Croydon deservedly booked their place in the Kent Senior Trophy final with a 2-1 win at the Belmont, with all of the goals coming in the second half. Whitstable had the better chances in a quiet first half, without being able to find the net. Croydon came out after the break with the greater desire and were soon rewarded when Ryan Hall finished well and things got even better for them a few minutes later with Ryan Palmer converting a penalty. Harvey Smith gave Whitstable hope with about twenty minutes remaining, tucking away the rebound after George Kamurasi had pushed a Josh Williams cross into his path. Whitstable then showed greater urgency and pushed forward in search of an equaliser, but rarely looked like finding one, with a Reece Gillies shot that flashed past the far post probably the closest they came and Croydon were able to celebrate reaching their second final in the space of a few days.

Whitstable had been drawn at home in every round of the Kent Senior Trophy and beaten Tunbridge Wells, Bearsted and Faversham Strike Force to reach this stage. Croydon, currently sitting in eighth place in SCEFL Division One, got past Rochester United, Canterbury City and Hollands & Blair to book their semi-final spot. This game should really have been played on the previous Saturday, but was relegated to a Tuesday evening due to Croydon playing their London Senior Trophy semi-final at the weekend, when they beat Cockfosters Reserves 3-0, with Ryan Hall, whose former clubs include Southend Unted and Leeds United, making the headlines by scoring after just 2.31 seconds. Whitstable were unable to play Ollie Gray, James Jeffrey or Victor Aiyelabola who were all cup tied or suspended. Whitstable only had four substitutes, including academy goalkeeper Josh Robson and Manny Cuttress, a frequent scorer for the under 23s, although were pleased to welcome Josh Oliver back after a lengthy injury absence. The “Trams” team arrived in good form and contained several other familiar names, including big George Kamurasi in goal and much travelled midfielder Ryan Palmer. A crowd of 335 turned out to watch this midweek semi-final, with an April final against Erith Town at Maidstone the prize for the winners.

Whitstable started quite brightly, attacking the “gasworks end”, and a low Malachi Hudson cross was scrambled away, then in the 9th minute, Harvey Smith went close when he got his head to a corner, but with Sammy Morgan on the right post, the ball rebounded out and another attempt by Hudson was blocked. Croydon created very little in the first half, but did have a sight of goal when Uli Fischer got free to meet a Palmer free kick, but his header went well over the bar. Reece Gillies and Hudson both shot over the top, but a great run down the right touchline by Josh Williams almost brought the opening goal in the 36th minute. The speedy winger got into the area before trying a shot that was beaten away by Kamurasi and the follow up effort by Hudson was kept out by Jordan Anderson on the line. There was one further opportunity before the break, when Williams was fouled and got up to swing in a free kick that somehow escaped the head of Will Thomas a couple of yards from goal and the score remained 0-0 when the teams left the pitch.

The second half began with both teams threatening to break the deadlock and Whitstable just managed to clear a dangerous cross and break quickly with Williams cutting in before his shot was deflected wide. It was Croydon that scored the important first goal in the 52nd minute after James Ayetine had an effort blocked and the attempted clearance by Williams was collected by Lauris Chin who played the ball in from the right for Hall who cleverly let the ball run across him to make the space to shoot past Jordan Perrin from around the penalty spot. Croydon struck again in the 57th minute when they gained possession on their right and Chin played a good one-two with Hall to get free in the box and he went down as he tried to go past Perrin. The ball ran on to Morgan who rolled it into the net, but to Croydon’s frustration, the referee had immediately blown for a penalty before allowing the play to continue. It made little difference in the end as Palmer made no mistake from the spot to double the advantage.

Both managers made changes, with the returning Josh Oliver replacing George Sheminant as Marcel Nimani tried to find a way back into the game for his team. Whitstable eventually replied in the 71st minute when Smith found Williams on the right and his cross was parried by Kamurasi and Smith followed in to score. Croydon were still having chances and Ayetine shot wide, then a corner flew right across the Whitstable goalmouth with nobody able to get a touch. In the 80th minute, Reece Gillies tried to play the ball across to Perrin, but it was intercepted by Fischer who rolled it back for substitute Kiarn Asafu whose shot was deflected onto the post by Perrin and the rebound was lifted over the bar by Asafu. A Williams cross was only headed out to Reece Gillies on the left of the box and his low shot whistled just past the far post. Whitstable were finally showing some of the urgency seemingly lacking earlier and pushed Croydon further back as time ticked away, winning several late corners for which Perrin ventured up to try to help take the tie to extra time. A Mikey Dalton free kick had to be tipped over by Kamurasi, but Croydon held on through eight added minutes for a well-earned win, although they were let down at the end by some of their supporters running onto the pitch with blue flares.

Croydon now have two cup finals to look forward to, while Whitstable return to league action on Saturday when league leaders Glebe visit the Belmont.

Whitstable	Data	Croydon
5	Shots on target	3
3	Shots off target	5
2	Shots blocked	1
6	Corners	2
10	Fouls conceded	14
5	Offside	2
0	Penalties	1

Whitstable Town
Jordan Perrin, Jake Mackenzie, George Sheminant (Josh Oliver 61), Mikey Dalton, Will Thomas, Tom Mills (c), Malachi Hudson (Tyler Anderson 71), Liam Gillies (Manny Cuttress 86), Harvey Smith, Reece Gillies, Josh Williams.
Sub (unused): Josh Robson
Goal: Harvey Smith 71
Yellow cards: Liam Gillies 26, Jordan Perrin 57, Harvey Smith 80.

Croydon
George Kamurasi, Lauris Chin, Sammy Morgan, Cameron McGovern, Jordan Anderson (c), Ryan Palmer, Ryan Hall (Kiarn Asafu 60), James Ayetine (Kieran Rufus 88), Freddie Merrett (Ryan Burrell-Grant 51), Uli Fischer, Aaron Bogle.
Subs (unused): Harvey Morton, Josh Owen.
Goals: Ryan Hall 52, Ryan Palmer (pen) 57.
Yellow card: Aaron Bogle 65

Attendance: 335
Referee: Jacob Miller
Assistants: Daniel Roberts & Tyler Diminieux
Fourth official: Benjamin Marshall