Kent League Cup SEMI FINAL

Sevenoaks Town 4-1 DAFC U13s

Our u13’s fantastic cup run finally come to an end Sunday in the Kent league cup Semi final against a strong Sevenoaks Town side.

It was an early start for our Dover players as they travelled away to the Bourne stadium in what was billed to be a tight game in front of a host of supporters and league officials.

The first half didn’t disappoint. Dover started slowly and Sevenoaks looked a lot livelier grabbing a goal early on, however Dover’s confidence grew as the game progressed and we started to put Sevenoaks under real pressure.
Having forced a number of mistakes with high pressing, Dover eventually capitalised when Wade Hughes forced a great save only for the rebound to be picked up by Ewan Alexander who calmly rounded the keeper and slotted home.
Dover had the home team rattled and just as we thought we may grab another the referee blew for half time.

First half ended 1-1 but unfortunately allowed the Sevenoaks side time to regroup in the break and again they started the second half the livelier. A momentary lapse in concentration and Sevenoaks grabbed a second literally a minute after kick off. This left the Dover players shell shocked and again chasing the game.

As more risks were taken going forward Sevenoaks thrived on the new space appearing at the back and again they snatched a third and a forth and perhaps could have been more had it not been for the heroics of Dover keeper Denis Mehalla.

Dover switched formation and shuffled players into new positions and despite a number of efforts from Wade Hughes, Qimmarie Thompson and Alfie Wilkins the home keeper and Sevenoaks defence remained resilient keeping the away side at bay and preventing any chance of another come back.

Sadly the game ended 4-1 to the home side but the Dover boys remained upbeat and we take many positives and lessons learnt from the game.

It’s been a fantastic journey playing a variety of top teams from around Kent and London all of which posed different challenges which we overcome. Today, however, we met our match in Sevenoaks who we’re deserving winners in the end.

We’d like to wish them the best of luck in the Cup final.

Our u13’s can now focus solely on their league campaign. Their currently placed in second spot with 2 games in hand.
Our next fixture is away to Ramsgate FC where we’ll be looking for a response to today’s defeat from the players and hopefully get back to winning ways.

Team:
Mehalla, Jordan, Goddard, Kilby, Piragis, Meleady, Bunn, Wilkins, Alvarez-Solanas, Alexander, Thompson, Norris, Hughes