Page 32 - RPVFC v Erith & Belvedere

Micky Collins took over as man- Cup goal against Manchester
ager in May 2010 and took the City.
Deres to 5th, then 2nd, and in 17-match club record
2012-13 achieved an epic Kent Longhurst and eight players de-
League title win, clinching the parted in the space of a month
title with a 7-1 win v Greenwich in autumn 2015, beginning a
in the final game, scoring 113 decline which (despite a SCEFL
league goals in 32 matches and Cup Final appearance in 2016)
completing a run of scoring in 68 saw the Deres relegated in 2017.
consecutive league games. They They came back two years later
beat Corinthian in the League as runners-up in the SCEFL sec-
Cup final to complete the double. ond tier under Owen Jones, win-
Against Manchester City ning the London Senior Trophy,
But Collins resigned soon af- setting a 17-match club record
terwards, the double-winning unbeaten run and with Harry
squad dispersed and 2013-14 Harding scoring a club record 45
was a debut Ryman North sea- goals in the season.
son to forget: a 16-game losing Resignations from the board
sequence, 137 goals against, Their first season back in the
with relegation confirmed with SCEFL top flight, 2019-20, was
four games to go. New manag- patchy and got worse in the open-
er Longhurst’s biggest achieve- ing weeks of 2020 when Jones
ment to restore the club’s spirits and most of his team left and
from that position, and 2014-15 the club’s future was in doubt
was an unexpected delight for due to resignations from the
the Deres: they finished a strong board. A group of former play-
third in the SCEFL, having led the ers led by Paul Springett took
table until Christmas, and as a over as directors virtually on the
bonus reached the quarter-final eve of the coronavirus pandem-
of the FA Vase before going out, ic, which left the Deres at the
in front of their biggest crowd bottom of the incomplete table.
for 22 years, to eventual win- 2020-21 saw improved results
ners North Shields. Alfie May and encouraging cup runs as Del
scored 41 goals that season - an Oldfield started to build a team,
early highlight of a career which but the second lockdown ended
peaked in 2021 when he won the the season in November. CLICK
League 2 title with Cheltenham HERE
and scored that memorable FA

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