Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Five-star Town ease through
SCEL round-up WILSON’S LATE WINNER SETTLES SEESAW GAME
Whitstable booked their place in the second qualifying round of the FA Vase with a 5-1 win at FC Elmstead on Saturday.
The returning Ollie Lee created the opening goal on 25 minutes when his shot struck the post and the rebound went in off the home goalkeeper.
Dan Eason denied Lekan Bakare an equaliser with a good save shortly before Louis Sprosen curled in a free-kick to double the lead on 33 minutes.
Danny Williams headed a third a minute before the break to all but settle the tie and Shaun Welford made it four 10 minutes into the second half with a clever finish after his first effort was saved.
Elmstead made a couple of substitutions and produced a spirited response in the last half-hour, playing their best football of the game which was rewarded with a consolation goal when Steve Strotten converted from the penalty spot with 15 minutes remaining.
Whitstable did have the final say and added a fifth through Stuart West a minute from time to ensure a home date with Lancing of the Southern Combination League, Premier Division in the next round on September 23.
Canterbury City avenged their FA Cup exit against Sutton Common Rovers by snatching a 94th-minute winner in their FA Vase tie against the same opponents.
City booked their place in the seecond qualifying round with a 4-3 win in a game in which they were pegged back three times.
Dave Pilcher gave them a superb start as Rovers keeper Craig Bradshaw miskicked a clearance, allowing Pilcher to volley into an unguarded net from 25 yards inside the opening 60 seconds.
The visitors levelled 10 minutes before the break when Matt Farrell broke down the right and crossed for Liam Holden to fire past Delo.
However, City restored their lead a minute before half-time when Matt Martin broke through and played Pilcher in to stroke past Bradshaw.
But it was 2-2 seconds after the restart when an attempted City clearance was skewed into the air in the hosts’ penalty area with Delo beaten to the punch by Holden.
It stayed that way until 17 minutes from time when Bradshaw raced out to foul Martin in the box, conceding a penalty which Pilcher smashed home.
It sparked a furious reaction from Bradshaw who was shown a straight red card for throwing the ball at the scorer.
The 10-men levelled for a third time with nine minutes remaining when Delo spilled a corner, allowing Daryl CooperSmith to turn into an empty net.
With extra-time looming, Laurence Harvey saw a header cleared off the line, only for Connor Sanders to loop the ball back over a crowd of players and into the top corner to spark celebrations.