RED-HOT Faversham Town made sure of
second place in the Kent County
League Premier Division - then headed off for a curry with man of
the
match Kam Singh.
Restaurant boss Singh served up his
best performance in a Lilywhite
shirt as goals from Kris Parker and Rikki Cable finally confirmed
Town's place in the all-important promotion zone.
And striker Singh, 20, celebrated by
fulfilling a promise to take his
jubilant team-mates for a late-night feast at his popular curry
house
in Sheerness.
Success-starved Faversham Town must
now wait to see if they will be
promoted to the Kent League. So it is squeaky bum time all round as
the
powers-that-be focus first on champions Lewisham Borough with only
one
team allowed to step up.
Boss Terry Cordice had vowed to make
changes in the wake of
Saturday's 2-0 defeat to Borough with Singh making his 13th start of
the season at
the expense of top scorer Ross Cable.
Former Maidstone United and Chatham
Town player Singh seized the
chance and was at the heart of everything good about a Town side
that
fought all the way to the finish after battling Sheerness East made
it
2-1 on 73 minutes.
Islander Singh started brightly with
a right-foot shot over the top
in the third minute before Jamie Salvidge toe-poked wide for East at
the
other end.
James Holder then did well to control
a ball in from Dave Hockley
that bounced awkwardly but, falling backwards, his shot was always
going to
fly over.
The home side really should have gone
ahead on 22 minutes when a
terrific cross from the right dropped perfectly for Salvidge
goal-side
of Holder 10 yards out, but his side-footed volley went wide.
Ben Wolesey and Russell Jefferies
then combined to play in Lenny
Whiting but his tame effort was easily saved by Tim Holmes in the
Faversham goal.
Cordice continued in the role of
sweeper and almost crafted the
opener when his clearance sent the busy Singh clear only for the
striker to
shoot at goalkeeper Richard Higgin.
Town did go ahead on 31 minutes when
Hockley's short corner was
whipped into the box by Beal and Kris Parker scored his third goal
of
the season with a super downward header that went in off a post.
Three minutes later and Faversham
should have had a second when Singh
surged through down the right only to turn when he really ought to
have
let fly.
Instead, he picked out Rikki Cable
who found space with a neat change
of direction before firing wide with a right-shot that tried hard
but
never really looked like bending into the far corner.
Cable threatened to produce an even
more spectacular goal when he
turned Dale Wicketts and stormed forward from the halfway line 11
minutes into the second half.
His powerful run took him all the way
to the edge of the box but his
finish did not match the approach play and Higgin made a regulation
save.
Too often Town passed up the chance
to keep hold of the ball in
favour of risky long balls that led to a loss of possession but they
were not
worried about that when Singh was brought down in the box by Wolesey
on
70 minutes.
Cable took the resultant spot-kick
and scored by planting the ball to
the left of Higgin only for East to bounce back within three
minutes,
also from 12 yards.
Substitute Aarron Kerry caused panic
in the defence with a run
through the middle and he hit the deck after a coming together with
Cordice and
Scott Price.
Price was booked for his role in the
incident and Darren Brown piled
on the pressure with a cool spot-kick beyond Holmes to set up a
tense
finale.
The nerves were jangling in the Town
box on 77 minutes when a
goalmouth flare-up led to bookings for Sheerness East midfielder
Matt
Whiting and Cordice.
The yellow cards set the tone for a
heart-stopping finale as Town
battled to hold on to their slender lead during a prolonged period
of
East pressure which saw John Goodwin, Holder and Price all make
brave
interventions.
And then it was all over with the
final whistle sparking jubilant
scenes among the 50 or so Town fans who had made the trip to Sheppey.
The players posed for pictures, changed and headed to Singh's place
as Premier Division runners-up from their very first season as a
re-formed
club.
Let's hope they have the taste for
it.
Town's Top Man: Kam Singh - So hungry
to succeed, his best
performance in a Town shirt
Tim Holmes: 8, Stuart Smith 7, Scott
Price 8, John Goodwin 7, James
Holder 7, Terry Cordice 7, Julian Beal 7, Dave Hockley 7, Kam Singh
9,
Kris Parker 8, Rikki Cable 7. Substitutes: Gary Stock (for Hockley,
78
minutes) 7, Mark Smith (for Rikki Cable, 81) 7.
