Peckham welcomed Banstead Athletic to the Menace Arena on Saturday, who kindly agreed to visit as a late replacement for Fleet Spurs who had to cancel due to COVID and injuries. Banstead play two divisions above the Menace, so it was expected to be a tough test. The visitors central defensive pairing would have been recognisable to Menace supporters, as both having turned out in the red and white hoops in recent seasons.

Peckham had been playing two regular trialists during pre-season, but with their registration now complete, they could be named. Handerson Joanh Banguero Suarez has been playing at right back during pre-season, but can also play further forward. Samuel Boakye has impressed in the centre of defence, but is also comfortable in midfield.

Peckham started the match slowly and it was the visitors who hit the post in the opening five minutes before it was cleared to safety. Possession was evenly shared for the first half hour, but both goalkeepers were largely untested with some wayward shooting. It took a mistake in the defence to break the deadlock, and Nicky Meta was on hand to wrong foot the visiting goalkeeper and coolly roll the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring for the Menace. This more than made up for the deliberate handball to stop a break that earned him a booking shortly before the goal!

Banstead had an opportunity to get back on level terms from a free kick following a clumsy challenge. The shot hit a hand in the wall, and Athletic had another chance right on the edge of the box, but could not make the most if it. Meta and Dance were causing problems down both flanks for the visitors, but the Menace could not capitalise on the threat.

The Menace started the second half slowly, and George Legg had to make a sharp save low to his right to keep Peckham ahead. Similar to the first half, Peckham grew stronger as the half progressed. Joe Thomas flashed a shot wide before Josh Montella doubled the lead on the hour mark, as he coolly finished across the ‘keeper from the edge of the box and into the far bottom corner.

Montella should have extended the lead further on the 70th minute when he jinxed into the box, waltzed past challenges, but he couldn’t quite finish with his wrong foot and blasted the ball over the bar from close range. Samuel Boakye broke out of defence and played a lovely through ball to release Kevin Dance down the right hand side. Dance cut inside and unleashed a shot, but it was kept out by the visiting stopper.

Montella grabbed the second goal that his performance deserved when he beat the offside trap and finished well to make it 3-0 to the Menace in the 80th minute. With the visitors tiring, then Peckham were creating further chances, the scoreline was giving a gloss when Kevin Dance beat the offside trap and advanced on goal, his shot was straight at the goalkeeper, but the rebound fell straight back to Dance and he had an open goal to roll the ball into. Full time followed shortly after, and Peckham ran out deserved 4-0 winners, following a particularly strong second half.

Peckham Town Manager, Mary Phillip, said after the match “It was a great win at home. Everything is slowly, but surely, starting to come into place. Stuff that we are working on the training ground is materialising in the games. The hard work and the effort the players are putting in is immense. I can’t take anything away from the guys - 4-0 against a Step 5 team. I’m going to have a hard team to pick for the first [league] game of the season.”

Finally, we would like to wish Gavin Powers (regular match photographer) a happy birthday. We hope that the 4-0 win was a good way to mark your birthday. His photos can always be viewed under the gallery section of the website. We were also privileged to host The Onion Bag on Saturday, who produced a fantastic series of photos that can be viewed here.

Peckham Town: George Legg; Handerson Suarez, Samuel Boakye, Jay Virgo, Mustafa Hashemi; Kevin Dance, Joe Thomas, Tidian Barry, Nicky Meta (c); David Gabor, Joshua Montella. Subs: Kieran Dowding (on and off for Montella and on for Meta), Azeez Ojulari (on for Gabor), Marcus Black (on for Montella), Ayo Morgan (on for Thomas)

Attendance: 68