A solitary first half penalty was enough for Hollands & Blair to win the Kent Reliance Intermediate Cup against a Faversham Town side who slipped to consecutive Final defeats in what was their third successive Final appearance.
In the end a 12th minute penalty from Mark Chiverton was to prove decisive – awarded after Joe Balderston had been brought down in full flight.
Overall it was a frustrating night for Faversham who simply didn’t have an answer to unlock Blair’s back line that slammed the door shut time after time with skipper Lee Armstrong, Conner Morgan and man of the match Simon Parnell all outstanding.
Meanwhile at the other end, Blair twice rattled the frame of the Faversham goal as they searched for what would have been a sealing second goal, but in the end not even ten minutes of additional time – added on primarily for balls disappearing out of the ground – was going to deny Blair the Trophy.
The Blair side had knocked out last season’s cupholders, Greenwich Borough, on the way to the Final, and for boss George Huddleston, this was a night to remember as he explained when he spoke to KSN.
“It’s been a long topsy-turvy season and we’ve worked hard in this Cup and I think we’ve fully deserved tonight. Faversham made it very hard and to be fair a scrappy affair could have gone either way. It was so tight and there were a few scrambles and panics, but our young lads at the back I thought were fantastic for us.”
“So many of our players deserved this for their hard work and it’s a great night for the club and to win it on our own ground is a little bit special.”
For Faversham boss Guy Williams, a second Final defeat was tough to take.
“Disappointed with the result but not with the lads!” he told KSN after the Trophy presentation.
“We asked them to give all they had and they did, but it wasn’t meant to be was it? Didn’t really create anything clear cut – they only had two shots, not that we’ve had much more, but it was the same for both sides.”
“I’m not going to knock the boys – they gave everything and that’s football at the end of the day. It just didn’t happen for us tonight.”
Williams must have wondered early on if his side were going to go a step further than last year, especially when in the opening five minutes, the Faversham woodwork was hit directly from a Blair left wing corner as the ball eluded everyone and smacked off of the far post.
The game’s only goal arrived on 12 minutes when Balderston was up ended and Chiverton sent keeper Matthew Bishop the wrong way from the spot.
The first half turned into a midfield battle with neither side really coming to terms with conditions and Faversham’s first shot on target didn’t come until stoppage time when skipper Harry Sheridan shot straight at Blair keeper Shaun Weekes.
Fortunately the second half was better, and Blair could have doubled their lead early on, but George Kean fired over after a free kick was only half cleared.
With both sides final ball not what either manager would have liked as both defences dominated and the respective midfields bossed the games for periods.
From a rare Faversham sortee that breached the Blair back-line, Luke Griffiths battled through before just as he shot, the pitch took the ball behind.
Not that Blair faired any better at the other end, as a corner caused mayhem in the box, Jamie Govans stabbed the ball against the bar from close in.
Faversham’s night was really summed up late on when Oliver Wells was booked for simulation after appearing to many to have been fouled on the edge of the Blair box!
For them it was another night of what might have been after their third consecutive Final appearance ended in a second defeat, whilst for Blair, it wasn’t pretty, but they were spot on when it mattered!
Hollands & Blair FC – Shaun Weekes, Simon Parnell, Joe Balderston, Conner Morgan, Lee Armstrong (Reece Jenkins), Mark Sift (Nathaniel Masters), Mark Chiverton (Dean Baker), Josh Barton, Jamie Govans, Josh White, George Kean
Subs – Bailey Pearce, Conner Slater
Faversham Town FC – Matthew Bishop, Ryan MacDonald (Kudakwashe Muchinjiko), Fabrice Blewordah, George Batney, David Blaikie, Joseph Alatise, Callum Tydeman (Toby Greenfield), Rabbit Kiabalenga (Abdul-Rahmen Sunmon), Oliver Wells, Luke Griffiths, Harry Sheriden
Sub – Karl May
Referee – Harry Phillips
Assistants – Aaron Conn, Matt Charles, Shane Brown
Match Photos by PSP Images.