Kent County League
Bill Manklow Inter-Regional Challenge Cup
3rd Round
Saturday 30th November 2024
Kick Off 13.30 Actual 13.32
Long Lane 2 Peckham Town 1, attendance 47 (official)
5’ 0-1
42’ 1-1 (pen)
61’ 2-1
@ Kidbrooke Playing Fields, Pitch 1
Dursley Road
Kidbrooke
London
SE3 8PB
No Admission or Programme.
I’d been to games here at Kidbrooke Playing Fields twice before. In January 2022 I saw V.C.D. Athletic U19 beat Charlton Athletic Trust U19 in a National League U19 Alliance match, played on the 3G pitch. Then, at the start of this season, I saw the two teams who ground share here, South East Athletic and Long Lane, play a midweek early kick off in Kent County League Division 1 West match, which finished 1-2 and was played on Pitch 3, due to reseeding work being undertaken on the main pitch, which they normally both use for home games. With Long Lane Reserves also at home today (they played on Pitch 3), it was a good opportunity to get a game on the main railed off pitch, situated between the two pitches I’d already done here. Despite having no reply on Twitter (too often the case), I received a very quick response from the Long Lane Manager via text that the game was going ahead okay and that it was indeed taking place on the railed off grass pitch. Apart from a hold up caused by queuing traffic getting past an accident in the M25 roadworks near Clacket Lane, which more or less doubled the journey time, I only arrived about 25 minutes before kick off, but easily grabbed a space in the large car park here, helped by a mass exodus of parents leaving as a kids training session was just finishing on the 3G pitch. The clubhouse is behind the near goal end of the cage and was serving hot food and drinks. The changing rooms are in a separate building, with Pitch 1 being beyond the cage, running widthways, with grass banking along one side and behind one end. The pitch is fully railed, with plenty of advert boards and there’s a pair of dugouts on the near side.
The game saw 6th place in Division 1 West host 6th place in the Premier Division. It only took the visitors five minutes to make the breakthrough, when a cross from wide on the left was headed in from six yards. They could have easily added half a dozen more, but the home ‘keeper was in top form and along with some determined defending, Long Lane somehow managed to keep it at 0-1, then out of nothing, a rare attack, late in the half, saw them level the scores from the penalty spot. Just after the hour mark the hosts went in front, when a one two on the edge of the box saw a scuffed shot find the bottom corner, totally wrong footing the ‘keeper. Long Lane now had something to hang on to and when Peckham had a man sent off with fourteen minutes left, their job became easier and they managed to see the game out. At least two thirds of the crowd were with Peckham and the official figure must have included those watching the Reserve game as well, as the number watching the main game never got above thirty.
