Deres make their point

ERITH & Belvedere goal machine Nick Smith saw red after a controversial incident, but the Deres managed to hold on for a point on Saturday and were unlucky not to take all three.

After a cagey opening quarter hour, Croydon edged ahead on 20 minutes.

The ball was fed in to Trams frontman Matt Knuckey on the edge of the area, who couldn't believe his luck when he found himself with no defender within five yards of him and duly capitalised with a good first touch and finish past Matt Bromby.

While Croydon's goal was down to slack defending, Erith's equaliser was entirely the goalkeeper's fault.

On the half hour mark, Adrian Deane cut inside from the right-wing and unleashed a poor effort from 35-yards out.

Trams keeper John Henry appeared to initially think the shot was heading wide, but although he scrambled to get the ball, it was too late as a wicked bounce left Henry with no chance.

It was Deane's first goal since rejoining the Deres from Erith Town.

Shortly after this, Henry dived at full stretch for a shot which was clearly heading wide and it was obvious Henry was a man lacking confidence.

Erith had the kick-off in the second period and Matt Johnson's 55-yard attempt would set the scene for things to come.

The key incident of the match came 10 minutes into the second half.

Croydon's Ricardo Harvey tussled with Deres midfielder Lee Morgan and as the ball moved further upfield, Harvey threw Morgan to the ground.

The referee had his back to the incident, but the linesman on the near side would have been expected to see what was going on.

However, he didn't and an irate Deres side and management confronted him.

After a lengthy conversation with the linesman, the referee called Smith across and brandished a red card after the Deres man had supposedly spoken out of turn to the linesman.

Harvey, meanwhile, escaped without punishment.

Deres boss Chris Cosgrove was sent to the stands within 60 seconds and then Morgan was taken off as things threatened to boil over.

Croydon had a glorious chance to capitalise on their numerical advantage on 59 minutes, but the impressive Bromby snuffed out the opportunity.

Johnson once again fired from long-range 10 minutes later, but this time it was a genuine effort on goal rather than an attempt to drop Henry's confidence to an all-time low.

Henry, though, managed to get down and palm the danger away for an Erith corner.

At the other end on 73 minutes, Harvey was once again involved in the action and so was Bromby, who was alert to save Harvey's shot from 12 yards.

Despite being down to 10 men, Erith could quite easily have snatched all three points. Aiden Pursglove's 25-yard strike was worthy of testing the very best goalkeepers and Henry was equal to the challenge as he made another good save.

Pursglove again nearly found the back of the net when his outstretched leg was inches away from diverting Nathan Bell's cross.

Croydon cleared the ball off the line with eight minutes remaining, but in the end a draw was probably a fair result Although the result means that Erith drop to ninth, the Deres' unbeaten run is now up to four games going into this Saturday's clash against Tunbridge Wells at Park View Road.

Erith & Belvedere: Bromby, Bedford, Gibson (Scowen 61), Morgan (Browne 57), Holder, Farley, Deane, Johnson, Smith, Pursglove (White 82), Bell. Subs not used: Hardie, Benevente. Att: 67