Peckham Town were forced to make several changes to the line-up due to injuries and absences on Monday, as the team played their fourth league game in nine days. Ide Hill were making their first visit to the Menace Arena for a Kent Country League Premier division game following their promotion from Division One last season.

The away team opened the scoring with 15 minutes on the clock, following poor defending from the Menace. Ben Holder floated in a free kick to the back post, which was nodded back to the towering presence of Luke Steggle who had the simplest of jobs to nod home. How the tallest player in the box was left unmarked was the question that troubled the home bench.

Town had a chance to get back into the game when Valentine Tyrell raced through, but his shot ricocheted back off the crossbar. Ide Hill doubled their lead shortly before half-time. Tommy Hobson, in goal for the Menace, punched a cross clear and simultaneously collided with the onrushing George Kensell for the visitors. The crowd were baffled to see a penalty awarded, as despite the players colliding, it was clear that Tommy had punched the ball clear. The referee waved away the protests, and Craig Jackson was left to clinically dispatch the penalty into the top right corner.

Ide Hill gave themselves further breathing space after 60 minutes when Sam Heasman’s free kick was headed home by Barry Ryan for a simple header in the six-yard box. Town did grab a consolation when substitute Ashley Myers fired in a screamer from thirty yards, but it did not lead to a fight back, and the game finished 3-1 to the visitors.

Chairman, Bryan Hall, said “A much changed team produced a disappointing performance. This combined with a soft penalty and other curious decisions enabled the visitors to win it. We are looking forward to getting a few missing faces back on the field soon.” Peckham Town are at home in the league to Bromleians on Saturday 31 August, and again against Club Langley in the Cup on Saturday 7 September. You can keep updated on all the goings on at Peckham Town by following @PeckhamTownFC on Twitter and Instagram.

Ide Hill: Michael McKay, Callum Heath, Charles James, Ben Pearson, Luke Steggle, Sam Heasman, Ben Holder, Craig Jackson, Jack Edmeads, Barry Ryan, George Kensell. Substitutes: Joshua Howard, Joshua Holland, Mark Driver, Thomas Wilken and George Dance-Harvey (unused)

Peckham Town (4-4-2): Tommy Hobson; Youssef Bouimane, Cameron Deighton, Hady Traore, Stefan Livingston; Kevin Dance, Jefroy Leslie, Ridy Ngimbi, Nicky Meta (c); Valentine Tyrell, Marcus Black. Substitutes: Ashley Myers and Ettien Vicenzo

Referee: Andrew Halpin; Assistants: Tony Woods and Alex Conteh