Whitstable progressed to their second Kent Senior Cup final and their first since Marc Seager’s team lost to Welling United in 2009. This 2019-20 competition has been much delayed by the Covid pandemic, with the fellow finalists Dartford having to wait over nineteen months since defeating Phoenix Sports in the other semi-final. A young Gillingham side provided a good test for new Whitstable manager Keith McMahon’s first match in charge and the game watched by an attendance of 407 might have gone either way, with both teams hitting the bar. It was eventually settled with a well-taken goal by Tom Carlton in the 90th minute.

Whitstable included new signing Luke Griffiths in their starting eleven and the manager decided to give former academy player Muhammed Cham his first start, having watched him score a hat-trick for the reserves at the weekend. Seventeen year old Gus Barnes also started and Montrell Deslandes, another young academy player, was on the bench. League One Gillingham sent a young team to the Belmont, managed by Craig Stone and Jason Lillis, which included three players with first team appearances this season, Harvey Lintott, Bailey Akehurst and Gerald Sithole.

There was some early action at both ends as firstly the Gills just managed to clear a dangerous Barnes cross and then Gerald Sithole met a good ball from the right at the back post, but could only steer the ball wide. The visitors saw plenty of the ball in the opening minutes, but Tom Crump was the first goalkeeper to be tested when Cham found Carlton on the left and his low shot was kept out, then gathered by Crump at the second attempt. Gerald Sithole made a great run down the left, but his low cross was dealt with by the home defence. Dan Eason was called into action in the 18th minute when a long throw by Akehurst was only cleared to Matt MacArthur, whose first time shot was comfortably saved. On 33 minutes, Griffiths tried his luck with a low shot from distance, but Crump made a routine save. Gerald Sithole continued to be a threat on the left and a mazy run in the 37th minute saw him cut inside before firing a shot over the bar from just outside the box. Some good play by Barnes on the left led to a corner in the 38th minute when Alex Giles just got his head to the cross ahead of Harry Goodger. Carlton’s delivery from the right was initially cleared to the far side, but when Tom Mills sent the ball back in, Goodger flicked the ball on to an unmarked Carlton who crashed a shot off the bar from around 12 yards. Gillingham cleared the danger and a quiet end to the half meant the score remained 0-0 at the break.

Soon after the restart, Danny Walder seized on a loose clearance and tried a shot from 25 yards that curled just wide. On 50 minutes, Freddie Carter played the ball forward to Gerald Sithole and his quick, long range strike clipped the outside of the left post. Carter turned in the box and his shot was deflected narrowly wide. A few minutes later, Gerald Sithole again went close after cutting in from the right, but Mills did well to block his left footed shot for the first of three successive corners as Gillingham pressed for the breakthrough. Next, Whitstable struggled to clear an Akehurst free kick and Lintott hit the top of the bar with a close range shot. Ronald Sithole was introduced in the 64th minute and almost made an immediate impact with a run and shot that was blocked by Mills before an offside flag prevented a follow up effort. Griffiths forced a great save from Crump in the 66th minute when his powerful drive from 22 yards was tipped over. Carlton’s shot was deflected behind following the corner, then Goodger headed just wide from the next. Ronald Sithole had a shot deflected just over the bar and Whitstable dealt well with two more corner kicks. Harry Stannard replaced the hardworking Barnes on 84 minutes, then after Goodger had won a free kick on the right, Walder’s delivery was glanced just wide by the head of Jack Miles. Eason denied Ronald Sithole before Gillingham took their corner count to ten.

The decisive moment came just a couple of seconds before the 90 minute mark. James Brown played the ball in from the left to Goodger who did well to collect and play a clever pass out to Carlton on the right and he shot low past Crump into the far corner. Whitstable saw out the added time without alarm to claim a tight 1-0 win and a place in the final at a date and venue to be confirmed.

Whitstable return to league action on Saturday with a game against Phoenix Sports at the Belmont.

Whitstable	Data	Gillingham
4	Shots on target	2
4	Shots off target	7
1	Shots blocked	4
4	Corners	10
7	Fouls conceded	11
3	Offside	4
0	Penalties	0

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Jake Mackenzie, James Brown, Danny Walder, Jack Miles, Tom Mills (c), Gus Barnes (Harry Stannard 84), Luke Griffiths, Harry Goodger (Ollie Gray 90+2), Tom Carlton, Muhammed Cham (Montrell Deslandes 90).
Subs (unused): Will Thomas, George McIlroy.
Goal: Tom Carlton 90

Gillingham
Tom Crump, Harvey Lintott, Bailey Akehurst (c), Julien Kuhr, Freddie Carter, Alex Giles, Matt MacArthur (Ronald Sithole 64), Ethan Smith, Joseph Gbode, Elliott Moore, Gerald Sithole.
Subs (unused): Toby Smith, Josh Woodliffe, George Hutcheon, Kai Garrett.

Attendance: 407
Referee: Scott Rudd
Assistants: Jack Fagg & Ryan Chantrill-Smith
Fourth official: Christopher Cannon