Whitstable Town v Jersey Bulls
FA Vase Third Round Proper
My longest trip of the season so far started with a journey down to my hotel in Canterbury on Friday for a long weekend away, which would include my fifth visit to Whitstable in the two and a half years I’ve been doing this, for the rearranged FA Vase tie with Jersey Bulls. With this being a 12.30pm kick off my original plan was to try to take in the 3pm kick off at Herne Bay but that didn’t quite work out as you will see.
So, I arrived in Whitstable around 11am and had my customary walk along the windy and grey seafront before heading to the ground. Entry for the game was £10 and an excellent printed programme was available. Next up for me, a catch up with non-league radio commentary & groundhopping legend Christofer Walker, @mottysmic on Twitter, who was there covering his first Bulls game of a very busy first half of the season. It’s always a pleasure to catch up with Chris and swap stories of grounds and games visited this season. You can catch his commentaries via CW Sport Radio
After plenty of chinwagging with Chris, I managed to grab a quick chat with Tony Rouse, a Whitstable legend, before heading off to the Belmont Bites kitchen to have a chat and swap notes on footy food with Sam. Not that I was that hungry after already consuming a large fry up at the hotel earlier in the morning, but Sam had a new burger she needed a guinea pig to try so next thing I knew it was monster burger time, or the Belmont Beast as she aptly named it (see below). The food is always top notch at Whitstable, and this was to be no different, a lovely burger that’s jumped to thtop of my leader board for this season!
A decent crowd of 367 had amassed for the lunchtime kick off and the visitors had the first chance of the game when Karl Hinds shot was well blocked by the home defence. At the other end Harvey Smith headed over a Fin Cotton cross. In the 13th minute the visitors took the lead. A long ball down the right which keeper Dan Colmer looked to be in control of before being closed down and hurriedly having to clear away for a throw. The throw found Francis Lekimamati near the byline and he pulled a cross into the box which went over everyone and found its way into the net just below the crossbar. 0-1
The Oysters nearly levelled straight away when a probing Jayden Boulton run took him past three defenders to the edge of the box where he fired just past the far post. The first of a series of “interesting” decisions from the whistle happy referee came when Bulls forward Rai Dos Santos and Jerald Aboagye both jumped for a 50-50 header ending up with a clash of heads which strangely the referee saw as a foul by the Whitstable defender.
A lovely quick passing move down the left involving Boulton and Smith was swept across the pitch to find Josh Oliver on the right. His first time cross was well saved by Bulls keeper Pierce Roche with Smith closing in just waiting to head home. Next the Bulls won a free kick on the edge of the box after player manager Jamie Dalton fouled Lekimamati but the resulting free kick was hit straight into the wall.
H-T: Whitstable Town 0 Jersey Bulls 1
After a bitty first half the game settled into a pattern in the second with the home side constantly probing for an opening and the visitors looking content to hold on to the lead they had. The Oystermen attacked straight after the restart where first an Oliver cross was just too high for Smith at the far post, and Smith then tried his luck after a cut back inside on the left but could only pull his shot wide.
Toby Ritzema saw his shot stopped smartly by Colmer from a tight angle and the Whitstable keeper was back in action soon after stopping Joe Kilshaw’s effort with his foot on rare break forward by the visitors.
Adem Ramadan, Will Thomas and Jerald Aboagye all saw yellow for the hosts, joining Mike Dalton and Jamie Coyle from the first half in the referee’s notebook as the whistle happy official continued to frustrate both sides. Smith had a half chance but his shot was blocked well by Roche and James Queree.
The game looked destined to drift on to quiet ending until a fine spell of pressure from Whitstable finally brought them a reward in the 82nd minute. After some good pressing from the hosts, the ball found its way to Will Thomas who crossed into the box where Sammy Sutcliffe blocked but was adjudged to have handled by the official and he pointed to the spot. The Bulls players remonstrated with the official but were never going to change his mind.
Josh Oliver took responsibility and fired the spot kick low to Roche’s left where the keeper got a hand to it but not enough to keep the ball out. 1-1
Whitstable now went for the win with the away side rocking as the play concentrated around the Bulls box. Crosses were cleared but the ball kept coming back and finally, an Aboagye cross was headed out to Oliver on the edge of the box and he touched the ball back to substitute Nico Grierson who fired a beauty into the top left corner to spark scenes of wild celebration behind the goal. A great strike and the unlikely turnaround was complete! 2-1
The last few minutes of the game saw the visitors frantically try to get back on level terms but were soon down in number as first Sutcliffe was shown a straight red card for a challenge on halfway, then Luke Campbell was sent to the sin bin for dissent after the referee missed a clear foul and, in the dying moments, Curtis was also shown a card which saw him join his team mate in the sin bin.
In amongst this mayhem Roche kept his side in it with a smart stop low down to his left from a Smith shot. The final whistle blew soon after and it was Whitstable who took their place in the last 32 of the FA Vase and now face a long trip to Suffolk in the next round.
F-T: Whitstable Town 2 Jersey Bulls 1
An interesting game which was spoilt to a degree by an over officious referee who seemed to want to be the star of the show. Regular readers will know I don’t like digging out referees as lord knows they have a difficult job, but the official in this game was poor. He seemed intent on blowing up for every slight touch and what promised to be an excellent game of football suffered as a result which frustrated fans and players from both sides (as well as neutrals like myself!).
A red card, six yellows and two sent to the sin bin in a game where there was barely a bad challenge tells its own story.
It was a cracking finish to the game and, I’ll hold my hands up, it was one I didn’t saw coming. I thought Jersey were going to see the match out but well done to Whitstable for battling right until the end. The game was won by a fantastic strike from Nico Grierson who will remember that moment for a long time. The Whitstable fans celebrated the win with the players afterwards which for 40 minutes of the second half looked unlikely. I wish them all the very best of luck in the next round and for the rest of the season. You never know where a spark like this could lead!
After spending too much time time chatting with the celebrating home fans after the game, I’d left it too late to head off the the Herne Bay game, so maybe next time. It’s always a pleasure to visit the Belmont and I hope to be back in March for the visit of Holmesdale.
Also, I wish the best of luck also to the Jersey Bulls for the rest of the season, They are a good side and sit in a decent position in their league and it would be nice to see them have a successful conclusion to the season.
To see photos from the game from Whitstable’s excellent club photographer Les Biggs click here