As it turned out it was a tough afternoon at the end of a somewhat gruesome week for City as they were well beaten by Lewisham Borough at a blustery Ladywell Arena today.

City started well and bombarded the home box with a series of long-throws, free-kicks and corners which were all just about cleared as lady luck was firmly holding Borough’s hand – the ball bouncing and rebounding about amongst a lot of hesitancy and chaos at the back for Lewisham and on another day at least one or two of those might well have fallen City’s way and been thumped into the back of the net.

Adekunle Adeyinka shot narrowly wide for Borough on the break but City continued to cause them problems at the back although a strong wind firmly behind them often hampered rather than helped the visitors. Borough then managed to scramble their lines clear on a couple more occasions before at the other end, Chibueze Echem scooped a shot wide

City’s early pressure waned as Borough came more into the game but they could have taken the lead on twenty-five when a lovely touch from Connor Coyne found Rob Lawrence and his first time pass sent Jake McCarthy sprinting down the right wing before his low cross narrowly evaded Coyne who had come charging through the middle in hot pursuit.

Just a few minutes later though, the home side took the lead when an aerial ball into City’s box came to Echem and, with a great bit of control from the striker, he popped the ball up to himself nicely to volley home with aplomb for 0-1, a very good strike.

City could have pulled level shortly after when Coyne chased down a long clearance from the back, but having done all the hard work, there was no-one in a City shirt anywhere near far enough forward to potentially tap his low cross home.

Unfortunately for City, Borough soon doubled their lead when the ball was slipped through to Echem and with keeper Dan Smith exposed, he tried to close him down, but Echem side-stepped the attempt and slotted the ball into an empty net for 0-2.

In the closing stages of the half, City had another couple of situations to possibly reduce the deficit – firstly when Coyne tried to catch home keeper James Boughtflower off his line from well out and wide left but with him likely to get nowhere near to it, the ball bounced wide and into the side netting. The second came in the last minute of the half when a corner from the right again caused uncertainty in the Lewisham box and was just about forced away before a shot came flying back in appearing to clearly strike a raised arm but despite numerous and instant appeals from City players, the referee quickly waved it away.

That all left Borough two up at the break and City with plenty to do, but it looked far from being a lost cause!

City were out early for the second-half and again started strongly and purposefully and with some urgency but despite having several more dead ball opportunities, nothing of any note could be fashioned – the nearest being when Boughtflower just about held on to a high free-kick under close City pressure and then when he misjudged a long ball propelled from the back and saw it bounce over his head but was able to turn and retrieve just as half-time substitute Zack Jobe came rushing in.

Lewisham’s defence looked far more organised and tightened since the break and that helped keep City at bay. The game was also opening up a bit as City really needed to find the next goal, but Lewisham went close to scoring it when Rio Campbell pounced on a loose ball and with the goal to aim at and a man spare if needed, he fired the ball wide of the opposite angle and the chance was lost.

That reprieve didn’t last long though as the hosts soon scored again when Borough wrestled the ball from City inside the box and Adeyinka struck it low and with venom and despite Smith getting a lot on it, the ball still squeezed past him and into the net for 0-3.

City tried to get back into the game, but it just seemed that providence had decided it wasn’t to be and however much they hustled and bustled, Borough, with the three goals behind them, just did that little bit more. City did get the ball forward or into the box on several occasions, but apart from one minor lapse from Boughtflower, a more compact home defence just didn’t allow them a clear cut chance. Leo Dodds curled in one shot that Boughtflower safely pouched, while Jobe rolled another past the far post from wide left.

With the game now into its final throws, Lewisham cruelly bagged a fourth when Zacchius Ajose tussled in the box with Luka Radojevic and despite the defender appearing to have the upper hand, Ajose stole the ball before curling it into the opposite top corner for 0-4 despite several City claims that Radojevic had been pushed over in the process.

Not the good end of a bad week that City had hoped for but there’s still three games left for them to show exactly what it seems SCEFL will unfortunately be missing next season!

Final score: Canterbury City 0 Lewisham Borough 4.

Image courtesy of Alan Coomes