Our Kent Youth League teams’ positive start to the season continued with the two older age groups making emphatic progress in the Kent FA Youth Cup while the Under-13’s took a very creditable point from their league game against an unbeaten Rochester City.

For good measure, it was another goal-laden Sunday with 21 goals scored by the three teams with fixtures, the Under-14’s were without a game. Lennox Abel took his season total to seven goals for the U16’s whilst Jurgen Pali is on six with the U15’s.

Oliver Pantrey reported on the U13’s game at Mascalls Academy: “The U13’s played out a 3–3 draw with Rochester City in a hard-fought game on Sunday. A great start saw us race into a 2-0 lead with some well timed movement and sharp forward play, but a loss of competitiveness in midfield allowed the opposition to turn the game around by half-time. The second half brought improvement, with stronger build-up and attacking intent, leading to a deserved equaliser to secure the draw. Standout moments included some excellent covering and break-up play by Man of the Match Ollie Harper and two excellent finishes from Will McCaskill. The performance underlined both our resilience and the need for greater consistency across the full 70 minutes but, overall, the team continues to make progress, which remains the key objective of any match. Next up is Snodland Town, which will be a tough game, ready to push the players again.”

James Ward reflected on a superb performance from his U15’s side as they put double figures past Bearsted in the Kent Cup: “The players showed real quality all over the pitch on Sunday in our first cup game together. We made a few tactical tweaks, changing formation and shifting personnel slightly and it paid off brilliantly. Full credit to the lads for taking on the information and executing it so well on the pitch. It was fantastic to see so many different names on the scoresheet. Stan Boxall, two outstanding finishes from outside the box, one with each foot; Pali continued his incredible goal streak with four more whilst Dylan Palmer, Will Smart and Harry Rice, each chipped in with a goal to round off a great team performance. There were plenty of positives to build on and we look forward great week of training as we prepare for our next challenge.”

Also racking up the goals were the U16’s as they put eight past Erith and Belvedere on the road, as Adam Barden reports: “The U16’s had a second cup game in two weeks as we travelled to an unknown quantity in Erith and Belvedere Selkent. The boys started the game on the front foot, getting a corner in the sixth minute and with a brilliant delivery from Aidan Aly, Abel was able to head home to make it 1-0. The boys continued to pile on the pressure grabbing a second through a great finish from Sam Moon. We continued to play positively and were able to add another two goals scored by Abel, completing a first half hat-trick for the second successive week. 

“There was no ‘foot off the gas’ in the second half as we continued to fashion chances with Abel adding a fifth in the 50th minute, followed by a well taken goal from Moon on the hour. Two more goals were added before the finish with a close range finish for Aly, after a really good build-up and Lewis Egbewunmi slotted home with three minutes remaining. This was a dominant performance that sets us up well for next Sunday when we expect a really tough test at Bromley.”

On Monday evening, the Under-18’s Isthmian Youth League side produced a dominant performance to dispose of an always competitive Metropolitan Police side by 5-1 in the League Cup with goals from River Ballach (2), Nathaniel Waul, Harry Bingham and Lucas Kernan.

The FA Youth Cup has seen the U18’s drawn away to Hollands and Blair in the Second Qualifying Round with the game to be played at Star Meadow on Thursday, 2nd October with an 8pm kick-off.

Picture: Under-15's versus Bearsted