FA Youth Cup Debut Win

BADSHOT LEA 2 WHITSTABLE TOWN 3
FA Youth Cup First Round Qualifying
Tuesday 17 September 19.45

The academy faced a tough away fixture in the FA Youth Cup against Badshot Lea, which meant a two hour long trip for the players. The squad included 15 year old George Cudworth from the U16s Kent Youth League side. Both teams started edgily and looked nervous for the first 10 minutes before they began to settle. Whitstable started to get the ball down and play some nice football without creating any real opportunities. The first chance fell to Glen Bain, after Muhammed Cham did well on the right hand side and cut the ball back to him and he hit a fierce shot, but the goalkeeper pulled off a great save, although then had to clear off his line following a fumble. Badshot scored the first goal when a good corner was not dealt with by the Whitstable players and goalkeeper Jack Scott failed to catch the ball, leaving the number 9 a simple tap in to put them 1-0 ahead. This sparked Whitstable up and they were soon back in the game when a good ball from Brooke Tiernan put Gerald Kwaku through and the strong centre forward held off the centre back to calmly slot past the oncoming goalkeeper to make it 1-1. The game now had a good tempo and chances were becoming more frequent. Poor defending allowed Badshot to get in behind once again and a great finish into the corner of the goal put them 2-1 up. With a minute to go to half time, Bain went on a fantastic run from the halfway line, beating five players before being fouled in the penalty box and the referee pointed to the spot. Up stepped Tiernan to finish superbly by sending the ball into the top corner of the goal to take Whitstable into half time level, without really playing to their full potential.

Whitstable started the second half much quicker than Badshot and they played some nice one and two touch football. Cham was causing the left back problems, although the end product was just lacking. Whitstable’s persistence soon prevailed, as Bain beat his man down the left hand side and cut the ball back to Kwaku, who turned and fired it into the top corner for a fantastic, well worked goal. The players were starting to show there real ability. The back four of Matt Spurling, George Potter, Aidan Chrascina and the young Cudworth were looking much more disciplined and in control, preventing Badshot from creating any really clear cut chances. The game then started to open up as Badshot tried to find the equaliser and this allowed Cham and Bain more space to drive forward, but they were not able to find a decisive fourth goal. In the last 5-10 minutes, nerves started to creep in but Whitstable managed to hold on for a well-deserved win. It was a great result and performance by the team in their first FA Youth Cup fixture.

Whitstable can now look forward to the next round and a home time against K Sports, which will take place in the week commencing 30th September.

Starting line-up:
Jack Scott, George Potter, Aidan Chrascina, George Cudworth, Matthew Spurling, Brooke Tiernan, Riley Twyman, Glen Bain, Gerald Kwaku, Muhammed Cham, Andrew Hamilton

Subs: Liam Saunders, Alex Ellis, Jack Mulford

Goals: Gerald Kwaku 2, Brooke Tiernan pen

Attendance: 47

Report: Josh Algar