A damp, cold and miserable afternoon did nothing to lift the gloom off the final game of the season, as City stuttered to their third consecutive defeat to end the season on a bit of a low.

Short on numbers and with players playing out of position, City were no match for Glebe who monopolised the chances and were often quicker in the tackle and to the loose and second balls. While City rarely managed to get their attack going, Glebe in comparison were positive, getting forward at pace and they kept City keeper Jack Delo busy throughout.

The game started as a bit of a midfield tussle with little created early on. Sam Edwards curled an attacking free-kick round the City wall requiring Delo to go down smartly to his left to push the ball out down by the foot of the post thus making the first of several saves on the day, while a long shot from Steve Smith lacked any real venom and was safely gathered by Delo for his second.

With City offering little going forward, it was no real surprise when Glebe took the lead. A whipped in cross from the right by Derek Duncan was spot on for Fred Obasa to plant a firm header home from point blank range through the despairing grasp of Delo for 0-1. City were trying to get forward but just couldn’t get any quality ball or possession in the areas that would hurt their opponents, while at the other end, Glebe continued to attack, winning a couple of corners and seeing both a shot and a header go wide.

Although Jordan Casey offered a token effort for City – scuffing his long shot wide, it was at the other end where all the action was happening as Delo blocked another Glebe shot and then had to react smartly to paw away the rebound and prevent City from falling further behind. As the break approached, Smith cut a long way in from the left and unchallenged, fired over the City bar from distance and shortly after, Daniel McCullock’s twenty-yard rising shot also flew just over.

City’s Billy Lewins saw his effort easily saved as the break arrived, but at half-time and playing down the slope, Glebe were comfortably on top even if it was by the only goal.

The second period carried on much as the first had ended although half-time substitute Tom Barton was on the end of a fine City move through the inside right channel and forced the ball home only to see the offside flag go up and the strike denied. In fairness though, that was just about as close as City got to scoring and almost immediately after, Glebe grabbed their second when an incisive and decisive move through the City ranks saw Danny Phillips slip the ball through for Luke Miller to rifle the ball home from close range, giving Delo no chance for 0-2.

A Wayne Wilson free-kick was easily dealt with by the vastly under-employed Patrick Ohman in the Glebe goal punching the ball away unchallenged but his counterpart at the other end was on over-time in comparison. McCullock jinked his way into the City area before seeing his fierce shot beaten away by Delo and he was soon in action again, this time going down well to push a Smith shot away from goal and to safety.

The game was finally put out of City’s reach (if it wasn’t already) on seventy-two minutes when the referee was the only person in the ground to see an offence in the City box as he suddenly blew the whistle and awarded Glebe a mysterious penalty, showing Laurence Harvey a yellow card in the process. Didn’t seem to be too much amiss as Harvey and an opponent tussled for the ball and there weren’t any appeals either, but Edwards stepped up sending Delo the wrong way and rolling the ball home from the spot for 0-3.

The remainder of the game, apart from a Barton shot that proved a straightforward save for Ohman, was just a continuous stream of Glebe chances and half-chances. Harvey blocked a shot from Joe Tennant, while Delo made a double save – tipping away down low another effort and then springing up to block the rebound. Miller saw an effort blocked, Delo denied Smith again before being perfectly placed to grab a goal bound short range free header and as added time arrived, Duncan found the car park with a long range hack and McCullock saw his effort charged down.

A disappointing end to the season for City and zero to cheer for the ever-faithful few that made the long journey to Chislehurst.

Final score; Canterbury City 0 Glebe 3

City; Jack Delo, Connor Partridge, Rob Lawrence, Dan Keyte, Laurence Harvey, Gary Sayer (Tom Barton), Billy Lewins, Wayne Wilson, Jordan Casey (Charlie Hallett), Matt Catmull, Dave Pilcher.
Unused subs; Ryan Catmull. Danny Lawrence, Ben Smith