Erith Town vs Deal Town

Recap

An understrength Deal were unable to halt Erith Town’s current winning run as they siipped to their fourth league defeat of the season on Saturday.
The Hoops were missing Kane Smith (injured), Alfie Foster (unavailable) and Nick Treadwell (suspended) against an Erith side who came into the game having won their five previous matches in all competitions.
And the Dockers made a flying start to this latest game when, following a second-minute corner, Ralique Lawrence squeezed home the rebound after ‘keeper James Tonkin had made a great block from the initial shot.
The Dockers then doubled their lead just before the 30-minute mark when Michael Power converted a penalty after Liam Hark had fouled an opponent in the box.
But the Hoops, who had overcome a 3-1 deficit in their midweek FA Vase victory at Westside, raised hopes of another fightback when Billy Munday pulled a goal back nine minutes before half-time after being left unmarked in the six-yard box.
However, they weren’t able to add to their tally in the second half, which proved to be something of a “non-event” as both sides struggled to cope with the very windy conditions.
Erith did manage to extend their lead when Lawrence grabbed his second goal eight minutes after the restart while the nearest the Hoops came to scoring again came when Sam Wilson saw his shot blocked on the line.
Deal: Tonkin, Reeves (Howard 73), O’Brien, Scott, Hark, Maughan, Munday, Chapman, Coyne (Cardwell 65), Robinson (Murray 53).