Deal Town FC

MENS FIRST TEAM

Deal Town played AFC Croydon Athletic on 15th March 2025 in the Isthmian League South East Division. Deal Town lost two - one against AFC-Croydon-Athletic in front of a crowd of 573 at the Charles Ground. The Deal goal came from Macaulay Murray.

Deal went into this game targeting their third "league double" of the season, having already beaten Croydon Athletic 2-1 on their own ground just before Christmas.
But instead the Hoops slipped to the fourth defeat in their last seven matches and afterwards manager Steve King made no bones about what he believes is the reason behind their recent drop in form.

We can't keep giving poor goals away, and it's frustrating because I think over the 90 minutes we were the better team, but we had again left ourselves with too much to do."

 

He might also have added the word "early" to his "poor goals" admission because for the second match running the Hoops found themselves 2-0 down with less than 25 minutes played and, unlike at Hythe seven days earlier, they were unable to fight back and take at least something from the game.

That was also due to the fact Croydon are currently enjoying their own best run of results of the season, and the Rams' growing confidence was boosted even further when they grabbed the lead with barely a minute played.

The Hoops conceded a needless free-kick out near the touchline and MOTM Daniel Kadell curled a cross into the six-yard box where Luke Dreher headed home via a deflection off Alfie Foster.

Deal went looking for a quick response and they nearly achieved it in a similar fashion when captain Macca Murray, making his 200th appearance for the Hoops, saw his deep free-kick almost headed into his own goal by a Croydon defender.
But it was no surprise that midfielder Kadell then soon provided the stand-out attacking moment of the first half, weaving his way into the Hoops' box before producing a calm 18th-minute finish.

It meant Deal were again facing another uphill battle against opponents whose line-up included Josh Bayliss. The son of local coach company owner Alistair Bayliss, Josh is currently on loan with the Rams from League Two Gillingham and the young attacker almost made it 3-0 when he struck the Hoops' woodwork on the stroke of half-time.

"Kingy" no doubt made it clear to his players during the break that he expected more from them in the second half, and they duly delivered in terms of possession. But although the Hoops' "Goals For" record of 67 in 34 matches is one of the best in the top half of the table they have dried up a little lately and that improved second-half performance only brought one goal. Ben Chapman was brought down in the area on 66 minutes and Murray, who has given super service at the Charles Ground, celebrated his own special day by converting the subsequent spot kick.

That gave all the Hoops' supporters in the 573 crowd hope they were about to witness another memorable fightback, especially as Croydon were struggling to reproduce the sort of attacking threat they had shown in the first half. But Danny Kedwell's men were clearly determined to cling on to their slender lead and when Deal substitute Jamie Kennedy, making his 50th appearance for the Hoops, missed a good chance in added time "Kingy" and Co knew it wasn't going to be their day.

Zac Hammond was selected as man of the match.

The Deal starting XI was: Molloy, Paxman, Penny, Foster, Hammond, Vincent, T Chapman, Murray, Hennessey, B Chapman, R Smith. Subs: K Smith, Wilkinson, Kennedy, Hatcher.

SOURCE: Kevin Redsull

Deal Town Starting XI: Adam Molloy, Jack Paxman, Alex Green, Alfie Foster, Tom Chapman, Macaulay Murray, Wes Hennessey, Ben Chapman, Rory Smith, Zak Hammond, Josh Vincent.

Subs: Kane Smith, Owen Wilkinson, Alex Smith, Archie Hatcher, Jamie Kennedy.

Deal Goals: Macaulay Murray ('67)

Referee: Spain

Attendance: 573