The sun was shining bright today and a slight breeze was all that protected me from the heat. I travelled over to Snodland to watch the home side, who retained their spot in the Southern Counties East Football League (SCEFL) Premier Division last season, despite a very close flirtation with relegation

Fred Dillon has joined Luke Jessup as joint manager for Snodland Town this season as they aim to secure an improvement on the disappointing season last year. The clubhouse and ground are well worthy of supporting an Isthmian League team, however much needs to happen on the pitch this season if that is to become a possibility.

FC Elmstead, managed by Brehn Chidley, are looking for success in an enlarged and highly competitive SCEFL Division 1 this season. The excellent SCEFL website provided me with this fascinating snippet of FC Elmstead information: “Probably the most famous player to wear an Elmstead shirt is Colin Foster who went on to play for Leyton Orient, Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough, West Ham and Watford.”

At kick off the teams came out in bright sunshine, with temperatures around 26 degrees. There was a decent crowd of around 100 for a pre-season friendly.

With just five minutes on the clock, the home side were ahead with a cross and close range tap in goal from a Snodland Town forward, which caught out my filming skills, as well as equally surprising the FC Elmstead defenders!

In the 13th minute the Premier Division team were two ahead, with another tap in finish from close range, this time by Harry Harding.

The third goal, when it came on 42 minutes, struck by full back, Kaelem Sobhee-Turner, almost caught me out for the second time in the game. As it was the cross/shot, struck from the left hand side, flew over the FC Elmstead keeper’s head and into the far corner of the net.

At the half-time whistle, it was Snodland Town who took a decisive 3-0 lead into the break.

A looping header by Siji Akinlusi, in the 61st minute, saw the Snodland Town lead extend to 4-0, as FC Elmstead’s keeper was left stranded.

In the 66th minute FC Elmstead had a player dismissed for a two footed tackle, which led to a lengthy injury stoppage.

Somehow dropping to ten men sparked an FC Elmstead revival and with 13 minutes left on the clock, the visitors had a goal back through a fine strike from the edge of the box, by their centre forward.

At the final whistle, everyone present knew they had witnessed a game which had pushed both sets of players hard in extremely warm conditions. Snodland Town will have been pleased with the support they received and the quality of their opening 70 minutes. FC Elmstead will have taken some consolation from the way they finished against higher league opposition.