Southern Counties East Premier Division
Saturday 10th January 2026
The Cannons fought back from 3-1 down to gain a point in a thrilling 3-3 draw against Punjab United at Reachfields on Saturday afternoon.
Manager Darren Beale brought in two of the new signings into the starting line up with Taurean Roberts and Francisco Gomes in for the first time and Will Dempsey returning from illness. They replaced Samuel Benson, the injured Monty Saunders and Richie Keil who was on the substitutes bench.
The game started brightly with Hythe having the first two efforts. After just a minute there was confusion in the Punjab defence with goalkeeper Owen Bushell coming off his line. The ball fell to Armani-Jordan Martin 30 yards out who attempted a lob which drifted just wide and then 60 seconds later a cross from Mo Kamara was met by Steadman Callender who fired wide.
The visitors were soon on the attack on five minutes as Roman Campbell broke through but Hythe keeper Henry Newcombe was quickly off his line to block and within a minute Hudson Scuddor played Roman Campbell in, but he should have done better as he missed the target with his effort.
Hythe were to take the lead on a quarter of an hour as a blatant shirt tug on Jason Fregene led to a penalty to the disbelief of the Punjab players. Up stepped Roberts to calmly slot his penalty past Owen Bushell to make it 1-0.
Punjab then had three opportunities to get back in the game as firstly a cross from Will Johnson-Cole found Jack Hopkins but he pulled his shot wide, Scudder then also fired wide under pressure from Will Dempsey and finally George Monger laid the ball off to Will Johnson-Cole who sent his attempt the wrong side of the upright.
The game was very open at this stage and there were chances falling for Hythe as a Gomes cross from the left found Callender, who under pressure, couldn’t turn the ball in. The first half was very even, and the hosts were probably fortunate to go in a goal to the good.
The second period started slowly but hesitancy in the home defence on 57 minutes led to the equaliser as the ball was not properly cleared and Jack Hopkins fired home. For the next seven minutes the Cannons showed some of their old failings as they conceded on the hour. They failed to clear their lines and Jordan Campbell was on hand to slam the ball home. Two minutes later it was three as a cross from the right found its way across the penalty area to find former Cannon Anthony Adesite on his own and he blasted the ball past Newcombe into the net.
The feeling around the ground was that the game was now out of the hands of the Cannons although substitute Ikye Dalton had an effort that Owen Bushell was able at full stretch to get a hand on the ball to push it around the post. The game was nearly put out of the reach of the hosts with a quarter of an hour to go as Monger broke though but Newcombe was again off his line to push the ball wide.
However, on 83 minutes the Cannons got a lifeline as a deep cross from Roberts on the left found Callender who bundled the ball over the line to make it 3-2. Within two minutes another dangerous cross from Roberts this time found Kamara in the middle of the area and Hythe captain slammed the ball home to bring the scores level. In fact, Hythe did have a chance in injury time to complete the turn round, but Deacon sent an effort wide.
Then, with the last action of the game, the visitors were awarded an indirect free kick from close range as Newcombe picked up a back pass. The ball was laid off but the Hythe defence charged the ball down and managed to clear away and hold on to a point that looked unlikely earlier in the half.
The fightback was encouraging and hopefully starts the rise up the table towards safety.
Team: Henry Newcombe, Blu Hustwaite, Will Dempsey, Roarie Deacon, Jason Fregene, Jerzy Kryzszka (Storm Gaultier 30 mins), Taurean Roberts, Mo Kamara, Steadman Callender, Aramani-Jordan Martin, Francisco Gomes (Ikye Dalton 63 mins). Subs Dan Kennedy, Folarin Awoleke, Richie Keil.
Scorers: Hythe Town – Taurean Roberts 15mins pen, Steadman Callender 83 mins, Mo Kamara 86 mins. Punjab United – Jack Hopkins 57 mins, Jordan Campbell 60 mins, Anthony Adesite 62 mins.
Yellow Card: Roarie Deacon 58 mins.
