With only one weekend until the first competitive matches of the 2017-2018 season begin, clubs are beginning to wind down their pre-season preparations.
It’s been an impressive week at the East of the county at Dover where, after beating Folkestone 5-1 last weekend, they put another five past Welling in a 5-0 win at Crabble. The Whites have also brought in two new players to bolster their back line. 19 year old Emmanuel Adebowale joins after impressing Chris Kinnear during a trial period whilst right back Nortey Nortei has also signed for the club.
It’s been an equally impressive seven days for Jay Saunders’ Maidstone United side. After drawing 2-2 with Arras in France, they returned to England in style beating Sevenoaks Town 4-0 on Tuesday night. New signing Jai Reason scored twice before Harley Willard and Joe Pigott extended the Stones’ lead.
Things haven’t been quite as comfortable in the north of the county at Stonebridge Road this week. Following an impressive 1-1 draw against a strong Southend team on Saturday, Ebbsfleet travelled to Hendon where they suffered a 3-2 defeat. With no ne signings this week, they’ll look to improve against AFC Wimbledon this Saturday before the start of the season.
It’s also been a tough week for Bromley who were the victims of a Dartford cancelation of a friendly in midweek. They were however, able to beat Welling 3-1 last weekend before a young Bromley XI team beat Holmesdale 3-0 on Wednesday.
The Fleet’s local rivals, Dartford only played once over the last week. Following their 1-1 draw against Cambridge at Princes Park, they were scheduled to face Bromley at Hayes Lane, only for Tony Burman to be forced to cancel due to a lack of players. They’ll look to get back on track against Thamesmead this weekend before the season starts in the first weekend of August.
Elsewhere in the National League South, Welling followed up their 3-1 loss against Bromley on Saturday with a 5-0 loss against Dover. It’s been a tough week for the Wings who only have one more friendly before the season starts- a Monday night fixture against a Millwall XI.
Unlike the top to levels of non-league football, the newly renamed Bostik leagues still have another two weekends of preparation ahead of the start of their seasons. After losing at home to Dover last weekend, Folkestone Invicta made up for it by beating Ashford United 4-1 in midweek. They’ll now look ahead to their final two pre-season games where they’ll host both Dagenham and Redbridge and Thamesmead Town.
Despite big spending Billericay Town signing Jermaine Pennant this week, Margate still look like one of the favourites to put the Essex club under pressure this upcoming season. They continued their pre-season preparation with a 2-0 win at Concord Rangers last weekend , but it’s this weekend when they’ll face one of their biggest challenges of the season when they travel down the coast to face Dover.
Tonbridge Angels are also expected to push towards the upper ends of the table this season. Following a brilliant 7-2 win over Phoenix Sports, their unbeated pre-season run as brought to an end by a 2-0 home defeat to Dover.
Ashford United are looking forward to the biggest challenge they’ve faced since reforming in 2011 when they start the season in the highest level since the original club was disbanded. There’s been no shortage of goals coming from Homelands this week with a 5-3 win and a 4-1 loss in the results column. They face K Sports in another home game this Saturday.
Elsewhere in the Bostik South, Faversham Town host Canterbury in the hope of kickstarting their season preparations, Cray travel to Glebe for a Friday night friendly and Hythe Town welcome Dorking to the east coast of the county. Phoenix Sports and Cray Wanderers also face each other on Saturday whilst Sittingbourne travel to Sheppey United. Ramsgate will be without a game this weekend after their match against Three Bridges was cancelled.
Picture supplied by Dave Budden.