Faversham roar to victory
Courtesy of Faversham Town 2005


Lewisham Borough play at the Ladywell Arena, the home of Millwall Lionesses - but Faversham Town never looked like being eaten alive last Saturday.
Indeed, Terry Cordice's improving team roared from start to finish in an excellent all-round display to topple the league leaders in their own backyard.

Faversham Town goalkeeper Tim Holmes was a spectator for much of the afternoon with Town centre-half James Holder missing out on the chance to become the club's leading scorer.

The tall 19-year-old, who has scored twice already this season, is proving a real handful at set-pieces and could have had a hat-trick in the first-half alone.

Instead, it was another young defender Jason Mills who helped himself to the tag of matchwinner with an injury-time goal to snatch all the points.

Boss Cordice was thrilled with the points but still wants more from the Lilywhites.

He said: "It was a very well deserved victory. For a while there a draw looked the likely result but that really wouldn't have been fair.

"We played well again, this time for 75 minutes but I'm never entirely satisfied - we're still searching for the complete 90-minute display.

"We restricted them to maybe two or three shots all afternoon and their goalkeeper had to make four or five good saves to keep them in the game.

"By contrast, James Holder could have had a hat-trick in the first-half.

"It's our best result but not our best performance. I still believe that the second half against Cray Valley was probably our best display.

"To be fair, the only team I believe we deserved to lose to this season was Milton Athletic on the first day of the season.

"We've allowed the players a little bit of time to settle down and have been rewarded with a good result away from home."

Holder really should have added to his impressive early-season goal tally in a strong opening for the visitors.

But for all their pressure and possession, Faversham still went into the half-time interval with nothing to show for their efforts thanks largely to the heroics of keeper John Henry.

The Lilywhites were bang on top throughout with John Goodwin and Rikki Cable showing signs of forging a decent partnership in attack.

Yet one person seemed decidedly unimpressed with the proceedings, referee Danny Campbell blowing for half-time EIGHT minutes early after a mix-up with one of his assistants.

The man in black had been caught short, but it mattered little with Town unable to make the breakthrough before the interval.

They half-time refreshments certainly did the trick, however, with striker John Goodwin firing his first of the season, a real cracker from 25 yards, eight minutes after the re-start.

Faversham Town searched for the killer second with Dave Hockley and Julian Beal the inspiration in midfield and Cable worrying Borough every time he had the ball.

But all their hard work was undone when a mix-up between Mark Smith and Gary Stock led to a spectacular equaliser .

Faversham Town failed to clear allowing Lambert Tsemzang a whiff of a chance and he found the net with a stunning overhead kick which gave Holmes no chance.

Faversham swarmed forward and were cruelly denied by an offside flag against the retreating Rikki Cable which stopped substitute Dean Wallington from making a clear run on goal.

Then at the other end, goalkeeper Holmes made a telling contribution at last with a fine save from close range.

The final drama was yet to come, however, with Faversham Town forcing a corner deep into injury time.

Hockley swung the ball into the box and sub Mills rose high to power a bullet header past Henry.

The man they call Shoesey, because of his size 15 feet, was mobbed by his jubilant team-mates - this time for using his head!

How they deserved those celebrations. The pride of Faversham had tamed the league leaders at the home of the Lionesses,

Town's Top Man: Rikki Cable. Tough call with so many good performances but new boy was a real handful throughout.

Ratings: Tim Holmes 7. Adam Collis 7. Giacomino Vail 7. Kris Browning 7. James Holder 7. Gary Stock 7. Dave Hockley 7. Julian Beal 7. John Goodwin 7. Rikki Cable 8. Mark Smith 7. Substitutes: Ross Cable (for Collis, 70) 7. Jason Mills (for Browning, 79) 7. Dean Wallington (for Goodwin, 79) 7.