Herne Bay progressed safely enough to the next round of the FA Trophy against their Ryman One North opponents, although to do so they had to endure a frantic finale.
“It was a little bit more frantic than it needed to be”, said Herne Bay manager Sam Denly, “a little bit of naivety, we conceded sloppy goals because the game should have been out of sight. Second half we played some really good stuff”.
The opening to this cup tie was fast paced but once it settled down and Bay started to get their passing game together they started to dominate and deservedly took the lead in the 23rd minute.
Joe Nelder weaved his way into the left hand side of the penalty, drew the keeper, then slid the ball to James Turner who side footed home from six yards on his return to the side from injury. He might have scored a second four minutes before the break after a neat interchange with Danny Williams but dragged his shot wide.
After the interval Bay stepped up a gear and with the introduction of Elliot Cutts just before the hour went into overdrive. Cutts made an immediate impact. On 61 his first shot was saved by Lewis Down with his legs and Cutts swivelled in the six yard area to crash home the rebound.
Just 3 minutes later, Witham cut the deficit, Lewis Godbold slamming past Delo when the visitors failed to clear a cross from the left.
Now came the frantic stuff. In the 73rd minute Cutts fed Nelder and his shot was parried for a corner by Down.
From that Hasler corner, Liam Quinn pounced at the near post to smash the ball home for Bays third.
With Witham searching for an equaliser and Bay looking for a killer punch to put the game beyond doubt, the game opened up with Denly’s men exploiting the gaps the better of the two.
In the 80th minute Cutts forced a save out of Down. 6 minutes later, Ita chested the ball down into the path of Cutts but he put his shot wide of Downs right hand post.
Moments later, Ita fed Cutts who in turn spotted Danny Williams unmarked but his looping shot came back off the crossbar.
Almost immediately, Witham seized their chance to counter attack, the move ending with Godbold grabbing a second via Delo’s left hand post.
Cup ties are often notorious for their finales. This was one of them. The trio of Ita, Cutts and Williams combined again to ease the Bay’s nerves.
This time the finish from Williams was gentle and predictable as he rolled the ball into the net to make Bay £2,500 richer and book a home tie in the next round.
“Another good performance and we finished with eleven players on the park”, said a smiling Denly, “today was about getting a result. One thing we’ve done this season is when we’ve had a defeat we’ve bounced back straight away.”
“I always thought it would be difficult, I know Witham are struggling in the league, but they score goals, I’m pleased with the result, it was a good performance”.
Witham Town: Lewis Down, Craig Emery, Mitch Hunter (Tom Cocklyn 46), Eamon Payne,, Lance Akins, Simon Glover (Scott Kemp 64), Daniel Emmanuel, John Watson, Shamido Pedulo, Lewis Godbold, Ryan Charles (Michael Osei 46).
Subs not used: Paul White, Aundre Spencer
Sent Off: None Cautioned: Eamon Payne, Craig Emery, Lance Akins
Herne Bay: Jack Delo, Giorgio Russo, Nathan Eastwood, Dan Johnson, Liam Quinn, Joe Nelder, Dan Parkinson, Sam Hasler, Mark Lovell (Danny Williams 38), James Turner (Elliot Cutts 57), Kane Phillip (Steven Ita 71)
Subs not used: Kane Butler, Michael Turner.
Sent Off: None Cautioned: Mark Lovell, Joe Nelder, Dan Johnson
Man of the Match: Joe Nelder (Herne Bay)
Referee: George Laflin Assistants: Abigail Laflin & Anthony Coulter
Witham Town (0) 2
Lewis Godbold 64, 88
Herne Bay (1) 4
James Turner 23
Elliot Cutts 61
Liam Quinn 74
Danny Williams 90
FA Trophy Preliminary Round
Saturday 3rd October 2015
at Spa Road
Attendance: 112
By Peter Guise
Photo credit: Steve Barton – Liam Quinn forces home for Bay’s 3rd goal