A ‘worldy’ from captain Nicky Meta and a first goal for James Armes gave Peckham the win against Minster, which leaves them joint top of the Kent County League Premier Division. Manager Mary Phillip had to make a last minute change to her line up after defender Jeremiah Duah Danso failed a late fitness test. Nathan Gamester returned to start in goal with captain Nicky Meta switching across to right back. Adam Carrick was promoted from the bench to start at left back with Hassan Omar partnering Fareid Yassein in central defence. Raymond Agyemang and Jacob Kemp slotted into midfield with Camilo Andres Nieva and Mohammed Abaker out wide. Tidi Barry played the ten role behind lone striker Evaristo Mendes. On the bench were Yacoub Suleman, James Armes, Oreoluwa ‘Majic’ Majekodunmi, Thomas Koroma and Kwadwo Asamoah.

A crowd of 132 watched as Peckham got the game underway but it was the visitors who had the upper hand in the opening minutes. As in their previous two games however, the Peckham defence dealt with the early pressure well. Their first real chance came in the 19th minute from Mohammed Abaker but he couldn’t get his foot over the ball and his effort went high over the bar. Three minutes later Nicky Meta sent in a corner from the far side which saw Raymond Agyemang connect well, but his header went high over the visitors goal.

Peckham’s pressure would surely pay off soon, and as the game passed the half hour mark, they won a throw in over on the far side. Captain Nicky Meta took the throw and found Jacob Kemp on the edge of the area with his back to goal. Any threat looked to have gone as the midfielder carried the ball away from goal but he managed to turn and pass it back to the Menace skipper. He took a touch before hitting it with his left peg from 25 yards out. There was only one outcome, the ball curled over the outstretched arm of the Minster keeper into the top left hand corner of the goal to make it 1-0 on 33 minutes. This was undoubtedly another early contender for goal of the season.

Three minutes later Peckham found themselves temporarily down to ten men after Adam Carrick had a fruit based disagreement with the official and was sent to the sin bin. Mary Phillip’s team would now have to see out the remainder of the first half a man down, giving the visitors the advantage. Surprisingly the visitors failed to use their man advantage and Peckham continued to threaten their opponents. Jacob Kemp had a great chance to double Peckham’s lead in the 41st minute but saw his effort go high and wide of the Minster goal. After five additional minutes the match official finally blew for half time.

So far the visitors hadn’t really threatened the Peckham goal and I’m sure manager Mary Phillip would be telling her players not to be too complacent in the second half. At one nil, this would still be anyone’s game, and the next goal could prove pivotal to the final outcome. With no changes during the break and Peckham back to eleven men, the visitors got the second half underway. Within a couple of minutes Peckham had another chance to double their lead, but Mohammed Abaker’s shot unfortunately went high and wide once again.

As the game passed the hour mark, Tidi Barry did well over on the far side and under some pressure he still managed to get a shot away at goal but could only find the side netting. With twenty minutes to play Peckham thought they had finally got their second of the game only to see the official on the near side raise his flag for offside.

With a few players still celebrating, the visitors took the free kick quickly and went on the counter. The ball was played out to the left wing and eventually a cross went in towards the back post. Defender Adam Carrick was outnumbered at the back and despite his earlier cries warning his teammates of this, the visitors had the ball in the net to make it 1-1 on 70 minutes.

Mary Phillip now opted for a few changes, the first saw Adam Carrick replaced by Kwadwo Asamoah on 73 minutes then four minutes later saw a double change. James Armes replaced Tidi Barry and Yacoub Suleman replaced Camilo Andres Nieva - two like for like swaps on 77 minutes.

It was a great switch, which paid dividends barely two minutes later. Peckham won a corner on the nearside which Yacoub Suleman took quickly but the assistant flagged that the ball wasn’t within the quadrant. Up stepped captain Nicky Meta to take, sending the ball high into the area with his left peg. The Minster keeper came out to clear but could only punch it high into the air and he had no idea where the ball had gone. Before he could get his bearings substitute James Armes had headed the ball home into the empty goal to make it 2-1 to Peckham.

Peckham should have wrapped up the game in the 84th minute, but the Minster keeper saved well from a Jacob Kemp close range effort. With 4 added minutes and despite some late pressure from the visitors, the official blew for full time, leaving Peckham temporarily atop of the league albeit due to their earlier kick off time. Two goals for New Romney in stoppage time vs Cuxton 91 saw them join the Menace on top of the table by 4.45.

So it’s three wins from three now and another resilient performance from Mary Phillip’s Peckham. It is still very early on in the season, but things are still looking good. We have seen three wins against three strong opponents with Peckham digging in deep when they have needed to, to see out the result.

Next week we face two games in as many days, the first on Saturday the 24th, a top of the table clash, when we travel down to New Romney. The two remaining 100% records in the league will be put on the line. Then on Monday the 26th we face Fleetdown United at the Menace Arena. Dave Webster will be on holidays for both games, so will be handing over the match day live X feed and the match reporting duties to Dom Smith.

Peckham Town FC (4-2-3-1). Nathan Gamester; Nicky Meta (c), Fareid Yassein, Hassan Omar, Adam Carrick; Raymond Agyemang, Jacob Kemp; Camilo Andres Nieva,Tidi Barry, Mohammed Abaker; Evaristo Mendes.
Subs: Kwadwo Asamoah (on for Adam Carrick 73’), James Armes (on for Tidi Barry 77’), Yacoub Suleman (on for Camilo Andres Nieva 77’), Oreoluwa Majekodunmi (unused) & Thomas Koroma (unused)