Banstead have been in the Combined Counties League since being relegated from the Isthmian League in 2006. They then slipped down to Division 1 in 2012 but won that title in 2017, since when they have been a mid-table team in the Premier Division. However, last season was a struggle for them.

They finished 19^th of the 20 teams and only escaped relegation under the F.A. re-structure with only one side, rather than two, being relegated. Jersey won 3-0 at Banstead last November but were unexpectedly beaten 2-3 by Banstead when Jersey hosted them at Wycombe Wanderers in March.

This season they have started with two 0-1 reverses. Firstly, in the F.A. Cup Extra Preliminary Round against league rivals Sheerwater. The match was due to be played at Banstead but was switched to Sheerwater because of the poor condition of the Banstead pitch. Then last Saturday they again lost by the only goal when they travelled to A.F.C. Croydon Athletic. So going into this match they had yet to play at home or score a goal.

Jersey made four changes to the team that defeated Guildford City three days ago. Fraser Barlow and Jake Prince were unavailable and were replaced by Francis Lekimamati and Ruben Mendes who had both been on the bench on Saturday. James Carr and Sammy Sutcliffe “rotated” to the bench with Frank Tobin and Jay Giles taking their places. Kieren Stephens was also a substitute along with goalkeeping coach Richard Hebert.

Banstead still had eight players of the squad that had beaten Jersey in March, including their young goalkeeper, Devon Gordon, who had performed heroics for them when they won at Wycombe.

On a humid 22C evening Jersey won the toss and chose to defend the Park end. The long dry spell meant that the pitch was very hard with cracks in it. Consequently, it was difficult to play much good football on the high bouncing and bobbly pitch.

Jersey dominated the early exchanges with Sol Solomon putting a free kick into the side netting and Lorne Bickley hitting the far post stanchion with a header from a fifth minute corner. The ball rebounded on to the pitch and play continued before the ball was eventually cleared. Nevertheless, it was Banstead who opened the scoring. A Pierce Roche clearance from the edge of the box to the half way line was headed forward to the Banstead captain, Reuben Duncan, thirty yards out. From there he hit a wonderful dipping volley that cleared the retreating Roche and went in just under the bar.

Three minutes later Banstead’s Brandon McCarthy looked to capitalise on a defensive mix up but linesman Matthew Leaning’s flag came to Jersey’s rescue before McCarthy could roll the ball into the unguarded net.

Jersey persisted in attempting to play their passing game and Bickley put a volley just wide after meeting a Giles cross from the left. Mid way through the half Lekimamati was well placed but he put his attempt wide of the left post. McCarthy had Banstead’s only other shot on target just before the half hour but he failed to make a good connection and Roche had to make a pick up, rather than a save.

Jersey got a deserved, but fortuitous, equaliser just after the half hour. Lekimamati toe-poked a high bouncing ball forward into the right channel which was chased into the penalty area by defender Alex Stangelin, pursued by Bickley. Stangelin headed it back to Gordon, falling as he did so, with Bickley then tumbling over him. Linesman Rodney Van Niekerk was level with the incident and did not indicate anything untoward but referee Stephen Matthews saw it differently and pointed to the spot. Unsurprisingly Banstead appealed at length but to no avail with Stangelin cautioned for the “foul”. Eventually Solomon was able to send the spot kick low down the middle as Gordon dived in vain to his left.

The boot was shortly on the other foot when Lekimamati was cautioned for charging down a free kick when he had not moved from where he had been put by the match official. The referee was now being kept busy and when Joe Adoo-Peters scythed down Kamen Nafkha he was added to the collection of names taken.

This proved vital as when Adoo-Peters put a hand in Tobin’s face under the nose of the referee six minutes later he picked up his second caution and had to take the “long walk” to the dressing room. Teammate Stephen Newman protested the decision sufficiently to gain ten minutes in the sin bin leaving Jersey to play against only nine opponents for five minutes both sides of the interval.

Jersey came out after the break looking to make their numeric advantage count but linesman Leaning saved Banstead after Sol Solomon netted and then Bickley saw a header saved by Gordon. However, it was linesman Leaning that Jersey had to thank for gaining the lead. Gordon blocked a Tobin cross shot which bobbled out to Adam Trotter near the penalty spot. Trotter bobbled it back on to the inside of the right post before Newman thought he had cleared it off the line, only to find Leaning signalling a goal.

Tobin was also instrumental in the third Jersey goal. His long ball down the right channel eluded the defence leaving Bickley to run on to it and thump it past the stranded Gordon. Tobin was also next in the notebook when he upended substitute Eyan Facey as he looked to make a break down the left. Shortly after, Kamen Nafkha broke from the edge of his own box, lost the ball to a double-footed studs-up tackle, but received the ball back from Trotter and then fed Solomon to his right. Solomon took a touch and as Facey rushed back to tackle him, from a narrowing angle Solomon shot diagonally in to the bottom left corner for Jersey’s fourth goal.

With quarter of an hour to go Banstead substitute Darnell Ramsey, who had been on the pitch for less than ten minutes, said something sufficiently offensive to the referee to receive a straight red card and leave Banstead with only nine players for the second time in the match.

Jersey continued to pour forward and Gordon pulled off another good save from a Mendes shot with ten minutes remaining.

In the final minute a loose pass across their own defence led to Banstead conceding a fifth. Nafkha managed to get in a diverting foot and the ball cannoned forward to Bickley who bent the ball around Gordon with the outside of his right boot. Whereupon the final whistle blew, without the match kicking-off again, with no time added despite the numerous stoppages there had been.

The incidents did not stop just because the match had. Banstead’s “Jekyll and Hyde” manager who had been sent off after the final whistle at Wycombe looked to replicate his ignominious “feat”. Having watched the match from behind the dug outs, possibly because of a touchline ban, he objected to the Jersey management exchanging the usual post-match pleasantries with his staff and players. He was in Kevan Nelson’s “face” for some time before being dragged away by his cohorts. However, the match officials had already departed for the changing rooms in the far corner of the ground, so missed this unwelcome and unnecessary confrontation.

So a convincing win in the end for Jersey who certainly had the “rub of the green” on this occasion, although there was little or no green to be seen on the pitch.

Banstead Town 1 (Reuben Duncan 11); Jersey Bulls 5 (Sol Solomon (2, 1 pen) 31 pen & 72, Adam Trotter 54, Lorne Bickley (2) 61 & 90)

Attendance – 165 (as supplied by Banstead)

Programme – 7pp (online only)

Banstead Town – Devon Gordon, Stephen Newman, Joe Adoo-Peters, Ivan Atkins, Derek Feyi, Alex Stangelin, Tobi Falodi, Reuben Duncan (c), Brandon McCarthy, Connor Cullen, Emmanuel Akiotu
Substitutes – 12. Eyan Facey (for Cullen 57), 14. Abayomi Obatemi (for McCarthy 57), 15. David Awomolo (not used), 16. Liam Holden (not used), 17. Darnell Ramsey (for Stangelin 66)

Yellow (Black shoulders)/Black/Black; GK Grey/Black/Black

Carl Taylor (Manager), others T.B.A.

Jersey Bulls – Pierce Roche, Frank Tobin, Jay Giles, James Queree (c), Harry Curtis, Kamen Nafkha, Francis Lekimamati, Adam Trotter, Lorne Bickley (wore 16), Ruben Mendes, Sol Solomon
Substitutes – 1. Richard Hebert (GK) (not used), 9. Kieren Stephens (for Giles 71), 12. Sammy Sutcliffe (for Tobin 76), 14. James Carr (for Lekimamati 58)

Red/White/Red; GK All Green (no 21)

Gary Freeman (Manager), Kevan Nelson (Assistant), Richard Hebert (GK Coach)

Formations
Banstead Town (4-4-2 R to L) 1; 2-5-6-3; 7-4-8-11; 10-9
Jersey Bulls (4-5-1 R to L) 21; 2-4-5-3; 7-6-8-10-11; 16

Referee – Stephen Matthews (Redhill), he officiated the same fixture last season.

Assistants – Matthew Leaning (Surbiton) on the dug-out side. He was also on the line twice last season, for the trips to Colliers Wood United and Walton & Hersham. Rodney Van Niekerk (Sutton) on the far side, he visited Jersey in January 2020 for the match v A.F.C. Hayes (now Brook House)

Cautions – Stangelin (BT) 29, Lekimamai (JB) 33, Adoo-Peters (BT) 34, Adoo-Peters (BT) again 40, Tobin (JB) 70

Sin Bin – Newman (BT) 40

Dismissals – Adoo-Peters (BT) 40 (second caution), Ramsey (BT) 75

Corners – Banstead Town (0) 2; Jersey Bulls (5) 9

Player of the Match Award – Lorne Bickley (JB)