Bay bow out of Cup at Sevenoaks

Wednesday 27 th September 2023.
Kent Senior Cup First Round
Sevenoaks Town 3 Herne Bay 0
Attendance. 85
Herne Bay: Josh Bexon, Fin Whitton, Frankie Smith, Jacob Gilbert (Kayan Hassan 71), Liam Friend, Dan Carrington, Gil Carvalho,
Archie Burnett (Mo Kamara 71), Zeus McCully, Bola Dawodu, Sammi Takaloo (Tom Hanfrey 45).

On 25/01/2022 the two sides met at the same stage in the same competition and Herne Bay’s 4-2 penalties win after a 1-1 draw
meant they went on to play Welling United at home in the Second Round. This time out the prize for the winners of this clash would
be to play at home to Welling United in the Second Round. Would it be a case of déjà vu?
Herne Bay made nine changes from the team that had started at Horndean.

In the first minute there was clash of heads and Sammi Takaloo went down. He lasted until half time but ended up going to hospital
with suspected concussion. The early pressure came from Sevenoaks with three corners in quick succession. Gil Carvalho was
leading the Herne Bay line and in the 12 th minute was put through but he took too long to shoot and the chance went. Following a
good period of pressure Carvalho shot into the arms of Amadou Tangara. At the other end Josh Bexon was forced into a full stretch
diving save from Ricardo Thompson. From Oaks 8 th corner Thompson had his diving header cleared off the line from Fin Whitton.
Sevenoaks took the lead on 26 when a long ball from Tangara found Fumnaya Shomotun who cut inside and his low cross was
cleared by Whitton, but the ball hit Daniel Bennett and ricocheted past Bexon. Within 10 minutes Oaks had gone two up when a
poor pass from Archie Burnett went straight to Palace Francis who put Shomotun through to drill past Bexon. Jacob Gilbert had
Bay’s best chance of the first half but his long-range effort was well saved by Tangara.

At the start of the second period Oaks brought on Tushaun Walters, who previously had two spells with Herne Bay, and was on
loan from Hastings United. Under 23s and Under 18s player Zeus McCully shot wide of the near post early on and it was not until
the 55 th minute that Herne Bay won their first corner.

On the hour, from a corner, Rian Bray’s header hit the crossbar and the ball fell in the 6-yard box. Thompson reacted quickest on
the rebound and found the back of the net. Oaks were pressing hard giving Herne Bay little time on the ball. The last chance fell to
Carvalho and his shot from 18 yards was palmed over the bar by Tangara.

It was a deserved win from Sevenoaks but in reality was of little consequence with a midweek home tie against National South
Welling United unlikely to draw a decent sized crowd. There was just the draw for the for the Velocity Cup Third Round to be made and
then Bay could concentrate on making an impact on the league table.