A goal from Joe Sharp in the second half of extra time won the under 15s Kent Reliance Kent Cup for Hollands & Blair against a resilient Holmesdale side who had bossed the opening half of normal time.

Dale deservedly had the half time lead after Teddy Nelson met a hanging cross at the back post before Blair levelled early in the second half when Sharp drove home from the edge of the box.  As extra time ebbed away and with penalties looming, Sharp was able to force home Kian Pomphrey’s cross to send the trophy to Gillingham.

Blair coach Keith Patching told KSN after the game, “I’m absolutely elated and really proud of the boys. The boys really responded after a really disappointing first half showing, and we flew out of the blocks after the break; levelled the scores and then against a really, really good Holmesdale side, played some great stuff.”

Lee Warren the Holmesdale coach was frustrated especially as his side had dominated the first period.  He told KSN, “we were fantastic first half and I’m really proud of the football we played.  Second half they came at us and we did struggle. Extra time was even and I thought we were unlucky not to have the goal given (Ben Allen had seemingly given Holmesdale the lead in the extra period only to be “beaten” by the assistant’s flag) but it wasn’t to be.”

He added, “I am so proud of these boys – the football that they’ve played has been fantastic; we’ve shown some really classy stuff at times, and they really should be proud of what they’ve achieved!”

Holmesdale did enjoy the majority of the opening half without really threatening Stuart Smeed in the Blair goal until the keeper misjudged a high swinging cross in a gusty breeze allowing Nelson to bundle the ball over the line in really the only real chance of note in what was an intriguing opening half.

The Blair though responded to their coaches and upped the tempo in the second half and levelled through Sharp early on, but instead of pushing on, the Dale recovered in a half that became more and more fascinating as each minute went by with both sides becoming extra cautious!

Allen then got on the end of Harry Smith’s great run down the left, caused mayhem in the Blair box only to have his shot charged down before the game went into extra time.

As often happens, the play got more and more stretched and Sharp was only denied by a fabulous block by Dale keeper Ronnie Holdsworth when he wriggled through.

The keeper stood tall and denied the Blair man with his legs. Moments later Allen though he’d put Holmesdale ahead as he clipped the ball expertly past Smeed, only to see the Assistant’s flag raised as he turned to celebrate.

Just as penalties loomed, Pomphrey raced down the left and Sharp was on hand to turn the ball home.

It’s the start of a very important week for the Gillingham club as a whole as the club’s first team face Greenwich Borough on Easter Saturday in a game that will go a long way to deciding the SECFL title, and with first team boss Paul Piggott watching on, coach Patching had this message, “I hope it’s the start of a week when we can show everyone how far Hollands and Blair have come as a club – of course we’re all behind Piggy and the boys. You never know with the fantastic youth set up we’ve now got, one of these boys here today may soon be knocking on his door!”

HOLLANDS & BLAIR – Stuart Smeed, finlay Hughes, Craig Cooley, Emiljon Vathi, Jimmy Goodchild, Shaun McLoughlin, Jack Bramwell, Joe Sharp, Archie Miller, Joe Jarvis

Subs – Louis Harvey, Dillon Cole

HOLMESDALE – Ronnie Holdsworth,  James Drummond, Reegan Tarbie, Teddy Nelson, George Porter, Ben Leeson, Tyler Bennett, Kieran Bailey, Harry Smith, Jonathan Miller, Ben Allen

Subs – Teddy Fitzgerald, Scott Jarvis, Wesley Perkin-Donson, Atwan Austin, Jermaine Quintyre

Pictures supplied by PSP Images