FOOTBALL Herne Bay & Whit Sunday League

Monument PFC added a Challenge Cup semi-final to their schedule on Sunday as they beat Premier Division rivals Chislet Colliery 2-1 in extra time. Goals from Dan Smith and Ashley Kohler were enough to edge out the hosts after 120 minutes as Monument extended their unbeaten run to five games. Charlie Fournier scored twice to help The Druids see off The Heron and book their place in the third round of the Roger Cork Memorial Trophy with a 5-3 victory. Calum Gore, Jeremy Lee and Anton Peters were also among the goals as their side scored twice in extra time having been held at 3-3 in regulation time. Extra time proved a recurring theme, with Heron Athletic going the distance in a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win over Blean Sunday in the second round of the Faversham Charity Cup Junior Section. The teams were level at 2-2 by the end of 90 minutes, before scoring a goal apiece to ensure the game would be decided from 12 yards. Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Tankerton Royals moved level on 23 points with third-placed Chislet with a 2-1 win over Wingham courtesy of strikes from Scott Heard and Nick Gardiner. They face league leaders Rising Sun next time out in view of keeping pressure on secondplaced Monument and thirdplaced Chislet, both of whom have two games in hand. Bottom club Chilham picked up three points for the first time this season, with goals from Ben Walsh and Joe Mort sealing a 2-1 win over Hampton. Waterfront beat Chartham 5-1 to move two points behind sixth-placed Wingham. Five goals from Nathan Perry saw Littlebourne extend their lead at the top of Division 1 to eight points with a 10-1 thrashing of A1 Tyres. Daniel Wells, Ant Davies, Liam Blackwell, Stuart Flockhart and an own goal contributed to perfect preparation for this weekend’s meeting with second-placed Monument Reserves. The latter slipped to a 4-1 defeat to Woodmans Hall following a brace apiece from Carl Suter and Steve Sparks. The Elephant won 4-1 against bottom side Faversham United, while Faversham Strike Force beat Oare 2-1 via goals from Sam Gaiger and Jake Stebbeds. Division 2 Tankerton picked up their fourth win, overcoming Bay United 4-3 to move a point behind sixthplaced The Heron with three games in hand. Canterbury Toon beat Northgate Rangers 2-1, while four goals from Jordon Girling and a hat-trick from Michael Bell helped leaders Monument A towards a 9-1 win over Whitstable.

was her son’s birthday.

Mr Clark added: “What Sunday absolutely shows is that there is support for football in Canterbury and it’s so frustrating because we could be so big.

“It’s been very lonely not just for me and those people running the club but for the supporters.

“It’s fantastic for them and Ben (manager Ben Smith) said before the kick-off you’ve had to go to places like Ashford, Herne Bay and Deal but also see those clubs have big crowds so it was nice to pay us back with a decent crowd and a good atmosphere.

“It makes all those lonely moments worth it. The gate shows you what the potential is. It was a great atmosphere, the weather was on our side, but you just have to look at the composition of the crowd.

“Obviously there are guys but there are also women, children and it’s all in good humour, there’s no trouble, it’s a great family afternoon day out and it’s missing from Canterbury.

“I’ve always said that if we can get back and we start getting in crowds of 500 there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t in some way mirror what Maidstone United were able to do. I genuinely believe that we could do that.”