Tankerton FC Seniors Colts Win the Title!
Tankerton Colts 4 – 1 Canterbury Eagles.
Tankerton FC Seniors Colts won the East Kent Youth League Seniors Division 3 League title after a hard fought 4-1 win over a much improved Canterbury Eagles side. Tankerton had beaten Canterbury 6-1 and 10-2 in their previous two encounters this season. Tankerton started the game nervously misplacing passes and not really getting a foothold in the game, allowing Canterbury to grow stronger. However, Tankerton finally got going and got the breakthrough that they needed to calm the nerves. Tankerton’s two centre midfielders combined as Bright received a pass from Edwards who had just won the ball. Bright found space and played a fantastic through ball between the Canterbury centre backs to striker Wise, who slotted home past the on rushing keeper inside the box to make it 1-0. Tankerton then grew into the game, and before long had doubled their lead. Midfielder Entwistle won the ball back and played a pass into striker Elgar on the halfway line. Elgar played a first time pass with the outside of his boot to again put it between the centre backs for Wise to expertly finish for his and Tankerton’s second of the game. Although Tankerton now had a two goal lead, they then made life difficult for themselves. A mix up by the corner flag in the Canterbury half between two Tankerton players allowed Canterbury to collect the ball and counter attack. Canterbury got in behind the Tankerton defence and managed to bundle the ball home from close range. Tankerton had reason to feel aggrieved, as there were suspicions of off side for the goal, which were waved away by the referee despite the linesman raising his flag! This allowed Canterbury a route back into the game, but at half time Tankerton held onto their lead.
Going into the second half Tankerton made a number of changes. Despite these Canterbury started the stronger of the two sides and only excellent defending from Gonzalez, Dobson, Gwilt, Bidston-Casey and Fox at the back denied Canterbury a route through to goal. Canterbury then began to find space to shoot from distance, forcing some outstanding saves from Tankerton goalkeeper Strevens, who has conceded just 14 goals all season! Tankerton eventually gave themselves some much needed breathing space. Winger Gould who tirelessly patrolled the left hand side in the second half along with left back Fox managed to collect the ball and break away from deep inside the Tankerton half. Gould produced a brilliant solo run beating 5 Canterbury players, before bursting into the box to neatly finish at the near post to make it 3-1. Tankerton continued to work hard, as despite going a further goal behind Canterbury continued to press to find another goal. Gonzalez, Sparks and Edwards battled hard in the midfield winning the ball back to relieve the pressure. With just under 8 minutes to go, Tankerton put the result beyond doubt. Striker Elgar, who has played for Tankerton for 12 years, put pressure on a Canterbury defender who played a poor ball back to his goalkeeper. The goalkeeper took a poor first touch on the edge of his 6-yard box, allowing Elgar to nip in, win the ball and outmuscle the Goalkeeper to finish into an empty net at a tight angle from 2 yards out, wrapping up the title for Tankerton. It was by no means an easy game, but Tankerton prevailed to win a well-deserved title with a game to spare. Each and every member of the squad has played their part this season, with the team’s fantastic spirit and sense of togetherness being an overriding factor in their success.
15/16 Tankerton FC Senior Colts Squad: Strevens (GK), Dobson, Gonzalez, Bidston-Casey (C), Gwilt, Fox, Gould, Edwards, Bright, Scales, Wheatley, Daniels-Hubble, Entwistle, Duddigan, Sparks, Rogers, Powell, Swan, Elgar (VC), Wise