Segas 1 - 4 Herne Bay Over 35s
J Kennett
P Bishenden
S Hetterley (2)

Herne Bay Vets went into their second semi-final in as many seasons in good confidence. Having comprehensively seen off Metrogas in the previous round, only Segas stood in the way of a first final appearance.

An away draw meant a journey into London SE9, something with which we were all becoming accustomed after two seasons in the London Cup.

A full squad of 16 travelled up keen to avoid a repeat of an agonising penalties defeat in 2022. The full squad meant selection headache for manager Scott Kennett who fielded an attacking 4-3-3 with Lewis in goal, a back four of Banks, Williams, Eastwood and Webb behind a midfield three of (skipper) Denly, Kennett and O’Brien and a front three of Davis, Bishenden and Brister, the three who had started against Metrogas and had done so well.

The pitch itself was small but reasonably good with a pronounced slope up towards to the car park. Rain in the week had drained through and the surface was playable, if unpredictable.

In the early stages both sides struggled to get the ball down and play. The better chances were being fashioned by the visitors and the home defence did look vulnerable. Stacy had a sighter within the first minute that bobbled as he hit it and it drifted high and wide to the left.

First shot on target came from Pat Bish down the left and, with a square pass on, choose to shoot from a tight angle which struck the keeper, injuring him in the process. Ten minutes later, a second shot from Bish that the keeper got down to conceding a corner.

Just minutes after this, the visitors found themselves a goal down and with a mountain to climb. There had been a couple of warnings before that with the Bay defence holding a static offside trap that Segas had sprung. The goal itself was against the run of play, on the counter, with the striker rounding the keeper to slot home.

But Bay were slowly getting in to the game, and learning to cope with the surface better. After Bish won a corner down in the right hand corner of the pitch, Webby hung an inviting ball in for Joe Kennett to run on to and thump home. A towering header with the added venom of a side roaring back into the tie.

It finished all square at the break and Bay were now kicking uphill towards the carpark in the second half. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing as it would allow Lewis’ huge kicks to hold up a little.

Bay looked more focused and more composed in the early stages after the restart, with Steve O’Brien testing the keeper from range, hitting the side net. Bay were pressing more, did look better and on 55 mins unleashed Sean Hetterley on to an unsuspecting opponent. He immediately brought a much needed injection of energy and pace and was making some promising runs into channels and the box.

As Bay cranked up the pressure, they won a corner 20 mins into the second half and Denly and O’Brien opted for one of Sam’s short corner routines that we trained on Wednesday evening. An exchange between OB and Denly and Steve then delivered to the back post for Stacy to npd down to Bish who fired home. The hour in the rain earlier in the week suddenly felt like time well spent.

The momentum was with the visitors but Segas weren’t done. They pushed a little more hoping to grab an equaliser and take us straight to pens.

With 15 to go Steve O’Brien was hauled down from behind and then stamped on as he ankle was twisted, he was forced to withdraw and on came John Atkinson.

John almost immediately grabbed an assist as he played in Sean who calmed any Bay nerves as he pushed the ball past the Segas left back and struck a clinical shot from a tight angle across the keeper that went in off the post.

Then, moments later, Sean put the game beyond doubt when he scored a near identical goal from the left from an improbably tight angle again with the ball going off the far post and in. A devastating brace to put the game beyond doubt and put daylight between the two sides.

There were some creditable performances from Pat Bishenden, dangerous as always, and from Sean Hetterley whose finishing was as devastating as it was clinical in the final quarter, some great performances from the whole of the back five who were able to limit the home team to scraps, and also to Sam Denly who grew in to the game and was able to demonstrate his trademark range of passing.

Man of the match today though went to Joe Kennett for his thundering header, all round box to box barnstorming performance and for dominating his opposite number, a player who might have been dangerous had he been allowed to play.

The result means a first appearance in the Kent Cup final for Herne Bay Vets under that name, or indeed any of the other past iterations of the team. It is an achievement that everyone connected with the team can be very proud of. It is no coincidence that this success has come when we’ve had a full squad. It does make selection difficult but it means we had excellent options when Owain and OB picked up their injuries.

It's important we savour the moment and celebrate a massive achievement. However, the Thanet League has thrown up what is a league decider this weekend so we need to be fully focused on that.

L Craddock

I Banks O Williams N Eastwood S Webb

S Denly J Kennett S O’Brien

S Davis P Bishenden L Brister

Bench: S Hetterley, J Atkinson, J Delo, M Groom, K Edwards

Result: Segas 1 – 4 Herne Bay Vets
Man-of-the-match: Player's vote: J Kennett
Man-of-the-match: Opposition vote: -
Referee: Mike Maloney [70] plus two assistant referees