James Dyer’s last-minute strike sealed a domestic Cup double for Erith Town as The Dockers added the Kent Senior Trophy to their SCEFL League Cup after a thrilling Final against Croydon at the Gallagher Stadium. 

In each half of a great Final, Division One Croydon scored early through Ryan Hall in the game’s very first minute and then through Ulrich Rischer four minutes after the break.

But Erith never stopped battling and although they quickly levelled in the first period when Ollie Milton scored, they left it until the final fourteen minutes when Dyer struck majestically twice after the Dockers had been denied repeatedly by a fine display from George Kamurasi in the Croydon net. 

Before many of the crowd have comfortably reached their seats the under-dogs and Division One side were ahead as Palmer took advantage of a loose ball on the edge of the box to drill past Mackenzie Foley and into the top corner of the Erith net. 

The lead though lasted less than ten minutes as Harry Taylor did well from a cross to find Milton who found the net with some aplomb. 

The rest of the first half was played at a frenetic pace but with few chances though undoubtedly the best fell for Croydon’s Ryan Hall, who got on the end of a free kick into the box only to be brilliantly denied at point blank range by keeper Foley. 

The second half started as the first had with a Croydon goal as Fischer was on hand to side foot home after a ball in from the left found its way across the goal, and not only did it put Croydon ahead again, but it also exploded the second half into life as the game became a cracker for the crowd. 

Erith sub Ladec Melconian almost had the perfect introduction on the hour, but Kamurasi pulled off the first of a series of brilliant saves to keep out his shot. As Erith’s tempo increased, Taylor flashed a header wide before Dyer pulled another magnificent save from the big Croydon stopper with a low shot. 

It was not all one-way traffic though and Croydon missed a golden opportunity to make it 3-1 as Evans Lamboh and Palmer broke against a solitary defender. However, Lamboh was caught in two minds and instead of laying the chance on a plate for Palmer, the substitute went for goal himself and missed. 

Kamurasi denied Dyer again – this time from a skidding low free-kick which the keeper helped round the right post – before with 76 minutes on the clock, Dyer finally beat the keeper as he hammered home after Bradley Ryan’s great run down the left only seconds after coming on. 

To their credit, Croydon responded brilliantly, and Foley was forced into his own brilliant save to keep out Fischer’s header from a free kick. As good though as Foley’s save was, it was not a patch on one that his opposite number made less than a minute later – Teddy Green’s cross was met with a thumping Taylor downward header and yet somehow Kamurasi pulled off a truly magnificent save low to his fight to keep the header out. 

In the final analysis, this contest deserved an extra half hour, but Dyer had other ideas as from a long ball as the clock ticked to 90 minutes, the Erith striker did well to hold off a recovering defender before drilling the ball low past the keeper and into the net to spark wild scenes of celebration. 

Two down then for Erith with a second bit of silverware on the shelf, but the real fight for Adam Woodward and his players will come next – to first win a place in the SCEFL Play Offs and then follow Deal Town into the Isthmian League… 

CROYDON – Kamurasi, Bogle (Springer), Morgan, McGovern, Anderson, White, Palmer, Reber, Fischer, Hall (Ayetine), Chin (Lamboh) 

Subs – Rufus, David Green  

ERITH TOWN – Foley, Ash, Holland (Teddy Green), Goodwin, Mahal, Jayaguru, Milton (Ryan), Miles, Taylor, Dyer, Lovell (Melconian) 

Subs – Miller, McGeehan  

REFEREE – Mr. Dann-Pye