Sittingbourne are FA Trophy Quarter Finalists. It was a memorable afternoon for the 866 travelling Brickies fans, players and management, with a 97th minute winner form Anthony Church sending the Brickies through.

There can never have been a player anywhere to write his name into a Club’s history books after just seventeen minutes in the shirt, but on Saturday February 1st 2025, Anthony Church did just that at Southend United’s Roots Hall.
As in the final seconds of stoppage time with a penalty shoot-out looming, Church latched onto an attempted clearance from former Gillingham striker Macauley Bonne to drill a stunning drive past a despairing Nathan Harness in the home goal to send over a thousand travelling Brickies into the stratosphere and have Sittingbourne secure a last eight place in the “FA Cup for non-league teams” for the very first time in their history.
Backed by nearly a thousand fans who out-sang and supported the home fans despite being outnumbered nearly five to one, Sittingbourne were magnificent all over the pitch implementing the game plan of boss Ryan Maxwell and his back-rook team beyond the letter.

The noise the travelling red with a little bit of black army made from their arrival until the last of them had joyously left Roots Hall was really something to behold and to say they lifted the roof off of the away section after Church’s thunderbolt struck the net would have been one of the understatements of an incredible day!
The Brickies were dealt a blow beforehand as Richie Hamill was forced to withdraw from the squad as his wife had gone into labour, but it just highlights the togetherness and the ability of the Brickies squad that Maxwell has assembled that one of Sittingbourne’s players of the season wasn’t really missed.
Chris Arthur was able to return to the side after the birth of his second child in midweek after missing the previous week’s win at AFC Croydon Athletic and the combination of Arthur, Liam Smith and Jack Steventon was to prove decisive on this amazing day for the Brickies.
New keeper Roco Rees started in goal and looked assured making two terrific low save in the opening half to deny Keenan Appiah-Forson as Southend enjoyed possession with Appiah-Forson looking very lively in midfield with some charging runs, but there just was no way through for the home side as the trio at the heart of the Brickies defence stood tall and firm time and again with ample support from full backs Donvieve Jones and Henry Lukombo.
Not even a series of first half corners saw the Brickies flinch and, on another day, they could even have snatched the lead before half time as after Ryan Kingsford initially did well wide left, Codey Cosgrave’s whipped in cross was met by Joe Boachie but his header drifted wide of the right post.
The home fans were getting restless that their side couldn’t find a way through and even at half-time there were some boos from the crowd. Compare that to the travelling Brickies who with every passing moment – like their heroes on the pitch – were growing more and more confident.
The second period was a curious one as cross after cross was headed away by either Smith, Steventon or new dad Arthur, and with every passing minute, there was increasing desperation in the Southend players as Appiah-Forson lost the influence on the game he had had before the break.
A couple of low drives came in that whistled past Rees’s post before the keeper made a really good save to keep out a deflected effort.
Sub-Danny Waldron headed wide and Gus Scott-Morriss had an effort cleared off the line by Lukombo but there simply wasn’t a way through for the home side.

With the game getting more and more stretched, the Brickies pace and fitness – against a side who remember are full-time – began to come into its own.
One swift break found Troy Howard but sadly the flying winger couldn’t cap his birthday weekend with a goal as he sliced the chance wide – it was almost as though the home side couldn’t decide whether to force the win.
Not even the introduction of Bonne could give the home side the gee up they needed as the game went into seven minutes of stoppage time.
Then came the home side’s best chance of the game as Waldron sprinted clear down the left and did well to get to the edge of the box. The ball was then squared to Ben Goodliffe, whose shot was brilliantly blocked by Arthur.
And so, in the final minutes of stoppage time, Bonne’s attempted clearance fell to Church – quite literally – to hammer the Brickies into Monday’s last eight draw along with Aldershot Town, Altrincham, Woking, Sutton United, Oxford City, Spennymoor Town and Rochdale!
Heaven sent? Brickies fans everywhere would say so…
SOUTHEND UNITED – Harness, Scott-Morris (Wind), Ralph, Walker (Waldron), Gibbins, Goodliffe, Hopper (Bonne), Appiah-Forson, Morton, Kendall (Coker)
Subs – Jaakkola, Golding
SITTINGBOURNE – Rees, Jones, Lukombo, Smith, Steventon, Arthur, Howard, El-Mogharbel (Church), Boachie (Sinai), Kingsford (May), Cosgrave (Beckford)
Subs – Graham, Earle, Batt
REFEREE – Mr. Humphries
Images courtesy of Paul Golding