larkfield & new hythe 6 – 3 CROYDON FC

Croydon lost 6-3 in their opening League match of the season. Surprisingly, it was not the first time they lost 6-3 in their opening match, having lost by the same score against Hitchin Town back in 1990.

There was another surprise in store, as the team line up revealed that former Trams striker Andy Somo had rejoined Croydon, having left Whitehawk. 

The first chance of the season came after a pass from David Green to Harvey Morton, whose shot was blocked by an opponent and went out for a throw in. An attempt from Cameron McGovern failed to get past the home side’s defence, before Matt Day scored with a cross that went just inside the far post. Lauris Chin responded with a shot that was saved by Jordan Joe Carey, prior to a couple of attempts from Andy Walker. 

However, Day scored his second goal, a run down the wing and another cross going past George Kamurasi towards the far post. Somo appeared determined to hold onto the ball and score, going around opposition defenders and putting the ball past Carey to give the Trams their first League goal of the season. 

The Trams came close to equalising, as a pass from Oliver Beauchamp connected with Chin before his shot was saved by Carey. A brief busy period twenty odd minutes into the game saw George ‘Big G’ Kamurasi hold onto the ball for the first time, before a couple of corners were defended by Croydon. 

Croydon then got a free kick after Dan Lewis took on Chin. Whilst Harvey Mortons’s free kick was saved by Carey, the ball went to the other end of the pitch and Day got his hat trick with a deflected header to make it 3-1 to the home side. 

A ball was then channelled to Somo, who passed to McGovern, whose shot went wide of the post. Green ran towards Somo, who passed to Walker, and his shot went over the bar. Somo had the next chance and, like Walker, his shot went high, as well as wide, over the bar. 

The Larks extended their lead after the start of the second half and then Croydon got their first sin bin of the season which saw Green out of action for ten minutes. 

After another Walker shot went wide, Croydon got a free kick, only for Jahquan Springer’s shot to be blocked by the defensive wall. Somo almost scored but a defender made a successful clearance. Springer was unlucky that his corner was cleared, however he made up for it when he took a free kick that hit the inside of the crossbar but ended in the back of the net. 

Another Springer free kick was caught by Carey before Somo had another blocked chance. By now, Larkfield had scored their sixth goal but three was still time for Springer to make a run down the right wing and score into an empty net before the whistle blew.

Croydon will play their first home League match of the season at Croydon Sports Arena and kick off is on Saturday at 3pm with Greenways the visitors