With just two Saturdays before the start of the respective SKYBet League and Vanarama National League seasons, Kent’s top sides have been toning their squads for the beginning of the new season on another busy July Saturday afternoon.
Gillingham returned to MEMS Priestfield Stadium for the first time since the end of April and welcomed Championship side Ipswich Town to Kent. And the home fans ended up going home happy as Ady Pennock’s
side enjoyed a 2-1 victory as they endured a brief but torrential first half thunder storm.
After a reasonably even first half, Gills took the lead through Tom Eaves first goal at Priestfield as the new number nine beat Ipswich keeper Bartosz Bialkowski from the spot after Lee Martin had been tripped. The visitors were then agonisingly close to levelling the scores when a shot cannoned back off Tomas Holy’s post before Scott Wagstaff doubled the lead with just over ten minutes left hitting the top corner from the edge of the box before Ipswich did pull one back in the final ten minutes.
Maidstone United were in Northern France as they faced Arras who play in National 2 – the fourth tier in French league football. The game finished 2-2 in a great test of Jay Saunders progress as they build to opening day and a visit of Maidenhead United to the Gallagher. Kevin Lokko gave the Stones the first half lead on Saturday just before the break and after the French side levelled, Joe Pigott game Maidstone the lead for a second time. The home side levelled from a second time late on as the games finished with honours even.
Dover Athletic continued their good pre-season form as they won the bragging rights and ran out 5-1 winners at Cheriton Road against Folkestone Invicta. Former Bromley Tobi Sho Silva scored twice for Chris Kinnear’s side – one in each half – as the Whites pre-season moved on with that first day trip to Hartlepool United just fourteen days away. Dover return to Crabble on Tuesday when they welcome Welling United in an early repeat of May’s Kent Reliance Kent Senior Cup Final.
The Wings this afternoon went down 1-3 at home to Bromley, who themselves are progressing nicely through pre-season, and for Mash Hewitt’s match report please click here: http://www.kentsportsnews.com/welling-united-1-3-bromley-22-07-2017/
Ebbsfleet United continued their warm up for their return to the National League with a 1-1 draw with League One Southend United at a soggy Stonebridge Road. Darren McQueen put Daryl McMahon’s side ahead early in the second half – a lead that didn’t last long as the Essex side levelled soon after, but this was still another good test for McMahon and his side with their return to the top flight of Non League football now just two weeks away…
At Princes Park, Dartford welcomed League Two newcomers Cambridge United for a contest that finished in a 1-1 draw. New signing Warren Mfula didn’t take long to show the home fans what he can do as he gave the Darts the early lead on just eight minutes – Mfula, who last season scored 44 times for Croydon Athletic only signed on the dotted line for Tony Burman this week. Sadly for Burman though, United levelled the score in the first minute of the second half.