FC Elmstead 2 Tunbridge Wells 3

Match 68/18/1661 - Tuesday, 4th December 2018 - Kent Senior Trophy

FC Elmstead (0) 2 Hart 51 Turytemba 67
Tunbridge Wells (0) 3 Harper 52 Thompson 57 Bryce-Borthwick 66
Attendance: 52
Played at Sutton Athletic

Admission: £4 Senior
Programme: £1
Mileage: 58/4,056

This was the first time I’ve seen Tunbridge Wells since a horrible night at Culverden Stadium at the end of October when they were soundly beaten, indeed thrashed by Erith Town. Since that evening there has been a considerable turnover of players that has brought about an upturn in form that, following this Kent Senior Trophy win at First Division side FC Elmstead, now stands at five successive victories.

A slightly chilly evening with a light drizzle in the air greeted the sides as they took to the pitch 10 minutes after the due kick-off time due to the late arrival of an official.

If I was a rule-maker, I would implement the rule that a white board with the line-ups should be the bare minimum as, naturally enough, clubs at this level rarely have a tannoy system, or at least an audible one. So with this lacking, I have nothing to which I can refer the Elmstead side.

The home side started well and tested the new Tunbridge Wells goalkeeper, Bradley Comins, with a couple of efforts that were comfortably saved.

Tunbridge Wells’ first effort came after 10 minutes when Greg Skinner made a surging run down the left ending with a cross that was steered wide by Jamie Humphris. This began a period of domination that really should have brought a goal for the visitors. The goalkeeper saved from Tom Pearson, who also dragged a shot wide whilst, after 19 minutes, Jamie Thompson’s scuffed effort made the goalkeeper’s job a lot easier than it should have been.

A minute later, Chad Bryce-Borthwick was sent clear but the goalkeeper smothered at his feet and so the chances continued to rack up. Pearson saw his shot well saved before his hamstring appeared to give way following a sharp sprint.

To go into the break goalless was disappointing given the superiority enjoyed by Tunbridge Wells but worse was to follow when they went behind eight minutes into the second period. Comins made a mess of a cross which allowed Joe Hart the opportunity to open the scoring for Elmstead, and no, he wasn’t the goalkeeper!

It proved to be the shock to the system that the Wells required and, within a minute, they were level when Steven Harper curled a shot into the bottom corner from the left side of the box.

Only five minutes further had elapsed when Thompson got on the end of a cross to tap-in from close range and, after 66 minutes, the game appeared over as a contest when Bryce-Borthwick ran the ball into the net after the goalkeeper had firstly made a good save to deny Humphris, did the same with the rebound that fell to Bryce-Borthwick who found the net at his second attempt.

The game was not given up by Elmstead and, after some clumsy handling by Comins, Alvin Turytemba was able to stab the ball home.

Elmstead made a decent effort of the last 20 minutes leaving the Wells to hang on until the final moments when Skinner cracked a shot against the junction of bar and post.

The prize in the next round is a game against Guernsey’s St Peter’s, who sadly are denied giving their opposition a decent weekend away by the rules of their participation in the competition mean that they are not allowed to play on the island. Shame!