Archive

 What a cracking game of football! Whitstable had not really expected to get this far in the competition and they should be credited for this acheievement: the first outing in this Final in their history. Although the score-line suggests a rout, as has been said elsewhere, that score-line may be a little deceiving because The Oystermen kept playing until the end - and had they put their chances away, this game could have looked more like a rugby score. The players were clearly disappointed at the final whistle, but in my view they stood up well to the mammoth task before them.

There was a good turn out at Welling. Before kick-off some had speculated that there would be more Oysterboys there than Welling fans, but by the time of the whistle, hardened Welling fans had found their way to the stadium and made up a large proportion of the 617 crowd. Perhaps the size of the crowd scared little Archie off from his duties as mascot for the evening, but that aside, he has a mean pass. Sign him up!

All round the ground there were fans in red, making for a cracking atmosphere...

Welling had plainly learned from Bromley's mistakes in the semi-final and they took the game to Whitstable from the off. In the first few minutes they earned a number of corners which Whitstable dealt with comfortably enough. But Whitstable played well on the counter-attack, a number of which were set up by veteran Marcos Perona who had a decent game back at right back.

The problem for much of the first half was that Whitstable did not seem able to beat the Welling offside trap and found themselves caught time and again (even if some of the linesmen's decisions were suspect to say the least: my favourite when Gess's backpass caused the lino to raise his flag for offside against a Welling player!).

Welling looked threatening down the left flank courtesy of a very swift Adamola who just did not stop running all night. He also put in some decent-looking crosses. A mere 5 minutes into the game and Fazakerley was clean through on goal having beaten the red men for pace but put his blistering shot wide. A couple of minutes later, however, a Whitstable player (I did not see who) was adjudged to have brought down a Welling player in the area. Charlie Sheringham (son of Teddy) sent Fewell the wrong way, and Welling got off to the start they presumably wanted.

Whitstable were not to be outdone: they pressed the play and on 11 minutes they hit the post. Munday attempted the follow-up, but was somehow adjudged to have been offside - or perhaps it was a free kick. Either way, it seemed a poor decision.

The players in red seemed buouyed by their performance and despite facing a technically gifted Welling side, they continued to press. Both Gess and Gooding harassed players in the middle of the park and on the quarter hour mark, Cory broke through after winning the ball from the sprightly and omnipresent Sinclair, and fired viciously straight at the keeper.

Moments later, however, Whitstable earned a free kick some distance outside the area which Pullie dispatched with aplomb past the outstretched Wilkinson. It was just reward for some hard work and the delight amongst the Whitstable players and fans was palpable.

Perhaps sensing another upset, Welling upped the tempo and within 5 minutes of Pullie's wonder-strike, the Welling left back, Parkinson fired home from an acute angle at Fewell's near post. It was a goal that should not have been conceded even if it was an expertly taken shot. It was 2-1 to the home side, and the game was definitely on with barely 20 minutes on the clock.

On 26 minutes, GS made an excellent run from the left back position and dribbled his way to within yards of the Welling goal, but it was perhaps hoping too much to witness a second goal from the tough-tackling full back in one season! But Welling were well and trule rattled by the failure of Whitstable to give up.

Unfortunately, on the half hour mark, Welling's other full back, Protheroe, scored a screamer from about 30 yards that left Fewell rooted to the spot. Although he did not move, it was probably pointless - but who was supposed to be closing down? And from this moment on, it seemed that the two Welling full backs were in competition to see who could score the most as 5 minutes later Parkinson went close again with a shot that grazed the bar.

Five minutes before the half time whistle and Cory finally beat the offside trap and forced a good save from Wilkinson that lead to a Whitstable corner. The Oystermen failed to capitalise on their advantage and a couple of minutes later saw another ball graze their own cross bar.

 

On 45 minutes Denly made a fantastic last-ditch crunching tackle on Fazakerley who would otherwise have been clean through on goal which was followed closely by a super save from WonderFewell from close-range.

The ref blew for half-time and time for everyone to catch their breath.

Whitstable should have been encouraged by their performance, and it did not look like a game that was over. Unfortunately, within 3 mminutes of the restart, Ademola scored after a mix-up in the penalty area. But Welling did not take their foot off the pedal. They were hungry for more goals. Yet Whitstable continued to attack whenever they could. Danny Tipple showed some great trickery and started to push forward whenever he got the ball. He interplayed well with Pullie, Gooding, and when necessary, GS. Gooding did a great back-heel pass to Pullie at one point who in turn unsuccessfully tried to lob the keeper.

A few minutes later, Tipple started another driving attack down the left and put Cory through. His shot went a little awry but Gess followed up and struck the post from close range.

Meanwhile, at the back, Denly and GS were putting in some stunning tackling. I suspect that the Welling right winger (Sanchez Ming) was for a bath and some bandages by this point.

On the hour mark, the linesman gave the comedy offside decision, but this did not deter Welling who scored their 5th of the night after some good play down the left hand side with the ball being caressed from player to player until Johnson received it just to the right of the area and then blasted it into the back of the net: to chants of "Easy, Easy". In fact, it wasn't easy, Welling were just more clinical than Whitstable could muster.

With 20 minutes or so to go, Gooding back heeled to Pullie who shot just wide. Andy Ford threw on some fresh legs with Greenhall the pick of the bunch at left wing. He came close with 13 minutes on the clock and 5 minutes later, Fewell made another fantastic save, except that the rebound landed nicely for Parkinson who scored his second of the night. It was 6-1 to the hosts, but most would say, unfairly so.

Whitstable tried to make the scoreline more respectable with Pullie getting in another couple of shots and Perona continuing his excellent distribution, but alas, it was not to be.

At the final whistle, the better side had won, but Whitstable can be proud of their overall performance. The game showed what is required to move up a couple of levels, and it seems that this is some way off. However, if that sort of performance is put in week in, week out, moving to the next level should not be the most difficult task in the world.

The players were knackered and disappointed as they watched the Welling side celebrate winning the cup, but taking this performance into the next couple of games and overhauling Walton & Hersham in the League table is the best response to the disappointment.

Well played! You Reds!