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Match Reports by Tony Rickson
Tuesday, 3rd September 2019
By Tony Rickson
BetVictor Isthmian League Velocity Trophy
Sevenoaks Town (0) 2 (Stone 64, Everett
67) Sittingbourne (2) 2 (Miles own goal 4,
Phillip 23)
Sevenoaks got a bonus point for winning a
penalty shoot-out 4-2 Attendance: 59
Sittingbourne can’t hold on to 2-0 leads for love
nor money at the moment, as they were pulled
back to 2-2 for the second successive game.
Under the peculiar new rules of the Velocity
Trophy, the League Cup by another name,
group matches that end in a draw then go to a
penalty shoot-out. The team that wins that finishes
the night with two group points and on
this occasion it was Sevenoaks.
So Sittingbourne got a point for the draw and
that means they’ve gone four games unbeaten.
And this was a decent performance, even
though they’ll be disappointed at the way they
lost their grip on the game for a short spell midway
through the second half.
They were able to bring in squad members and
keep key players Lewis Chambers, Tommie
Fagg, Cory Walters-Wright and Chris Barnard
fresh for Saturday’s FA Cup-tie, and they also
had Kane Phillip fit enough to start for the first
time this season.
And they took an early lead when Festus Lori
crossed from the left, Roman Campbell’s shot
was blocked, and Joshua Oliver thrashed a follow-up
shot against the inside of the post. It
bounced off a covering defender and back into
his own net.
Sittingbourne continued to look dangerous going
forward and midway through the half, Phillip
completed a fine run across the pitch and cut
the ball back left-footed inside the far post.
What a shame that Phillip went off injured soon
after, following a foul tackle, as he’d looked
dangerous and very quick.
an opening, Abdul Ndew provided the cover by
clearing off his own line.
Sevenoaks had huffed and puffed without doing
much, and Sittingbourne looked capable of
holding out, but the home side took advantage
of the rules of the competition by using all five
of their substitutes to give themselves fresh impetus.
And it worked a treat as they were soon level,
grabbing two goals in just three minutes. The
first was a long ball into the area that fooled
both Lex Allan and keeper Tom Benham, resulting
in an easy tap-in, and the second was a well
-taken curling shot by one of the subs, Everett.
Sevenoaks also hit the post and wasted a glorious
late chance to win the game, but Sittingbourne
were good value for the draw, even
though their passing on an artificial pitch was
sometimes not as a sharp as it might have
been.
The home side converted four of their five penalties,
Benham making a good save at one of
them, but despite Johan Caney-Bryan and Lori
scoring theirs for Sittingbourne, Campbell and
Adjei both saw their efforts saved by the keeper
and the shoot-out ended 4-2 to Sevenoaks.
Sevenoaks Town: Ben Bridle-Card, Harry Kindon,
Kieran Hughes, Daniel Cumber (Bradley
Schafer, 61 min, Yellow card), Jack Miles, Ben
Gorham, Tyrell Richardson-Brown (Ainsley Everett,
61 min), Alec Fiddes, Adrian Stone
(Connor French 65 min), Frankie Sawyer
(Fraser Walker, 77 min), Ryan Fowler (Yellow
card) (Kyle De Silva, 61 min).
Sittingbourne: Tom Benham, Abdul Ndaw
(Lewis West, 60 min), Jason Fregene, Tyrone
Guthrie, Lex Allan, Caleb Roberts, Kane Phillip
(Chris Webber, 39 min), Joshua Oliver (Enoch
Adjei, 67 min), Roman Campbell, Liam Middleton
(Johan Caney-Bryan, 67 min), Festus Lori.
Referee: James Simpson
Assistants: Louis Saunders, David Joseph
Oliver, who had an impressive first half in midfield,
had a free-kick tipped round the post and
at the other end, when Sevenoaks did create