Tunbridge Wells (0) 1 Irvine 66
Dunston UTS (0) 0
Att. 580
Entrance: £3 Senior
Programme: Sold Out
Mileage: 26/3,844
Match Report
When the season winds itself down in early May and the titles are being handed out, should Gillingham win promotion, or possibly the League Two championship, or perhaps Tonbridge might have won the Kent Senior Cup, either would be cherished occasions but should they happen they are not going to diminish the memory of this wonderful afternoon.This long-awaited, much postponed, FA Vase Fourth Round tie finally got the go-ahead on what could only be described as a “pudding of a pitch”. Another postponement would have caused Tunbridge Wells a problem with the Football Association and this added to the nervous anticipation of the game. Dunston UTS, the holders of the Vase, hailing from Newcastle were the illustrious visitors and once they had set out from the North East on Friday morning, the game almost had to go ahead. Even the light drizzle that was falling at 2.30 p.m. when I arrived at Culverden Stadium posed a threat such was the condition of the pitch.
But on the day it all came right for Tunbridge Wells Football Club and I could not be more pleased for those that put in the hours to finally get this match to its 90 minute conclusion. To see the chairman, Joe Croker, pacing the terrace 20 minutes after the kick off like an expectant father, worrying not necessarily about the result but that the game was finally completed and the group of Wells supporters who relied on my stopwatch as the minutes counted down and past the 90 minute mark, this was as good as it gets . . . unless, of course, the Wembley dream becomes reality.
The game was ultimately decided in the 66th minute when Andy Irvine converted Josh Stanford’s cross with a half-volley into the roof of the net to the noisy acclaim of the crowd of 580, of which 50 or so had made the 300 mile journey down from Geordieland.
This was history in the making, no Tunbridge Wells team had previously made it through to the last 16 of the FA Vase, and next week they are asked to go the Bath area to face Larkhall Athletic and create a little bit more to reach the quarter-finals.
Everything that is good about non-league football was on view. Two sides, evenly matched, ploughing their way through the type of muddy field that is portrayed every FA Cup Third Round day when they dig their Hereford United tape out of the archive. Two sides that stood toe to toe and gave everything until the last 15 minutes when the legs were wading through treacle but played with great sportsmanship until the referee brought down the curtains to the unbridled joy of supporters, some of which would never have seen a day like this at their club.
Whilst sympathy in defeat could, and should, be accorded to Dunston UTS, they had their day in the sun at Wembley last May; this day belonged to the Wells.
The game began with Tunbridge Wells holding the upper hand for the opening 20 minutes before the Tynesiders literally got the journey out of their legs and started to threaten the home side’s goal. In those early stages, when the Wells managed to get the ball into the wider areas, where the pitch was a little more forgiving, Stanford and Jon Pilbeam caused the visitors defence more than a few problems. In the later period, Chris Oladogba in the Wells goal was the centre of good saves and heart-stopping moments in equal measure.
The second half took on much the same shape with Tunbridge Wells opening strongly which culminated in the 66th minute with Stamford skipping past his defender, taking the ball to the bye-line and crossing for Irvine to apply a composed finish. As the minutes ticked away and with the trophy slipping from the holder’s grasp they threw the kitchen sink at a Wells defence that stood firm with Perry Spackman and Scott Whibley putting heads and bodies in front of every assault. The naivety of non-league football sometimes shone through in these dying moments, with supporters screaming for their players to run the clock down by taking the ball to the corners, they persevered with playing the game through the heavy middle of the pitch in search of a second goal.
After five minutes added time, the final whistle sounded and with it a joyous pitch invasion that once again had echoes of that Hereford United video. Players hugged it each other, was it in disbelief, whilst supporters shook hands and punched the air. I cannot profess myself as a Tunbridge Wells supporter, in fact to some my allegiance to the old enemy at Tonbridge makes supporting both a misnomer, but on this occasion I was as delighted as any of those with whom I had spent this historic afternoon and can only reiterate just how pleased I was, not just for the players that won the game, but the people of this fine old club that give so generously of their time for moments precisely like these.
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