Herne Bay (H) - 13th September 2022
By Josh Cole
IT’S DERBY DAY!
Margate take on Herne Bay at Hartsdown Park in a Kent showdown this evening with this fixture being both teams’ closest journeys of the 2022/23 season, just under 12 miles between the two clubs.
Last time out: Margate showed determination throughout the second half to hold onto the slender lead against Aylesbury in the FA cup first qualifying round despite having 10 men for the entirety of the second half. Harvey Smith broke the deadlock in the 69th minute as he turned home Ben Greenhalgh’s front post corner.
Following this resilient ‘Gate performance, here’s what Andy had to say after the game. “First 15 minutes I thought we was at it, we started off really well, got a bit sloppy at times leading to them breaking us a couple times, had a couple of chances, which was obviously disappointing from us, because really we didn’t want that to happen, they were sitting off a little bit and we needed to control the tempo, control the midfield, we got caught a few times, and then obviously whatever happened around about the 40th minute (Montrell Deslandes’ red card incident) happened, I didn’t see it because we were breaking away at the time, I'll have to have a look at it if there’s a video, but listen don’t take anything away from the boys, at halftime I said to them it was going to take character, team spirit that we haven’t actually shown this year, and to be fair to all ten pf them second half, every single one of them gave everything, it’s obviously important and pleasing to be in the hat but the most pleasing thing was that second half performance, especially after Monday (bank holiday defeat to Cray Wanderers)”
Following the cancellation of the games on the 9th September in respect of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, it has been 11 days since Margate were last in action and 15 days since the last league fixture. Margate remain in 15th place on five points with one win, two draws, and two losses. Our opponent, Herne Bay, have had a tricky start to their life in the Isthmian Premier Division sitting 19th on four points with one win (4-2 vs Haringey Borough), one draw (1-1 vs Kingstonian) and three losses (1-0 vs Potters Bar, 2-1 vs Bowers and Pitsea, and 2-1 vs Folkestone Invicta).
Margate will be without Montrell Deslandes (suspended) for this evening’s game.
The last time we faced Herne Bay was last season in the Velocity Trophy third round where the ‘Gate came out victorious by two goals to one.
Kick off will be at 19:45 with gates opening at 18:30.
Ticket prices are £12 for Adults, £9 concessions, £5 young person (aged 11-17), and any children under 11 have free entry.
You can purchase tickets by clicking here.
Blues Hammer Herne Bay
Margate produced a stunning opening 28-minute display at Hartsdown Park on Tuesday night as they overcome Herne Bay 4-0.
The Club paid their respect to HM Queen Elizabeth II after her passing last week with a minute’s silence followed by the National Anthem as the Blues continued to join the Nation in mourning the death of the longest serving British Monarch.
Manager Andy Drury brought Cameron Brodie back into his side after the FA Cup win eleven days previous, meanwhile Freddy Barton made his full home debut, whist Fjord Rogers also returned to the line-up after being cup tied against Aylesbury United.
The ‘Gate couldn’t have wished for a more storming start on a wet and cold evening at Hartsdown Park as James Bessey-Saldanha superbly laid the ball off to the returning Brodie who hammered the ball home into the top corner after just three minutes.
Margate knew that Herne Bay striker Zak Ansah was their main threat up top with former Margate striker Marcel Barrington, and it was Ansah that forced Amadou Tangara into an early save as the Bay looked to hit back immediately.
The Blues had started rampantly though and were 2-0 up in the 10th minute as Greenhalgh delivered a superb ball into the box which was nodded down by Sam Blackman to Brodie who doubled his and Margate’s tally.
The ‘Gate were in complete control and almost made it 3-0 just a minute later as Rogers almost headed home another fine cross. The ecstatic Margate fans didn’t have to wait long for the third though as Barton swung a ball into the box which narrowly avoided Brodie, only for Captain Greenhalgh to arrive and put the hosts 3-0 ahead.
There wasn’t many in Hartsdown Park that could believe what was happening in front of them as the Blues continued to push forward with Rogers seeing a bullet header well saved as Margate looked hungry to add to their incredible start.
Despite only being the 28th minute, Greenhalgh saved the best of Blues goals until last as he somehow managed to smash home a trademark free-kick from 30 yards out to make it 4-0.
With a four goal advantage the hosts understandably slowed down attacking the visitors goal as the weather turned from bad to worse, however Rogers almost added a fifth just before the half-time whistle.
There looked to be no let up from the hosts in the second half as they continued to play some delightful football with Harrison Hatfull splitting the Bay defence to release Rogers who was this time superbly denied by the visitor’s keeper.
Despite being 4-0 down, the visitors had some resilient defending to thank for not being further behind on the hour mark as Bessey-Saldanha saw his goal bound shot superbly blocked on the line as Margate continued to look for a fifth goal.
Probably to the relief of the visitors, that chance for Bessey-Saldanha was to be the last real attacking action of the evening as the Blues looked to reserve energy for their FA Cup trip to Dulwich Hamlet on Saturday by just knocking the ball around and seeing out the game in a professional fashion.
MARGATE: Tangara, Hatfull, Brodie, Hudson, Cole (McCann 83’), Blackman, Rogers (Smith 66’), Greenhalgh, Barton, Ojemen, Bessey-Saldanha (Howard (75’)
Subs not used: Knight, Kallmeier
Margate Goal scorers
Cameron Brodie 3’
Cameron Brodie 10
Ben Greenhalgh 22’
Ben Greenhalgh 28’
Margate Man of the Match
Ade Cole
Attendance
586