4 days Ago By [email protected] (Craig Tucker)
Sixteen-year-old Archie Dobbin edged Kennington closer to Southern Counties East Premier Division safety with a 97th-minute equaliser at Lordswood. The young midfielder earned a 2-2 draw at bottom side Lords on Saturday as Ton twice fought back from a goal down. Kimsley Gatakata cancelled out Alfie Humphrey’s opener and Dobbin secured a deserved point after Charlie Plummer put the hosts back in front.
“I’ve always had a lot of faith in Archie,” said Ton boss Dan Scorer. “I tried to get him in at the start of the season and he opted to go down to Lydd. “He didn’t really get his opportunities there and we finally got him.
“I was glad that, when giving him the opportunity to play 90 minutes, he was brilliant. “He was relentless in his running, in everything he was trying to do, and I was really glad he came up trumps with an important goal because it was a great strike as well. “I think Lordswood felt a bit aggrieved they didn’t get all three points, which you would do when you’re in the seventh minute of added time and throw the game away, but I think a draw was a fair result.
” Kennington, who pulled clear of danger with a mid-season surge up the table, have been dragged back into a relegation battle in the past few weeks. A couple of postponements in February hit their momentum and results dipped, not helped by player unavailability. Scorer’s side need a win from their final three games to guarantee safety.
They’re five points clear of second-bottom Lydd with a game in hand and visit Sutton Athletic on Saturday, followed by a trip to Larkfield & New Hythe on Easter Monday (both 3pm). “We want to make sure we keep our fate in our own hands,” said Scorer. “This league is not one where you can rely on anyone to do you any favours, as is being shown by the results.
“I think that’s probably been the toughest thing for us psychologically in the last six weeks, coming off the boil and seeing all the teams around us pick up wins and gain momentum. “But on Saturday to get ourselves back into that game on two occasions just shows that we do have the level of character needed at this time of year. “I never believed our points tally from last year, which is what we’re on now, 37, was going to be enough to stay up this year.
“We knew even in the early part of the season that 40 points is probably going to be an absolute minimum and it looks like it’s heading that way. “The fortunate thing for us is the teams around us have got to play each other, which will certainly make things a little more interesting. It’s just a case of who can hold their nerve, I guess.
“We’re fully prepared to go to Sutton on Saturday and get the job done ourselves. “We don’t want to be taking it down to the final day and we’ve got two more chances to put ourselves in a position where that’s hopefully not the case.”.
