It was a frustrating afternoon at the office for Whistable Town as they went out of the FA Trophy thanks to a spectacular strike away at Ashford Town (Middlesex).

It was the ultimate in smash and grab from Whitstable Town tonight as two goals in added time snatched all three points from Three Bridges on an ill tempered evening at Jubilee Fields.

The Bridges fresh from a 4-0 defeat against VCD took to the field looking full of confidence ahead as they took to the field for kick off.

It was a bright start from both sides as immediately from the referees whistle three bridges sprayed the ball to the corner only to find too much pace on the ball as it trickled out for a goal kick to the visitors.

The visitors reply was instant with two free kicks in quick succession both of which came to nothing.

The first real chance fell to The hosts when the ball found its way to Curtis Gayler whose shot from 25 yards whistled just past the post with Eason scrambling.

The Bridges again came close in the 13th minute after an excellent piece of build up play through the midfield, the quick passing leading to a claim for a penalty as the ball flew into the box.

The visitors started to gain control in midfield at the quarter hour after Aaron Millbank appeared to be thrown to the floor by Bridges Dean Lovegrove. The resulting free kick taken by Mazzone, but could only find a defender as it deflected out for a corner.

With the game evening out a quick break from Three Bridges down the left, the ball made its way to Lovegrove who fired a tame looking cross towards the box, the ball hitting the arm of a Whitstable defender who was about 20 yards away when the ball was struck.

A loud cry from the hosts led to the shrill of referee Barrie Smalls whistle and the enviable finger pointing to the spot for a penalty to The Bridges. 

The clock struck 23 as the ball hit the back of the net, after Brannon O’Neill struck the ball low and hard past the despairing dive of Eason to give the hosts the lead.

A dangerous cross from The Bridges right leading to a corner which was cleared off the line at the near post by the Whitstable defence led to tempers rising on the visitors bench. 

With temperatures rising across the pitch Whitstable could count themselves lucky to still have 11 players on the field following an off the ball incident which saw Tijam Jidama receive a yellow card when many were calling for a red.

With the visitors fighting to get back into the match it was Simon Kabamba who was spoken to next as the referee called for him to be careful after appearing to stamp on Luke Leppard as he tried to break down the right.

In the 37th minute the impressive Jordan Wilson broke down The Bridges right before slipping the ball to Tom Tolfrey whos initial shot was parried by Dan Eason who was helpless in stopping the follow up as Tolfrey doubled the home sides lead.

Tempers spilled over again in the 44th minute when Luke Medley was felled just outside the box, causing around 18 players to surround each other and the referee as Medley stayed down, the referee showing yellows to Steve Smith and Aaron Millbank for their part in proceedings.

The ball was placed around 25 yards for Millbank to fire high over the wall and his rocket of a shot, met by the cheer of away support as it hit the back of the net was met by the referee calling for half time.

The visitors Clearly lifted by the goal appeared for the second half full of confidence ahead of the restart, with the main threat coming from ex Greenwich and Lordswood forward Luke Medley.

With Whitstable looking dangerous every time they went on the attack and The Bridges resolute in defence it was easy to see the temperatures starting to rise again.

It took until the 70th minute for Three Bridges to force a brilliant save from Eason when he tipped a shot from distance wide.

Luke Medley looking dangerous as the visitors searched for an equaliser, but when The Bridges Smith hit the floor under a challenge Medley had to be pushed away by team mates as he disputed the incident. The big forward clearly unhappy with the decision, again leading to 18 players surrounding the referee.

As the game reached the final 10 minutes and the atmosphere now at boiling point, both sets of benches clearly unhappy with the performance of the officials  The hosts fired a speculative shot after Whitstable waited for an offside flag that didn’t come and Eason was scrambling across his line to keep the ball out.

Whitstable stepped through the gears as they launched a late onslaught on the home goal, with Liam Gillies fired a curling shot from 35 yards which was destined for the top corner was stopped by an excellent save By Kieron Thorp in the home goal.

The announcement of 7 minutes added time lifted the visitors and it was a clear case of if they scored they would possibly go on to claim a winner.
It was that belief that was on show when the Kent side launched an attack through the middle of the pitch causing a slip in the home defence which allowed Millbank to compose himself before firing low past Thorp to level the scores.

Millbank was again in the thick of things a few minutes later as he and his team mates searched for a goal to claim all three points but The number 9 was denied a hat trick by a brilliant block by the home defenders.

With the referee checking his watch the corner flew in deep and a touch along the floor led to the ball finding Cham Muhammed, and the substitute swung his foot from 25 yards releasing a bending shot that left Thorp grasping at the air as the ball flew past and into the goal sparking wild celebrations from both the bench and players.

The final whistle screeched through the night air leaving the visitors celebrating and after the late drama all three points heading to the Kent coast, with the Three Bridges team wondering what could have been.

Three Bridges.

Thorp, Williams, Lovegrove, Gayler (Donaghey 86) O’Neill, Smith, Wilson ( Skerry 61) Leppard, Donaghey, Barbary, Tolfrey(Woolvern 72)

Goals O’Neill 23, Tolfrey 37

Whitstable

Eason, Kabamba, Mills, Brown ( Aiyelabold 79)Rowe, Bryant, Mazzone (Muhammed 90) R Gillies ( L Gillies 65 ) Millbank, Jadama, Medley

Goals- Millbank 45,90             Muhammed 90+5

Officials
Barrie Small, Nick Blogg and Dane Johnston

Attendance 91