Margate 1 Lowestoft Town 4

Michael Frew and Chris Henderson were brought into the starting line up with Jamie Forshaw and Joe Francis dropping to the bench.

A worrying aspect of the season so far is a slow start made by the Trawlerboys to games and this was evident again at Margate who had two good chances to move ahead before they opened the scoring. In both cases the danger came from pacy winger Kwesi Appiah who twice found himself clear with just Andy Reynolds to beat but firstly he shot into the side netting and secondly Reynolds dived to his left to save.

The third quick break by Margate saw them take a 23rd minute lead. Tom Bradbrook’s excellent pass inside Adam Smith saw Matt Bodkin race through to slam the ball past Reynolds into the top corner of the net.

That set back seemed to spur Lowestoft into action and Michael Frew was played through only to chip the ball tamely into the hands of Jack Smelt. Matt Nolan then set up his strike partner again but this time is low shot scudded against the base of the post. Frew was not to be denied though as he levelled the scores in the 33rd minute. Matt Nolan, Lubo Guentchev and Andrew Cave-Brown exchanged passes before the latter crossed for Frew to send a looping header over the keeper into the net. Guentchev then saw his curling effort land on the roof of the net as the first half came to an end.

Lowestoft increased the tempo after the break and it took just 3 minutes for them to take the lead. Guentchev was again the instigated using his pace down the right before crossing low for Chris Henderson to knock home from close range at the far post.

With Lowestoft now dominating Guentchev saw his fiercesome strike superbly turned over the bar by Smelt and Frew was again denied by the upright before Lowestoft increased their lead in the 66th minute. Adam Smith’s free kick was knocked high into the air by a home defender and as it fell Guentchev hit a sweet volley into the far corner of the net from 12 yards.

Guentchev’s excellent cross field pass sent Henderson racing clear but his shot hit the keeper’s legs to divert for a corner. Having both marked their return to the starting line up with a goal Frew and Henderson were replaced by Jamie Forshaw and Joe Francis as the game moved into the final quarter but there was no let up for the home side with Lowestoft adding a 4th goal in the 83rd minute. An Adam Smith free kick was knocked back across goal where Forshaw was on hand to turn the ball into the net from close range.

Terry Lynes