462 days after beating Cray Valley PM Under 23s in the Kent Intermediate Cup semi-final, Whitstable Reserves returned to the Belmont Ground to face Lordswood Reserves in the final. The two teams were in the same division of the Kent County League in the curtailed 2020-21 season, so a close game was always possible. The pitch had received a lot of rain over the past few days and more was falling shortly before the kick-off and this made conditions testing as the evening progressed. Whitstable fielded five academy players in their match day squad.

A very good crowd of 324 were happy to return to watching competitive football and saw Lordswood make a fast start, with a good strike by Zach Jakubowski rattling the crossbar in the 2nd minute. The pressure eventually led to the opening goal in the 19th minute when a James Bush corner was headed home by Charlie O’Neill. The young Whitstable team improved towards halftime, keeping possession and pushing Lordswood back, but were not able to find the net. Some brave goalkeeping by Kaine Davis ensured that his team were still in the game at the break.

Just a couple of minutes into the second half though, the scores were level when Izaak Sargeant ran on to a through ball and finished coolly, clipping the ball over the advancing Alfie Lapper and into the far corner. For a while it looked like the game could go either way. There were some half chances at both ends and a sprinkling of strong challenges in a game well handled by the officials. Lordswood had an effort ruled out for offside, before retaking the lead in the 62nd minute as Jakubowski finished from close range when the Whitstable defence failed to clear. They always looked likely to collect the trophy after that moment and that was confirmed in the 78th minute when substitute Damon Lanckmans was unnecessarily fouled in the box and Bush calmly placed the resulting penalty into the corner of the net. There were some late substitutions by both managers and a yellow card in added time for Alex Taylor who managed to use up one of the five added minutes taking a throw in. The final whistle in the 97th minute confirmed Lordswood as the deserved winners of the 2019-20 Kent Intermediate Cup.

Whitstable Reserves manager Josh Algar commented afterwards: “Well done to academy players: Muhammed, Aidan, Ed, Prince & Kaine who featured in the final. Unfortunately, the game ended in a 3-1 loss, but credit to the players for sticking to the way we play throughout the match even when things didn’t go our way. It was a great experience for the players in front of a big crowd and there is lots of learning to be taken from the match.”

Thanks are due to everyone involved in the final: the two teams, the Kent FA for ensuring that the competition could be completed after such a long break, those responsible for getting the ground ready for the return of spectators and preparing the pitch in the unseasonal weather and especially all those who turned out in large numbers to support. Congratulations to Lordswood Reserves!

See you all next season, hopefully…

Whitstable Town Reserves
Kaine Davis, Morgan Howson (Jack Sutton 90), Callum Mason (Ed May 85), Kyle Miller, Aidan Chrascina, Kyle Wisker (c), Muhammed Cham, David Senga, Izaak Sargeant, Charlie Vass, Glen Bain (Ed Pile 59).
Subs (unused): Peter Sharpless, Prince Adu-Boamah.
Goal: Izaak Sargeant 48
Yellow cards: Morgan Howson 18, David Senga 61.

Lordswood Reserves
Alfie Lapper, Alex Taylor, Kari Creed, Louis Payne (Damon Lanckmans 71), Oscar Smitherman (c), Charlie O’Neill, James Bush, Ryan Hooker (Kyle McDowall 55), Zach Jakubowski (Andy O’Neill 85), Callum Rollings, Jake Creed.
Subs (unused): Scott Highsted, Aye Ombo.
Goals: Charlie O’Neill 19, Zach Jakubowski 62, James Bush (pen) 73.
Yellow cards: Ryan Hooker 49, Callum Rollings 73, Alex Taylor 90+7.

Attendance: 324
Referee: Paul Taylor
Assistants: Joshua Williams & Graham Smart
Fourth Official: Keith Wenham