Home   Medway   Sport   Article

Chatham Town manager Scott Lindsey delighted to see off Sheppey United infront of a record Southern Counties East Football League crowd at Maidstone Road

Chatham Town boss Scott Lindsey had more than one reason to celebrate on Saturday.

Not only did Chats beat the league’s in-form team, but they did it infront of a Southern Counties East record crowd, the kind that hasn’t been seen at Maidstone Road for many years.

Chatham Town manager Scott Lindsey
Chatham Town manager Scott Lindsey

Close to 1,000 were inside the Bauvill Stadium to see Jack Evans hit a second half winner, ending Sheppey’s seven game winning streak.

“It was a great day for the football club,” Lindsey said.

“This is exactly what we want, we want a brand of football where everyone can go away and think ‘wow’ these are a good side and to get more and more people through the turnstiles.

“The fact that it was over 900 people at this level of football is ridiculous and it just goes to show where this club is going. I’m delighted.

“The aim was to get over 750 and we got over 900 which is unbelievable at this level of football.

“We are trying to build something here, where we can move forward as a club and if we can get those kind of crowds it is only going to help.”

Chatham were twice pegged back in the first half. Evans opened the scoring after just three minutes and then Ian Draycott netted midway through the half.

Two goals from Sheppey’s Danny Leonard made it all-square at the break. Chatham had to soak up some pressure early in the second half but a classy finish from Evans on the hour mark clinched the points for Lindsey’s men.

“We knew it would be a tough game,” said the Chats boss.

“I went to watch them a couple of weeks ago and I thought they were really strong at the top end of the pitch. We had to be really good with the ball.

“All of the time we had the ball they couldn’t hurt us and the emphasis was on having a lot of the possession. The game plan kind of worked.

“We had 67% possession which we are pleased with and if you have that much of the ball they have less chances to hurt you. We do risk sometimes, with our possession, certainly one of their goals came from us risking a pass but I will take responsibility for that.

“I am asking the players to play that way and there will be times when the ball gets turned over and they will hurt us but that is the nature of being a possession-based team.”

Opponents Sheppey were the league’s top scorers - by some distance - and Lindsey knew he had to keep their front-men quiet, particularly the division’s leading scorer Dan Bradshaw, who had netted 33 in all competitions before the weekend.

Bradshaw had one good chance late on, heading in at close-range, but keeper Dan Ellis pulled off a terrific save to keep it out.

“For a big man he is really agile,” Lindsey said.

“He can get around the goalmouth and we were pleased with him.

“We felt that if we could keep their four quiet at the top end of the pitch we could win the game because we felt we had more than enough in terms of our possession and ability and individuals out on the pitch, that we had more than enough, as long as we kept those four quiet and we did that.”

Sheppey boss Ernie Batten said: "We’re disappointed with the result, we had been on a good run recently, we were full of confidence, but on the day we weren’t quite good enough over the 90 minutes.

"You have to get points from the teams around you, but I think we were our own worst enemy. We could have defended better and we could have got something out of the game, a point or the win."

Close This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.Learn More