Fiery Final Five As Three Reds See Red

Fiery Final Five As Three Reds See Red

Whitstable Town (0) 1
Thompson 52

Herne Bay (0) 0

Kent Senior Cup 2nd Round
at The Belmont
Tuesday 1st October 2013.
Att: 190

by Peter Guise

Herne Bay limped out of the Kent Senior Cup in dramatic fashion at The Belmont with three, yes three, Oystermen being sent to the dressing room in an undisciplined fiery final five minutes as this match boiled over in uncontrollable fashion.

Awarded a free kick 30 yards from the Whitstable goal, Bay’s preparation to take it was interrupted whilst referee, Phil Rowley sorted out the usual penalty area jostling. Once taken, play was immediately halted as Rowley was called upon to intervene in a 20 player skirmish that resulted in Jordan Casey being booked but not before Town’s skipper, James Morrish had been given a straight red for violent conduct. Just 3 minutes later, Whitstable were reduced to 9 men when John Guest had a second yellow card brandished in his direction followed by the mandatory red card. Worse was to follow for Whitstable with former Dartford player Steve Haffner also being sent off for violent conduct. There was, however, insufficient time for Bay to grab what some might have seen as an undeserved equaliser to force extra time and with Town now down to 8 men, victory would surely have followed in the additional half hour.

As it was, it is the Oystermen who progress to the quarter-finals thanks to new signing Craig Thompson’s strike 7 minutes after the break. Both Connor Sanders and Joe Nelder spurned chances to clear their lines allowing the ex Hythe striker to slot home past Jack Delo.

The first half was unimpressive, the second equally so with Casey sliding the ball wide on 51 and Brown blasting over 5 minutes later when clean through on goal. Sam Denly withdrew right back Nathan Eastwood for the final 7 minutes in favour of a 3-4-3 formation to pound the Whitstable lines but too often the final passes went astray relieving the pressure on the Oystermen.

Then came those final five minutes that left Kane Phillip limping, probably out for a month, and Dean Grant nursing a chipped tooth from that inexplicable and inexcusable head-butt just before the final whistle.

Having been undefeated in eight, Bay have now lost the last three.

Herne Bay team: Jack Delo, Nathan Eastwood (Elias Settouf 83), Gary Sayer, Danny Walder, Connor Sanders, Joe Nelder, Sam Hasler (Kane Phillip 67), Ben Brown, Dean Grant, Jordan Casey, James Turner (Jamie O’Connell 64).

Subs not used: Michael Turner, Kane Butler.