I shouldn't have been beaten at my near post, admits Holmesdale keeper Darren Ibrahim

Saturday 05th March 2011

HOLMESDALE goalkeeper Darren Ibrahim admits he could have done more to prevent Keelan Mooney scoring the last-gasp winner that sent Tunbridge Wells through to the Kent Senior Trophy Final, writes Stephen McCartney.

The stocky 23-year-old keeper, whose previous clubs include Gillingham youth, Welling United and Ashford Town, kept two clean sheets for Tunbridge Wells earlier on in the season, but his last game for the Culverden Stadium club was a 5-1 home defeat to Sevenoaks Town in November, before he signed for Bromley based side Holmesdale.

Tunbridge Wells will meet Erith Town in the Kent Senior Trophy Final on Sunday 17th April after Mooney cut in from the left and fired a low right-footed drive into the bottom near corner from a tight angle to score his 12th goal of the season.

Reflecting on the goal, Ibrahim said: “Lucky ricochet off our defender (Lyndsay Prescott-Kerr), pulled it across my body into the near post. I shouldn’t have been beaten there.”

Holmesdale had knocked out Deal Town (6-1), Sevenoaks Town (2-1) and Lordswood (1-0) to reach their first ever semi-final of a major Cup competition, in only their fourth season as a Kent League club.

Ibrahim just hoped his team-mates were just as clinical as 21-year-old Mooney, who had a 50% strike rate as the home side only created two goalscoring chances.

“We had the better of (the chances), but we’re not being clinical enough up there,” he said.

“I guess it’s hard in a game like this, a semi-final. Everyone wants just that one chance and it fell to them in the end and the lad took their half chance.”

Some of the home fans on the bank of terracing gave Ibrahim plenty of stick during the second half but Ibrahim took it all in his stride.

“It’s all well and good,” he said. “You get it at this standard of football and as you go up (the league’s) as well. It’s all part and parcel of doing it. I played here at the start of the season. It’s no skin of my nose. It’s just one of those things.”

Ibrahim revealed his team-mates were devastated inside the dressing room afterwards.

“Absolutely rock bottom at the moment,” he said. “We’ve been playing so well for the last 12 games, I think we’ve only lost two. This is our third loss, I think, but absolutely rock bottom.

“We just have to pick ourselves up for the next game.

He added: “Did the better side win? I don’t think so! They’ve got some good players, equally we’ve got some good players but they took their half chance. That was it. Maybe if we was a bit more clinical? But we done well, we battled hard but it was one of those things.”

But Ibrahim feels match-winner and former team mate Mooney should be gracing the Ryman League.

“He shouldn’t be playing at this level,” he said. “I think he had the chance to go (back) to Maidstone, I think, when I was here and he turned it down.

“He wanted to get games week in, week out. Fair play to him. He’s cracking on. He’s a good player. If you let people like that get the half chance then you’re asking for trouble. You’ll be punished but he is a good player. He can definitely go and play elsewhere if he puts the hard work and effort in.”

Visit Holmesdale’s website: www.holmesdalefc.co.uk