A number of Sevenoaks District football clubs have enjoyed a great start to the season, albeit in the lower leagues. Most noticeably is St Lawrence as they share the lead at the top of the Sevenoaks & District Football League (S&DFL) Premier Division, with Leigh just a point behind them.
Nomads and Kemsing are also in a great position as they both put their charge together for the second half of the season in the S&DFL Division One. Swanley Oaks top Division Two and Kemsing United Reserves lead the way in Division Three.
Elsewhere the picture is not so pretty, although Sevenoaks Town have put themselves in a great position to launch an attack on a promotion place come April. The club have already played an astonishing 31 matches this season, in part because of their recent cup runs. With seven games in the FA Cup, three in the FA Trophy and another three in the Velocity Cup, Sevenoaks can now turn all their attention to the Pitching-In Isthmian League South East Division.
They currently sit in ninth place with 27 points, and after beating Beckenham Town in their new year fixture, they’ve endured a number of postponed fixtures due to waterlogged pitches.
Sevenoaks now face eight matches in five weeks with five of those at home – win those five games and it’s all to play for.
Meanwhile, fellow Isthmian team Corinthian have also had a number of matches postponed for the same reasons and they are in for a tough finish to the season having struggled so far this term. With just 13 points from 18 games played, they sit second from bottom of the South East Division, albeit with a five point cushion to Faversham Town. However, with the bottom two places being automatically relegated and the next two places playing a playoff to avoid the drop, they’ll need to find some form and they’ll need to find it soon.
Chipstead Football Club (pictured in action above) are next in line, ironically playing their home games in the Kent County Football League (KCFL) Premier Division at Sevenoaks Town’s Greatness Park ground, and after 14 matches played, they find themselves in sixth place, thirteen points behind the league leaders Minster.
With a couple of must win games for the Chips coming up in January against Tenterden Town and Bromleians, they should secure their top half of the table standing, if not pushing to close down the gap at the top.
Meanwhile, Ide Hill and Otford United sit towards the bottom of the division, the former a little bit better off with five wins in 15 against United’s two wins from 13.
Crockenhill’s fate in the KCFL Division One West seems to have already been written in stone – sitting rock bottom of the division with just two points from 12 games played so far this season.
Finishing off in the KCFL Division Three West are Ide Hill Reserves and Otford United Reserves. After eleven games played apiece so far this term, they find themselves preparing for another season in this division with just 13 and five points respectively.