THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY CONTINUES

We stretched our winning run to 7 games and booked our place in the 2nd Round Proper of the FA Vase for the 14th time where we will again be at home this time to Hertford Heath who reached this stage after convincingly beating Newport Pagnell Town 4-1 at home on the same day.

Our guests Kennington F C made the 212 mile round trip from Kent where they ground share with Ashford United who play in the Isthmian League South East Division which is Level 4 in the Football Pyramid. Ashford United are direct descendants of Ashford Town who folded in 2010. Interestingly we have never met Kennington before but we have played the two Ashford teams – losing 1-0 to United Away in the Vase in the 2013/14 season and losing 2-0 to Town at home after drawing 2-2 away in the FA Cup in the 2012/13 season.

There were a number of similarities between our two clubs with Kennington playing in the Southern Counties East Division which is Step 5 in the pyramid the same level as ourselves. Like us they occupy 3rd place in the table and are on a good run of form with just one defeat from their last 5 games. On route to this stage of the competition The Ton, as they are known, beat Guildford City 1-0 and then Minster 4-0 both at home so the stage was set for a tough cup encounter.

We started well and with only a minute on the clock we saw George Devine pounce on a defensive mistake but his left foot shot went just wide of the far post. But we didn’t have to wait long for our opening goal and inevitably it came from Max Hercules in the 11th minute.

Max was picked out on the left wing by Harry Shepherd who found himself in space after a clever dummy from a Luke Peerless pass which left his marker wrong footed. Max still had a lot to do but he cut inside and bent his left foot shot into the top far corner of the net giving the visitor’s keeper no chance. Score 1-0.

We went mighty close to doubling our lead in the 24th minute when Max intercepted a very poor pass out of defence. His shot hit the post and eventually fell to Harry Shepherd whose shot forced a superb save from the keeper.

A few minutes later our opponents were awarded a penalty which it has to be said was a bit baffling but perhaps justice was served when the taker skied the ball over the bar. There was no further action of note and we went in at the break with a slim one goal lead. HT Score 1-0.

We doubled our lead in the 64th minute when the opposition failed to clear our free kick and Max’s drilled shot found the bottom corner of the net for his 12th goal of the season. Score 2-0.

Our opponents had not greatly troubled us in the first half but they did start to cause us some problems and they were thrown a life line with another penalty which drew more puzzled looks in the 73rd minute. This time they didn’t waste this opportunity which sub Ryan Philpott, who had only been on the pitch for 10 minutes, converted to get his team back in the game. Score 2-1.

Kennington were given another boost 5 minutes later when Jake Alley was sent off after receiving a second yellow card. Caden Barber went in goal but despite all the efforts from our opponents we defended well and Caden was not called upon to show off his goalkeeping skills.

Kennington were also reduced to 10 players when Charlie Owen, who was a hat-trick hero in the previous round after grabbing 3 of the 4 goals they scored against Minster, was sin binned in the 86th minute.

We rapped up the game in the 95th minute when Max set up Blake Argent who showed some deft footwork to finish superbly to make the final score 3-1. Blake has 3 goals to his name so far and has scored in successive games so lets hope he can keep that going. FT 3-1.

This was a fully deserved win and means we have now won 7 games on the trot scoring 20 goals and conceding just 2 both of which have come from penalties. This run will be put to the test on Tuesday when we travel to Leverstock Geen for a Herts Senior Challenge Cup tie. Levy now play at a higher level and we last met on 27 April 2024 at home when we lost 1-0 so this will be a tough test for us.

Sponsors Talent Matched chose Max Hercules as Man of the Match and finally we wish Kennington all the best for the rest of the season.

TEAM
TA: Jake Alley, Eli Hearn, Dylan Fitzpatrick, David O’Connor, Caden Barber, Jack Harvey (Capt), Luke Peerless, Frankie Hercules, Harry Shepherd, George Devine), Max Hercules. Sub Not Used: Michael Olulode

Scorers:

TA: Max Hercules (11, 64), Blake Argent (90+5)

K: Ryan Philpott (73)

Crowd: 213

MoM: Max Hercules