Kennington manager Dan Scorer sees his side follow victory over long-time SCEFL leaders VCD by going out of the Challenge Cup to lower-league Rochester

A midweek cup defeat brought Kennington down to earth following a superb effort to topple the league leaders.

Fin Dent scored both goals, including a penalty, as Ton beat VCD 2-1 in the Southern Counties East Premier Division at Homelands last Saturday.

But they went on to lose 5-3 to lower-league Rochester in the Challenge Cup third round on Tuesday night - a result boss Dan Scorer said would serve as a wake-up call.

The league win moved Kennington up to 13th, seven points clear of the relegation zone, while long-time leaders VCD lost top spot to Faversham.

It was an excellent performance from Scorer’s side, whose 4-2 defeat in the away fixture was the catalyst to transform their season.

“The boys thoroughly deserved three points,” said Scorer.

“VCD, to their credit, were very humble and very complimentary of us after the game, saying we fully deserved it.

“We were certainly the better side on the day.

“It was pleasing to see us go out and perform the way we know we’re capable of.

“We said to the boys prior to the game, use the progress you’ve made in the last eight or nine games to go out and demonstrate to them just how much we’ve improved and highlight we’re a much better side than we showed at their place in early October.

“That game was the catalyst for us changing things up and improving the way we have, so it was nice to see it all come together. It was pleasing.

“It opens up a bit of a gap now on the sides at the bottom but while these games in hand are still there, it’s still wide-open.

“We certainly don’t believe we’re safe but our points tally now, to where it was last season, is quite significantly more, so we’re happy with that but we know the job’s definitely not done yet.

“Realistically, we need to get at