Southern Counties East League round-up: Deal Town win at VCD Athletic, Corinthian beat Kennington

Deal Town finally got a break weather-wise as they got back to winning ways on Saturday.

All but two Premier Division games were wiped by the heavy rain of recent days but Deal, with games in hand on all the teams around them, were grateful that their match at VCD Athletic went ahead.

Having lost their Challenge Cup Semi-final Second Leg at Erith Town in midweek, Deal scored three goals in the last 15 minutes to close the gap on leaders Glebe to eight points with seven games in hand.

It looked like it might have been one of those days for Deal when Macaulay Murray’s first-half penalty was saved by VCD keeper Joe Hyde.

But Billy Munday headed in the first, Tom Chapman doubled Deal’s lead and Wes Hennessy rounded off the scoring.

Second-placed Corinthian also made up ground after winning 3-0 at Kennington, a game played on Ashford’s Homelands 3G surface.

They sit four points ahead of Deal but have played four more games.

Michael Hagan’s seventh-minute opener put Corinthian on their way with Charlie Clover adding a second just before the hour mark. Substitute Conor Driscoll rounded off the scoring late on.

Three games beat the weather in Division 1.

Leaders AFC Whyteleafe left it late to beat K Sports, Taurean Roberts and Adam Allen scoring on 89 and 90 minutes to secure a 2-0 win.

Brooke Tiernan scored an 85th-minute winner for Faversham Strike Force as they defeated Canterbury 2-1.

Tom Barton had put the Force ahead early in the second half but Monty Saunders quickly equalised.

The other game saw second-placed Staplehurst held to a goalless draw at lowly Meridian.