Chatham Town (2) 4 Jeffery 20, Humber 40, 51, Edwards 77
Tunbridge Wells (1) 1 Seenan 9
Attendance: Est. 127
Entrance: Senior £4
Programme: Free Team Sheet
Mileage: 32/238
For both clubs this coming season is going to be one of new beginnings. Chatham Town's exile in the Northern division of the Ryman League, a ludicrously long sojourn of five years, has ended and they can look forward to Kent derbies against Sittingbourne, Herne Bay and Whitstable rather than a trip through the Dartford Tunnel every other Saturday. On the flip side, the South always appears to be the stronger of the divisions so Kevin Watson will have needed to considerably strengthen his squad from the one that struggled in the North last term, but it should be easier to attract players now that the travelling element has been reduced.
For Tunbridge Wells, a new era under Keith Bird has begun and we can despatch the debacle of the process in which he was appointed to the Summertime Blues column for any who hasn't kept abreast of the sorry tale. Martin Larkin's squad hasn't been dismantled as was first feared and there have been returnees in the shape of Andy Irvine, Jason Barton and Hooley Cornell with the addition of new players, Luke Mathias and John Sinclair. The absence of team announcements led to difficulty working out who was who, usual fare for pre-season!
Kevin Watson would have finished the game much the happier of the two bosses. Outstanding was ex-Gillingham youth team player, George Humber, who scored a couple and made life very difficult for his opponents.
Keith Bird will be disappointed with a defensive display that saw all four goals conceded in a manner in which he would hope organisation on the training field will avoid once the league season is underway.
The Wells opened brightly and were well worth their ninth minute lead. A cross from the left to the far post found Chris Seenan whose header found it's way past the home goalkeeper. The Scotsman's record this pre-season is starting to look mightily impressive, five goals in three games.
Once Humber started weaving his magic, the Chats came back into the game and defensively the Wells rather fell apart. A corner from the right, allowed Jack Jeffery a free header to bring the scores level and five minutes before the break, a passing move across the face of goal ended with Humber, free on the left hand side of the six yard box, able to pick his spot.
Six minutes into the second half, Humber waltzed his way into the box past desperate challenges, to plant a low shot past the substitute goalkeeper and with 13 minutes remaining a Chatham substitute, Austin Edwards, tied the game up with a fourth goal.
No points have been won or lost, but for Mr Bird, there were probably more questions than answers to emerge from this game.
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