. A low header into the net by Joe Tyrie.

Phoenix had found the back of the net themselves just five minutes later. A ball into the box was flicked on by Kwayie, before Jola Lahan headed behind Mason. The goal had seen Phoenix continue to find another goal, but they couldn’t quite get their crosses into the box. Time was running out for the hosts when a scramble in the box almost led to an equaliser. The ball was rolled out to Henry Douglas on the edge of the box, but the defenders effort was just wide. The hosts continued to come forward in added time: a couple of crosses from either side were dealt with well by the victories before the final chance of the game saw Tashie-Jay Kwayie get the ball at a tight angle, but the forward fired his effort over from close range.