The Blues returned to winning ways with an excellent display in our away trip to Dover on Saturday, which moved us into the top half of the league table after eight games. Next up sees a return to cup action, this time in the FA Trophy as we travel to fellow Isthmian Premier side Chatham Town for the first time this season.
Our Opponents
Chatham Town made themselves known in their first season in the Isthmian Premier last year. Having been promoted from Isthmian South East, the Chats had an excellent season. While Hornchurch ran away with the title with 100 points, Chatham were "best of the rest", finishing in second place with 79 points; two places and three points above the Blues as we took 4th position. In the playoffs, Chatham beat Horsham on penalties after they could not be separated in 120 minutes but ultimately could not get past Enfield Town whose excellent second half display saw them win 3-0 in front of a bumper crowd at the Bauvill in May.
This season, the Chats have made some big signings in the summer, including former Premier League striker Freddie Sears, with many bookies having Chatham as one of the favourites for the title this season. At the time of writing, Chatham are 17th of 22 teams with eight points from eight games (W2 D2 L4). Wins came against Bowers & Pitsea and Dulwich Hamlet back in August but September was more challenging in both league and cups, with the Chats losing to Slough in the FA Cup.
Head to Head
Last season we had a home victory apiece, with a 90th minute winner for the Chats in Chatham securing a 2-1 win after Anointed Chukwu had netted an equalising penalty. The Blues' 4-2 triumph at the Maurice Rebak Stadium on a wet Tuesday in February was arguably one of the standout performances in an excellent season last year, Elliot Long and Ruben Carvalho both netting a brace on that day.
Last Time Out
On Saturday, Chatham were defeated in the FA Cup by National League South side Slough Town, with Slough's quality showing in a 3-0 win at the Bauvill Stadium. Since then, Chatham played a league fixture on Tuesday night, losing 3-2 at Hastings with two goals in additional time at the end of the 90 not enough to claw back after Hastings had taken a three goal lead.
In the FA Trophy, both clubs enter the competition at this stage. Last season the Blues were defeated in this round by Bury Town at the Maurice Rebak Stadium. Meanwhile Chatham travelled to Heybridge Swifts and won 2-1 to reach the First Round before falling to Cray Valley PM 2-0 at home.
Players To Watch
As mentioned previously, Chatham have EFL experience in their squad in the form of forward Freddie Sears, who burst onto the scene for West Ham, scoring the winner on his debut in the Premier League back in 2008 as a teenager. He went on to make over 50 appearances for the Hammers before two spells at Colchester either side of a long stint at Ipswich Town, for whom he made over 200 appearances. As well as Sears, the Chats captain is midfielder Stuart O'Keefe who had spells early in his career with Crystal Palace and Cardiff City, more recently playing over 100 times for fellow Medway club Gillingham, named their player of the season as recently as 2021/22.
For the Blues, Ayo Tanimowo has two goals in his last two games, and Ahmet Rifat has looked to deploy Tanimowo in a variety of positions in recent weeks, each of which he has excelled and shown his clear ability. Meanwhile, in defence Ben Frempah and Rhamar Garrett-Douglas have both reached the 50 appearances mark in recent weeks, and have formed a crucial part of the Blues squad, we look forward to more of the same from the ever-reliable pairing.
Photos courtesy of Martin Addison.
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