Portchester's late win and Spurway award define a week of fine margins in the Isthmian League

The week's neatest summary came from the Isthmian South Central Division, where AFC Portchester won 1-0 at Hartley Wintney on 3 October. Tommy Scutt struck a volley in the third minute of stoppage time after Destiny Ojo's free kick fell to him, in a game both clubs described as short on convincing football. Hartley Wintney's own report called a point the fair result and the late goal harsh on the hosts.

The win kept Portchester unbeaten and second in the division, and the league named manager Gav Spurway its South Central Manager of the Month for September, his third such award in 2026. According to the club, the Isthmian citation singled out the draw at leaders Bognor Regis Town, and the extra weighting given to away results, as the deciding factor. Portchester said second place is the highest league position in their history.

Hartley Wintney's week got worse. They were thrashed 7-0 at Bognor on Tuesday, while Bognor had also won 5-4 at Kingstonian the previous Saturday.

In the North Division, Brightlingsea Regent collected their first win of the season on Tuesday, beating Lowestoft Town 5-0 at North Road. Dan Rowe, Joe Watson, Luca Terminiello, Ben Sargent and Emmanuel Zion scored, according to Lowestoft's account, with two goals arriving in four minutes before the break. Regent had drawn 1-1 with AFC Sudbury the previous week. Sudbury, for their part, went on to lose 4-3 to Wroxham on Tuesday, having beaten Lowestoft 4-1 on Saturday.

At Step 4 in the South East, South Park (Reigate) went top by beating Hastings United 2-1 on 3 October, Finlay Johnson and Ross Stepney scoring in front of 385. Whitstable Town followed a 3-1 win at Broadbridge Heath with a 2-0 home win over AFC Croydon Athletic, Dean Grant and Robbie Rees, with a penalty, scoring before a crowd of 624.

Newmarket Town beat Grays Athletic 4-0 to continue their winning run, with Grays' post-match report offering little defence for a bleak afternoon.