Top Of The Table Clash - Erith Town vs. Herne Bay

Kick off at The Erith Stadium.

I normally try to avoid multi use grounds but last weekend I needed a ground that was nearish to central London and which was close to the station. Erith's top of the table clash with league leaders Herne Bay seemed the best fixture. The away side lost in the FA Vase the previous week to reining champions Whitley Bay. The gap between the two teams was four points and Erith were keen to close this gap. Only the away side have applied for promotion to the Ryman League and look in good shape to gain promotion.

First half action.

Herne Bay played a lot of attacking football in the opening exchanges and their wide players make the Erith full backs toil. The home goalie makes a good save to keep the scores level. Erith begin to get behind the wingers who provide little cover for the three centre backs. On one such occasion the striker is played in to the box and is clattered from behind to give the home side a penalty which is duly converted. The away side get back on level terms in the last minute of the half. The home keeper makes a decent save from close range but Bay manage to force the ball home.

Erith take the lead from the penalty spot.

Erith take the lead in a similar fashion to Herne Bay's equaliser when the ball is forced home from close range. As the visitors push for another equaliser the centre backs continued to be exposed. The flaws of this system were further exhibited when the home side got the killer third goal. To their credit Herne Bay continued to press and try to get something from the game but the home defence were coping easily. Unfortunately, I missed the fourth goal as I had to leave to catch my train.    

Elevated view for the second half. You can see the Dartford Crossing in the distance.

I did not see one pub in Erith, I walked to the town centre but didn't a single one! I'm sure there are some, but I didn't do my research properly beforehand. The bar at the back of the stand is friendly enough and if you get there early you can get a seat by the window and watch the game from the bar. The train station is a ten minute walk away. Trains take around half an hour and depart on a regular basis from either Cannon Street or London Bridge.

The stand at The Erith Stadium.