Isthmian League round-up: South East title contenders Ramsgate, Cray Valley and Sittingbourne all win; Chatham consolidate second place in the Premier Division
Published: 19:36, 09 March 2024
Updated: 20:50, 09 March 2024
Danny Parish scored twice on his return to Ashford as Sittingbourne thrashed his old club in Isthmian South East.
Parish, released by the Nuts & Bolts in January, struck in either half as Bourne won 5-1 at Homelands.
Mitchell May’s early opener for the visitors was swiftly cancelled out by Max Walsh.
But Donvieve Jones restored the lead, followed by Parish’s first and a May penalty for a 4-1 half-time lead.
Parish added his second five minutes after the break to complete an emphatic win for third-placed Bourne.
The Brickies remain nine points behind leaders Ramsgate after Ben Smith’s side stormed back from two goals down to win 5-2 at bottom side Beckenham.
Steven Townsend’s penalty and Jeremiah Frimpong put the Rams in trouble but TJ Jadama, Lee Martin and Joe Turner’s first Rams goal made it 3-2 by half-time.
Joe Taylor added number four and a late second for Turner completed the scoring.
Second-placed Cray Valley scored twice in injury time to stop Ramsgate going four points clear.
Michael Ademiluyi put the Millers on front at Erith & Belvedere but Dan Parkinson’s penalty on the hour mark made it 1-1.
Sonny Black scored in the first minute of added time and Kyrell Lisbie’s 98th-minute strike completed a 3-1 victory for Steve McKimm’s side.
Sheppey lost a seven-goal Kent derby thriller at home to Sevenoaks.
Josh Ajayi and Solomon Baugh gave Oaks an early cushion but the Ites hit back to lead 3-2 through Jacob Lambert, Richie Hamill’s penalty and James Taylor.
Corey Holder equalised and Kieron Cadogan scored an 83rd-minute winner for the visitors while Sheppey finished with 10 men after Hamill was sent off.
Gil Carvalho gave Herne Bay a half-time lead but play-off rivals Three Bridges levelled with Ibrahim Jalloh’s 73rd-minute penalty. It finished 1-1.
Hythe’s three-match winning run ended with a 4-0 home defeat by Horndean.
Connor Duffin scored inside a minute and there was no way back for the Cannons, with Zackary Willett’s hat-trick putting the game beyond them.
Adejola Lahan and Luke Leppard were on target as Phoenix Sports came from a goal down to beat Merstham 2-1 and move four points clear of the relegation zone.
Chatham consolidated second place in the Isthmian Premier with a 2-1 home win against Concord.
Kareem Isiaka gave Kevin Hake’s side a half-time lead.
Chris Regis equalised just past the hour mark but Chris Dickson grabbed the winner three minutes later.
Folkestone moved 11 points clear of the relegation zone after beating bottom side Kingstonian 3-2 at home.
Eddie Allsopp gave Invicta a half-time lead but they trailed 2-1 after early second-half goals from Eddie Dsane and Nasim Regragui.
Back came the hosts, though, with Seidou Sanogo and David Smith earning the points for Andy Drury’s men.
Margate remain in the bottom four after losing 4-2 at Hashtag United.
Goals from Misha Djemalli, Nathan Smith (2) and Sakariya Hussain opened up a big lead for home side.
Ben Greenhalgh’s double gave the Gate late hope but they’d left themselves with too much to do.
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Craig Tucker