Broadfields United 1-6 Herne Bay - I'm pleased the boys went out and did exactly what was expected of them, says Herne Bay manager Ben Smith

Broadfields United 1 – 6 Herne Bay
Location	Tithe Farm Social Club, 151 Rayners Lane, Harrow, Middlesex HA2 0XH
Kickoff	11/08/2026 19:45

BROADFIELDS UNITED  1-6  HERNE BAY
The Emirates FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round Replay
Tuesday 11 August 2026
Stephen McCartney reports from Tithe Farm

HERNE BAY manager Ben Smith says his side’s professional performance to reach The FA Cup Preliminary Round neutralises what happened on Saturday - but the Kent club face being investigated by The Football Association after being allowed to make six substitutions by the match officials' during the game.

The Bay opened their new campaign by being held to a 2-2 draw by Sunny Tailor’s side at Winch’s Field but the unbeaten Combined Counties League Premier Division North side were put to the sword at Tithe Farm in Harrow tonight.

Tailor’s side opened their ninth-tier campaign by winning 3-1 at Kidlington before being held to a goal-less draw by Rayners Lane and sat in third place in their table.

Herne Bay have yet played in the Isthmian League South East Division this season but they showed their class to seal a home tie against Corinthian or Lingfield on Saturday 22 August.

Herne Bay were knocked out of The FA Cup at the very first hurdle last season, losing 1-0 away to Gillingham-based side Hollands & Blair - but there wasn't going to be any repeat of that here tonight.

The Bay raced into a three-goal lead inside the opening 29 minutes, courtesy of impressive left-winger Funsho Sinai and attacking midfielder Jacob Lambert before talisman striker Joe Taylor – who scored twice at the weekend – scored with a classy Panenka penalty kick.

Two Herne Bay players were taken to hospital after the game. Goalkeeper Tom Wray was stretchered off the pitch with a serious looking knee injury, sustained while making a save, while left-back Frankie Smith suffered concussion following a challenge where he hurt his shoulder.

Broadfields United showed more desire during the second half and made it more of a contest before Herne Bay scored three late goals through Sinai, centre-half Jerry Puemo and 19-year-old Loui Hoxha scored his first goal of his career.

Broadfields United striker Sofiane Hammouda notched his second goal of the season with a stoppage time consolation.

“It was a really good performance wasn’t it? After Saturday, yes, you expect to beat these teams,” said Smith.

“They were very vocal after they got a draw against us. Part of it is fair because it’s a lower League team getting a replay against a team in the League above, so I get that but yes, I didn’t like some of the comments that were made following the game, so yes, I’m pleased the boys went out and did what was expected of them. Exactly that scoreline is exactly what was expected of us. Professional job.”

One player to stand out like a sore thumb was Broadfields United central midfielder Jordan Grey and he almost gave his side a shock lead with eight minutes and 10 seconds on the clock.

The talented former Hendon midfielder pounced on a loose ball just on the edge of the corner of the Herne Bay penalty area and drilled a right-footed angled drive, which flashed across Wray and pinged against the base of the far post.

“They’re game. Let’s just say that they’re game. They fought for every ball. You have to give credit to them.  On Saturday, they smelt blood and they capitalised on the bits we gave them and you have to say full credit to them,” said Smith.

“They’re a team in a lower League and they’ve taken another team to a replay. I know what it’s like to come up against sides in higher League’s in these competitions. You have to have a bit of luck but you also have to take your chances when you get them.  Saturday was their chance to beat us.

“They caught us – what they were good at is they were looking for mistakes and tried to capitalise on mistakes and they did that there and nearly took the lead.  Yes, he was good.”

Herne Bay were a threat down the left wing with Sinai giving Broadfields United right-back Joshua Uwaifo a torrid time throughout this FA Cup Replay.

Codey Cosgrave played Herne Bay’s first corner short to Sinai, who drilled a low right-footed angled drive towards the bottom near corner, which was comfortably held by Broadfields goalkeeper Finn Rushton.

Herne Bay opened the floodgates by taking the lead with 12 minutes and 39 seconds on the clock.

Sinai played the ball into Lambert, who dropped deep before playing the ball out to the left to Emmanuel Robe, who chopped the ball onto his right-foot before drilling a low right-footed angled drive towards the bottom near corner.

Goalkeeper Rushton got down low to his right and flicked the ball up against the near post and Sinai pounced on the line to knock the looping ball over the line with his head.

“He hasn’t scored in pre-season. We’ve been waiting for that goal and he reacted really well but again a great move,” said Smith, who was delighted with the early goal to ease the nerves.

“It settles everyone down and suddenly the energy of which they’re chasing about and charging about and going into tackles and from the sideline that just drops 10 percent with every goal.

“They played a very high line and you’ve got to go and punish lines when they’re playing that high, you have to go and punish it and we did that.  They (played with a high line at our place on Saturday) – Saturday we didn’t seem to go forward!”

Rushton was often standing outside his penalty area as Broadfield’s back four were playing a high line but Herne Bay’s threats did not come from their number nine Taylor but out wide with Sinai and Robe.

Herne Bay centre-half Ben Gorham played the ball into a very deep Taylor, who was inside his own half before he pinged a diagonal out to the left wing and Sinai drilled an angled drive towards the bottom near corner, which was comfortably held by Rushton, low to his left.

Herne Bay deservedly doubled their lead with 25 minutes and 35 seconds on the clock following a well worked move.

Holding midfielder Hamilton Antonio played the ball into a deep Taylor, who fed the ball back to Antonio, who had charged forward.  The ball was then worked out to the right to Robe, who fizzed in a low cross towards the back post where Lambert had the easiest task to tap his left-footed shot into the bottom left-hand corner from close to the goal-line to open his account for the new season.

Smith said: “Great goal. Again, another tap-in. Good for Lambert to be back, get himself in the box and on the scoresheet.  He was injured so he couldn’t take part in the game on Saturday. We rested him and he was sorely missed. He’s a big player for us.”

Referee Ryan Jones pointed to the spot after Broadfields left-back Jameel Murshid fouled the outstanding Robe and goalkeeper Rushton dived to his right as Taylor’s sublime right-footed Panenka was dinked straight down the middle, as Herne Bay killed the game off by scoring their third goal with 28 minutes and 3 seconds on the clock.

“He was always going to score that wasn’t he?” insisted Smith.

“He didn’t have many clear-cut chances today. It wasn’t quite that day. It was more about going on the outside of them. We identified on Saturday, it was quite congested in the middle. We needed to go round the outside and a lot of the chances fell to other people but what I thought he did really well today was dropping in, linking up, spraying the ball, proper Harry Kane like performance wasn’t it, dare I say it?”

Broadfields United created a great chance to pull a goal back (30:58), which led to play being held up for nearly seven and a half minutes after Wray suffered a serious knee injury inside his goal-mouth.

Striker Gabriel Piorkowski dropped deep and sprayed the ball out to Hammouda, who released left-winger Michael Panford, who hung over a great cross towards the back post where winger Jordy Mumbiny towered his header across Wray, who dived low to his right to make the save.

“Not the greatest pitch in the world.  We did fear that before we played here. We’ve got two injuries on that pitch,” confirmed Smith.

“Tom Wray’s possibly a nasty knee injury. Frankie Smith’s banged his head when he’s landed, so he didn’t really have good answers to the physio when he came off, so he’s been taken to hospital as well, so we’ve got two players that have gone to hospital.

“Tom’s foot just got stuck on that. I mean I can’t for a fact say that (it was down to the pitch), but it’s not the greatest 3G pitch and your foot gets stuck in on turning on that, so yes, it is what it is.”

Herne Bay had a recognised goalkeeper on the subs bench and Joe Coleman took the gloves (36:50) and pinged a clearance upfield, which wasn’t cut out by recalled Broadfields centre-half Ben Forde, opening the gate for Sinai, to cut the ball back for Taylor, who cracked a right-footed rasping drive, which was caught two-handed by Rushton with both hands above his head.

Taylor turned provider, with a sublime touch and hooked pass playing in Lambert, whose right-footed angled drive forced Rushton to dive to his left to push the ball away, as Herne Bay dominated large chunks of the first half.

Herne Bay right-back Harrison Hatfull picked up a yellow card for a foul on Piorkowski and Hammouda drilled his right-footed 30-yard free-kick over the two-man wall and only just cleared the crossbar with a dipping effort.

“I said to the boys at half-time, ‘go and get five or six, don’t stop, go for the throat,” revealed Smith.

“I had a couple of lads on bookings, so we had to be careful with them. It was important that we didn’t go out there and rest on our laurels, like we did on Saturday and to be fair they came out and they changed shape, they tried something different and it took us five to ten minutes to work that out and to get back to the rhythm with what we were doing.

“I think we did that in the end and it was a professional job.”

Tailor’s men came out with all guns blazing at the start of the second half but they didn’t have the quality to score an early goal to make the game interesting.

“Like I said at the start, they were very game. They were never going to give up, that was definitely not within their nature and I give them a lot of credit for that,” added Smith.

Murshid cut their first corner back from the right-wing towards the unmarked Abdirahman Ahmed, who swept his first time shot across Coleman and harmlessly past the far post after 249 seconds.

Broadfields United huffed and puffed and Murshid swung in his side’s second corner from the other side of the pitch, which was delivered towards the back post where Forde rose and steered his header past the near-post (23:41).

Ahmed played the ball inside to his impressive central midfielder partner Grey, who drilled his right-footed drive flashing across the keeper and past the far post (26:33).

Herne Bay missed a glorious chance (27:43) when Robe charged down the right and put it on a plate for Sinai, who swept his left-footed shot looping over the crossbar with the goal at his mercy.

“It’s bobbled up, it’s mad to say that on a 3G pitch, it’s bobbled up and he’s hit it over. I don’t know how he’s hit it over – but he made up for it,” admitted Smith.

However, Herne Bay notched their fourth goal of the night, with 30 minutes and 19 seconds on the clock, with a slick passing move in the final third.

A deep Taylor pinged a diagonal out to Robe, who played the ball inside to Lambert, who played the ball back to Robe, who fizzed in a low cross towards the back post and this time Sinai had composure to prod the ball over the line to find the bottom left-hand corner from close to the goal-line.

Smith said: “He’s missed an identical one on the goal-line three minutes before that, so he needed to score that one and he did.

“Again, good inter-play. A great weight of pass from Lambert, that’s what we get out of him. We get real quality and it was a great that all of the front four were involved in the goal. Fantastic!”

Broadfields swept forward with a move involving Uwaifo, Hammouda and substitute Dillon Gordon, which ended with their best player Grey cracking a right-footed rasping drive from 25-yards, which was held by Coleman.

It then went from one end to the other in the space of 12 seconds.

Lambert's left-wing corner was met at the far post by the unmarked Gorham and Rushton easily caught Puemo’s header, before Rushton’s big kick released Gordon, who cut in and he tried to beat Coleman at his near-post with a left-footed shot, only for the goalkeeper to dive to his left to tip the ball around his near post to deny the subsitute attacker (38:05).

“He made a really good save. It is hard to come on because we’re playing a very different way to what they played last year, so we’re expecting the keeper to do a lot more. He’s thrust in a sticky point in the game, so he came on and done well,” said Smith.

“Absolutely big injuries for us. Tom Wray has been outstanding in pre-season. Look, it helps that we’ve got someone of Joe Coleman’s quality. Arguably player-of-the-year last year at the club from everyone I speak to.

“It’s lucky that we’ve got Joe but obviously our thoughts are with Tom at the moment and Frankie will definitely be out for two weeks with his concussion but also his shoulder, I don’t know what’s happened with that either.

“No idea (how long Tom Wray will be out for), they’re both in hospital at the moment.”

Herne Bay notched their fifth goal of the night, following their fifth corner, with 39 minutes and 27 seconds on the clock.

Robe swung the ball in from the right towards the back post and no one had picked up Puemo at the back post, the centre-half hooking the ball over the line from inches away from the goal-line and back post.

Smith revealed it was a goal that was worked on at a recent training session.

“We worked on that last Thursday! Didn’t quite have the set-up right on Saturday. We were rushing them, so really pleased it’s actually paid off today.”

Rushton dived low to his right to hold Sinai’s drilled shot, after the Herne Bay winger was played in behind the Broadfields back three before Herne Bay scored their sixth goal of the game with 42 minutes and 50 seconds on the clock.

‘Concussion substitute’ left-back Rhys Wyborn played the ball down the line to release substitute Frank Craik, who played a low diagonal through ball in behind Adebola Okeowo to slip Hoxha in and the tiny 19-year-old attacker clinically used the side of his right-foot to beat Rushton at his near post.

“He was round Margate’s first-team last year. I don’t think he really played. Yes, he’s worked so hard in training. He’s a great lad and he’s got a really bright future ahead of him,” said Smith.

“He’s going to find minutes at this level difficult to come by straight away. He’s got some work to do but his attitude is spot on and he is a really, really good player, so I think he’s certainly a name for the future.

“We’ll talk about maybe putting him out on loan for a little while. He’s never really had minutes at these levels, so get him some men’s minutes but I think he’s very overlooked because of his height – he’s probably about five foot four, five foot three – but he’s technically very good, very busy.

“I really like him and we want to give young people a chance, that’s what football, that’s what non-league football’s about, so delighted for him to come on and score.”

Hoxha had his pocket picked inside the Herne Bay half by a hungry Ahmed, whose fine defence splitting though ball put Hammouda in and he held his composure to slot his right-footed shot underneath Coleman to find the bottom near corner, as Broadfields United scored a consolation goal, four minutes and 27 seconds into stoppage time.

“Look, over the two legs, did they deserve a consolation tonight? Yes, over the course of the two legs, did they deserve that? Yes, of course they did,” came Smith’s reply.

“Yes, disappointed because I thought we deserved a clean sheet and at that point it was just a training exercise at the end wasn’t it?  The last 10 minutes was a training exercise, so yes, it was disappointing but I can’t begrudge them a consolation goal over the two legs. They made a great tie of it over two legs, so credit to them.”

Herne Bay can, however, expect a much tougher test when they welcome Harrow Borough to Winch’s Field in The FA Trophy First Qualifying Round on Saturday.

Harrow Borough finished in the top-eight in the Isthmian League South Central Division last season, while Herne Bay finished thirteenth in the Isthmian League South East.

“It’s mental, crazy that we haven’t played a League game. Crazy that we’re starting on a Tuesday night (away, Ashford United on 18 August) in the League.  Three away games in a row in the League as well. It’s unacceptable! I mean, who makes this up? It’s madness! It is what it is. It’s the same for everyone.

“Harrow will be a much tougher test and we’ve got to play better.  I think it might suit us but without any disrespect, we’ve played better against better sides in pre-season, so we want to test ourselves against better teams.

“I’ve said in the local press that we’re 40 percent of the team we can be. It’s going to take time, so it will be a great opportunity to learn more about the squad we’ve got.

“We’ve got a couple of faces that will be coming in for that game as well, so watch that space on that one.

“To finish higher than they did last year and my aspirations are always to try to progress the club and it’s always going to be a promotion. It’s going to be tough this year because we’re starting from scratch – but who knows?”

Article update - Wednesday 12 August:

Smith confirmed post-match at the stadium that Rhys Wyborn's 66th minute arrival on to the pitch was 'a concussion sub.' after left-back Frankie Smith suffered from concussion and a shoulder injury following a challenge - as mentioned within this match report.

The Herne Bay manager was asked whether 'he made six subs' after looking down on my clipboard during the post-match press conference held at the corner of the stadium and noticing that Herne Bay did make six substitutions during the game.

You are allowed to make a 'sixth substitution' during extra time in FA Cup Replays during the Qualifying tournament.

Herne Bay were comfortably winning the game by three-goals-to-nil at the time of Frankie Smith's painful departure and Broadfields United did not have the quality to find a way back into the game at this stage and Herne Bay were on course to progress through to the next round, as they evidenced by scoring a further three goals, so the playing off an 'concussion sub' had no baring on the outcome of this game - the game was affectively over as a contest following Taylor's 29th minute successful penalty kick.

However, Broadfields United secretary and another secretary on the Kent circuit have confirmed on Wednesday lunchtime that 'concussion subs' are only allowed from the First Round Proper onwards.

I confirmed with the match referee pre-match (like I normally do while covering games in the ninth-tier) which assistant referee will be dug-out side and Mr Riley Chalfen was the official who was positioned on the dug-out side and therefore allowed 11 substitutions to be made during the game.

Both club's will send in their findings to The Football Association in the next day or so.  The Preliminary Round takes place on Saturday 22 August, so the offical outcome is expected to be known by the end of this week.

The home club confirmed on Wednesday that two Combined Counties League officials attended this FA Cup Replay.

Broadfields United: Finn Rushton, Joshua Uwaifo, Jameel Murshid (Frankie Major 81), Abdirahman Ahmed, Ben Forde, Marley Anderson-Richards, Michael Panford (Jabir Laraba 67), Jordan Grey (Joe Connelly 81), Sofiane Hammouda, Gabriel Piorkowski (Dillon Gordon 73), Jordy Mumbiny (Adebola Okeowo 67).
Sub: Finley Brooks

Goal: Sofiane Hammouda 90

Booked: Joshua Uwaifo 61

Herne Bay: Tom Wray (Joe Coleman 37), Harrison Hatfull (Harvey Brand 56), Frankie Smith (Rhys Wyborn 66), Hamilton Antonio, Ben Gorham, Jerry Puemo, Funsho Sinai, Codey Cosgrave (Frank Craik 80), Joe Taylor (Joe Tyrie 88), Jacob Lambert, Emmanuel Robe (Loui Hoxha 86).
Sub: Lewis Gard

Goals: Funsho Sinai 13, 76, Jacob Lambert 26, Joe Taylor 29 (penalty), Jerry Puemo 85, Loui Hoxha 88

Booked: Harrison Hatfull 45, Codey Cosgrave 45

Attendance: 126
Referee: Mr Ryan Jones
Assistants: Mr Riley Chalfen & Mr Nicholas Campbell

Match Duration:
First Half: 52:19
Second Half: 51:15

Long Throws into the opposing Penalty Area: Two
Jameel Murshid (Broadfields United) 1
Joshua Uwaifo (Broadfields United) 1