Saturday 4th October
FIRST DIVISION
Croydon 6-0 Halls AFC
Bridon Ropes 2-0 Banstead Athletic
Chessington & Hook 0-3 SE Dons
FC Elmstead 0-3 Tooting Bec
Lewisham Borough 3-0 Staplehurst Monarchs
Sheppey Sports 0-4 Lordswood
Welling Town 0-5 Rochester United
The SCEFL First Division served up a remarkable Saturday of football – six games, six winners, and not a single goal conceded by the victors.
The action began early at Croydon, where the hosts produced a first-half demolition job on Halls AFC in front of the Groundhop crowd. Kiarn Asafu-Adjaye wasted no time, netting inside the opening minute, before goals from Liam Cormack, Tom Barton and Pat Ward saw the Trams four up inside 16 minutes. Asafu-Adjaye struck again on the half-hour to make it five, and later completed his hat-trick in the 87th minute to round off a thumping 6-0 victory.
At the standard kick off time, and in front of a big crowd, Bridon Ropes picked up their first home win of the campaign, defeating Banstead Athletic 2-0 with goals from Olusegun Akinwunmi and Samuel Sarpong to climb to 11th in the standings.
SE Dons piled on more misery for Chessington & Hook United, securing a 3-0 away win thanks to early strikes from Palace Francis and Aaron Watson before the Dons sealed the match in stoppage time.
League leaders Rochester United continued their relentless charge, making it nine wins from nine with a dominant 5-0 triumph at Welling Town. Jack Nelson was again the headline act, hitting a hat-trick to take his tally to 11 goals in just his last three league outings, while Jack Bray and Lucas Payne were also on target.
Tooting Bec stretched their fine run with a controlled 3-0 win at FC Elmstead, Alimamy Taylor-Kamara striking twice either side of Ed Mbango’s effort to keep them firmly in the promotion mix.
There was relief for Lordswood, who ended their losing streak in style with a 4-0 win at struggling Sheppey Sports. Artem Kuchkov scored twice inside the opening quarter of an hour before Leo Dodds and Ethan Stewart completed the scoring to lift Lordswood into sixth.
Lewisham Borough are another side on the up, recording a third straight victory by beating Staplehurst Monarchs 3-0. Jeffery Oredein opened the scoring before a brace from Caden Havell-Olding sealed another three points and pushed Borough into the top half of the table.
It was a day that underlined the gulf in class between winners and losers – six clean sheets, 23 goals scored, and statement wins across the board in the First Division.