Tunbridge Wells 3-1 Pagham - It's been quite a hard night's work - but I don't begrudge Holmesdale's daytime training, even if my boys were available we haven't really got the money to do it anyway, says Tunbridge Wells boss Steve Ives

Tunbridge Wells 3 – 1 Pagham
Location	Culverden Stadium, Culverden Down, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 9SG
Kickoff	22/10/2024 19:45

TUNBRIDGE WELLS  3-1  PAGHAM
The Isuzu FA Vase First Round
Tuesday 22 October 2024
Stephen McCartney reports from Culverden Stadium

TUNBRIDGE WELLS manager Steve Ives says it’s been quite a hard night’s work against Pagham after his side booked their place in the last 128 of The FA Vase for the second successive season.

The Wells defeated their Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division rivals Glebe 2-0 at Culverden Stadium in the last round, while Jason Mines’ Pagham came away from lower-league side Staplehurst Monarchs with a 1-0 win.

Tunbridge Wells put in an error strewn first half performance but they were clinical in front of goal, with holding midfielder Jack Walder heading in his fourth goal of the season following a corner, before striker Regan Corke exploded into life by drilling in his ninth goal of the season to give the home side a flattering
2-0 lead going into the break.

Pagham striker Evan Harris stroked in his eighth goal of the season after being handed a controversial penalty from referee Nathaniel Roff with 19 minutes remaining, before Tunbridge Wells killed off Pagham’s momentum with striker Jacob Feasey sweeping home a counter-attacking goal, to notch his third of the campaign.

Tunbridge Wells suffered a 2-0 defeat at Sutton Athletic on Sunday 6 October, but have bounced back with back-to-back Cup wins, having beaten Erith & Belvedere 3-1 in the Kent Senior Trophy 10 days ago.

Pagham arrived at Culverden Stadium on a six match winless streak since their win at Staplehurst Monarchs in this competition and were in the bottom four in the Southern Combination League Premier Division table with nine points (two wins, three draws) from their 13 league outings.

“Tough game, difficult pitch, not always pretty but ultimately effective from our point of view, so just really pleased to be through,” said Ives.

Pagham were the better side for the first 25 minutes, kicking down the slope and playing some attractive football on a sticky and difficult pitch, with both their full-backs linking up play and causing Tunbridge Wells players problems, who often treated the ball like a hot potato, as the home side put in a lacklustre performance.

“To be honest, I thought first 20 minutes particularly, they were the better side,” admitted Ives.

“I thought they moved the ball around quite well. Shape wise, their full-backs were coming inside and overloading our midfield and actually their movement and when they had control of the ball, they were causing us problems.

“But obviously the goal, from our perspective, came at the ideal time, just to knock their rhythm and yes  and I’ll be honest, to be 2-0 up was probably a little bit flattering at that time.

“But it just goes to show, you can have the possession but you’ve got to be effective with it. I don’t think Bents (George Bentley) was really troubled all night to be honest.

“We were a little bit uncertain with some of our positional play out of possession and to be fair they definitely had the upper hand because of that.

“It wasn’t until half-time when we just had a little bit of a re-set on what we were doing but I thought we had a better handle on it.  So yes, fair play, with those movements, they should cause sides trouble.”

Despite controlling the start of the game, Pagham’s first real goalscoring chance arrived at the half-way point of the first half.

Goalkeeper Connor Kelly launched a big left-footed kick straight down the middle of the pitch, which was knocked on and attacking midfielder Howard Neighbour and this played left-winger Carl Brown in behind James White (the central of Tunbridge Wells three centre-halves) but Brown lacked composure and hit his left-footed angled drive past the near post from 12-yards.

“I’ll be honest, I thought their sights at goal were few and far between,” said Ives.

“I thought their left-winger, who you’re referring to, was a little bit of a threat.  I thought he kept Harry Hudson and Kazzeem Richards on their toes, particularly in the first half and that was one of the points that we talked about at half-time.

“We gave them respect. I know some of their players and I know they’ve got some good players, so they didn’t make it easy.”

Tunbridge Wells goalkeeper George Bentley clipped a free-kick into the Pagham penalty area and the impressive Festos Kamara flicked the ball in from the right hand side of the penalty area but Pagham central midfielder Oliver Clarke pressed Feasey at the near-post and put the ball behind for the home side’s second of five corners.

Holding midfielder Josh McCarthur Nolan floated the resulting corner in from the right towards the back post where Walder buried his free header into the left-hand corner to literally grab Tunbridge Wells the lead, totally against the run of play, timed at 39 minutes and 7 seconds.

Ives said: “Good header! That’s his fourth of the season. It’s been invaluable the goals that he’s been chipping in with. In fact, all the goals that we’ve scored from dead ball has been really good.

“It’s been an extra thing, an extra dimension to our game this season, that we didn’t do too well last year and yes it just takes the nerves out of people a little bit, just allowed us to settle down.

“As I say, it just goes to show you can have the possession at times but I really feel like throughout the course of the game, we were the ones that had the cutting edge and the goal threat.”

Walder delivered a high, hanging free-kick from just over the half-way line and Feasey guided his towering header straight into the hands of Pagham goalkeeper Kelly from 10-yards.

“We were knocking on the door though weren’t we?  Again, another dead ball,” added Ives.

“After that initial 15-20, where I thought they started fast and I thought their shape and their movement caught us out a little bit but once we rode that out, I felt we were the ones causing most of the threats on goal.

“You never quite know what you’re going to get with us. It’s a bit like a box of chocolates.

“We started like an absolute train against Erith & Belvedere last week and we were slow to get going (tonight), so credit to them.

“They’ve had a very, very long journey. I know from personal experience (living in Eastbourne, working in Tunbridge Wells) how bad it is trying to get up here from that sort of neck of the woods.  Sometimes it’s like that though (a team that arrive later than planned start the game like a house on fire, like Pagham tonight), preparation goes out of the window once the whistle’s gone and credit to them.

“They’ve put a good account of themselves but patricianly that first 20 minutes they did catch us out a bit.

“Am I disappointed with my lads?  I would’ve been disappointed if it cost us and we lost but as it was I still thought we defended quite well. We just couldn’t get any rhythm going in possession.”

Ryan Hallet’s Pagham’s right-footed left-back put in a very impressive performance and he called Bentley into making a comfortable save in the 35^th minute.

Nolan committed his third foul of the game and Bentley lined up a three-man wall for Hallett’s 40-yard central free-kick, which bounced in front of the goalkeeper, who dropped down to his knees to hold in his midriff.

Harry Hudson, who plays on the right of Tunbridge Wells’ three man defence, had a free-kick charged down inside his own defensive third and Pagham’s left-winger Brown’s speculative right-footed attempt from 35-yards bounced harmlessly past the left-hand post.

Tunbridge Wells turned defence into attack, as they doubled their lead with a three-man move with 39 minutes and 7 seconds on the clock.

Centre-half Josh Woodliffe held his composure as he played his way out of trouble before feeding a deep Feasey, who dropped to the half-way line before a fine right-footed pass along the deck released Corke, who let the game pass him by before this moment.

Corke easily went past Pagham centre-half Darryl Wollers, cut inside before drilling a right-footed shot across the diving keeper to find the far corner with a clinical strike from 17-yards.

“To be honest, I thought that whole move was really trademark us,” hailed Ives.

“Great play from Woody. I thought Feasey nut-megged someone, dropped his shoulder and he’s played a ball into a real intelligent area and Reggie’s had the composure, I mean he’s gone for power but it’s controlled power and I thought it was a really good goal.”

Pagham were a threat down the right during the first half with right-back Alfie Davidson and winger Oscar Johnston often linking up well.

Johnston played the ball in from the right and Hallet swept a first-time shot towards the bottom right-hand corner from 25-yards, which was comfortably saved by the untroubled Bentley.

Ives said: “Their full-backs were coming inside, inverting, I think is the modern term, quite a lot and they were able to find him because we weren’t getting pressure on the ball so he was finding the ball in a little bit of space but he’s 25-35 yards from goal.

“I was screaming at my boys to shut him down. In fact to shut down the edge of our box a little bit quicker but ultimately if they’re being restricted to 25-30 yard speculative efforts, I’m not too bothered.”

Ives agreed that his side’s first half performance was error strewn – but they were clinical in front of goal.

“Yes, I think so.  We know how to be effective. We know what works for us as a team, we know what works for us on this pitch and you’ve got to play to your strengths,” explained Ives.

“We’ve scored three goals, we scored three goals last game, so people can say what they like.  Their only goal comes from a very debatable penalty, so I don’t think our goalkeeper has been worked throughout the night, so I’ve got to say it was an effective performance. It was a good performance.”

Ives revealed he made some tactical tweaks during the half-time interval.

“We talked about our shape a little bit. We talked about how we had to deal with their full-backs. We highlighted where we felt was their weaknesses.  Because they were so aggressive throwing bodies forward, they were leaving their centre-halves two-v-two at the back quite a lot, which we felt was a bit dangerous, so we were trying to exploit that really and I think every time we managed to, we caused them problems.”

Tunbridge Wells came out with all guns blazing at the start of the second half, kicking down the slope.

Pagham midfielder Oliver Clarke lost the ball to a pressing Kamara in the attacking third before he played the ball over to an unmarked Corke, who cut in and drilled a right-footed shot towards the top near corner of the goal, only for Kelly to use a strong right hand to palm the ball towards safety to prevent the ball rasping into the top left-hand corner in a one-v-one situation, as Tunbridge Wells set the tone after only 58 seconds.

“You highlighted earlier that we started a bit sloppy first half so we just reiterated the fact that the boys needed to start better.  It was our kick-off as well and we were a bit unlucky not to add another one there,” added Ives.

Kamara drove down the left before playing the ball to an overlapping Corke on the outside, who skipped past Wollers’ strong tackle outside the box before his right-footed drive from 20-yards bounced into Kelly’s gloves for a comfortable save.

Ives said: “We were asking all of the questions.  We knew at 2-0, you kind of know that if we can that third, you put it to bed but likewise, if they can get one and get back into it, it’s a cup game, everyone knows there’s no extra time so they’re going to throw everything they had at it. Why not? They’ve come a long way, they’re not going to just roll over.”

Tunbridge Wells kept knocking on the door and a big kick from Bentley sent right-wing-back Kazzeem Richards charging down the slope before he rolled the ball out to Corke, who put in a cross from within the channel and was met by a hooked volley at the near post by Feasey, which cleared the crossbar in the 53^rd minute.

Pagham’s approach play was impressive but they lacked quality when it mattered inside the Tunbridge Wells penalty area.

Corke and Feasey linked up well before the ball was worked to substitute central midfielder Lewis Unwin, whose right-footed drive from 22-yards was comfortably saved by Kelly, to his right, as the second half approached the half-way point.

Pagham were handed a lifeline, which they accepted with 25 minutes and 13 seconds on the clock.

Pagham substitute midfielder Ronald Kardos whipped a first-time right-footed
cross-shot from the corner of the penalty area, which sailed high over Bentley’s right-shoulder before dropping behind for a goal-kick.

However, a hesitant referee Nathanial Roff decided to point to the spot, adjudging Tunbridge Wells’ left-wing-back Mo Alaka had fouled Johnston just inside the penalty area.

Harris swept his right-footed penalty into the bottom left-hand corner, sending Bentley the other way, to bring Pagham back into the game.

“I’m not sure if it was even inside the box, however, there’s some guys claiming to be neutral supporters who reckoned it was inside the box,” said Ives.

“However, the thing I was trying to get a straight answer on from the officials’ was in the lead up to it, Festos was clearly fouled over by the touchline, which was where they nick the ball, so for me it shouldn’t even come to that.  It’s a clear free-kick!

“I don’t think anyone in the ground expected a penalty to be awarded at that moment.  But it was and I’ve got to respect the fact that I wasn’t in a particular good position but I was in a good position to see the foul on Festos, so I’m just really glad that didn’t end up proving to be a turning point for us.”

Pagham looked the more likely to score the next goal, as they threw the kitchen sink at the home side during a dominant five minute attacking spell.

Kamara (who played behind twin strikers Corke and Feasey) often dropped back to help out defensively, something that didn’t go unnoticed by his manager.

“I thought he was good, did you?  I thought he worked really hard for the team.  Festos is a flair player and maybe sometimes we don’t appreciate the other side of his game but I really felt he put a shift in,” said Ives.

“There were times when they started to overload us down our left-side and he was the guy that was getting over to help Mo Alaka (my left-wing back) and he made some really important tackles, so yes it was a really good all round performance.

“The only thing he didn’t manage to get was a goal but when you’re contributing like that, we don’t really care if you don’t score.”

However, Tunbridge Wells killed Pagham’s momentum, scoring their third goal of
the night on the counter-attack, with 30 minutes and 38 seconds on the clock.

The home side had plenty of bodies back as Pagham went in search for an equaliser, before the ball was hit long to release Corke down the right.  Pagham had four players back, Tunbridge Wells only had two, but Corke put in a precise cross towards the near post for Feasey to sweep his first-time right-footed drive into the back of the net.

“That’s what Regan can do. I think Trevor McCreadie profited from that sort of ball numerous times last season. It was a great delivery in an inviting area,” said Ives.

“Feasey’s arriving where we’ve told him to arrive between the sticks and he’s finished it well. 

“I’m really pleased for Feasey because I thought his performance warranted a goal.  I thought he was one of our top performers out there, along with Harry Hudson and Festos Kamara. I thought they were probably the three that really caught my eye tonight for us.”

Pagham centre-half Toby Pointing was penalised for fouling substitute attacker Jack Gallagher and Kelly lined up a three-man wall for Gallagher’s resulting free-kick, which he curled over the top of the near-post from 30-yards.

Ives brought on striker Rhys Bartlett (43:53) and he found space to place a left-footed angled drive towards the bottom far corner, only for keeper Kelly to dive to his left and use a strong left-hand to push the ball behind for the home side’s final corner.

“It’s fallen for Rhys well. He’s got a superb strike on him and I think the keeper’s done well with that.  It could’ve just put the icing on the cake but we’re not going to be greedy. I think 3-1’s, probably a fair reflection,” added Ives.

There was still time for Pagham to go route one (50:48) through Kelly’s big kick, which was flicked towards goal by substitute centre-half Tobie Appleby but was comfortably caught by Tunbridge Wells keeper Bentley.

Tunbridge Wells welcome James Westlake’s Hassocks to Culverden Stadium in The FA Vase Second Round on Saturday 9 November.

Hassocks are unbeaten at the top of the Southern Combination League Premier Division, having picked up 10 wins and two draws from their 12 league outings.

Hassocks last reached this stage of the competition back in the 2014-15 season, losing 7-0 at home to Ashford United.

“I’m really pleased that we’re at home. I’ve got a lot of respect for Hassocks.  A couple of friends that have played for me before, Morgan Vale, being one who was here last year.  Jamie Wilkes used to play for me at Uckfield,” said Ives.

“I know they’re a really close-nit, hard-working side, who are used to winning.  Just the psychologically of that can sort of carry you along, so it’s going to be difficult but we’ve got a close nit group and we’re in reasonable form at the moment, so I think it will be a good game.”

Ives agreed that the League that Tunbridge Wells play in is stronger than the one that Hassocks are in.

“I would agree. I share your opinion. However, Hassocks made the play-offs last year, they’re top now so they’ve got a consistently of 18 months of being in and around the top end.

“I know Jamie Westlake and Lewis his brother is his assistant. I’ve got a lot of respect for them, they’re good football people, so it will be a very, very tough game but it will be a tough game for them as well.”

Ives confirmed post-match that Alaka (tight hamstring), Richards (tight groin) and Walder (ankle) were forced off with knocks tonight.

Tunbridge Wells welcome Jamie Coyle’s Whitstable Town to Culverden Stadium on Saturday (15:00).

VCD Athletic are at the summit with 32 points from their 13 games.

The four play-off places are held by Punjab United (28 points from 13 games), Faversham Town (27 points from 12 games), Fisher (22 points from 14 games) and Holmesdale (21 points from 17 games).

Tunbridge Wells are in thirteenth-place in the pecking order with 15 points (four wins, three draws and six defeats) from their 13 games, while Whitstable Town arrive here in fourteenth-place with 15 points (four wins, two draws and six defeats).

“I said to the boys, as we walked off, I wonder if Whitstable have come and watched this?  If they did, they’re probably thinking ‘blimey, we’re going to have to play on that on Saturday,’ because it does look like the Battle of the Somme at the minute.

“I think it’s fair to say there’s a lot of experience in Whitstable’s management team, some very good people. 

“I think they’ll probably be a little bit disappointed with their performance so far this season. They’ll probably be looking at us as a game that they can definitely win.

“Hopefully we’re in a good place to go again.  It’s been quite a hard night’s work. It was quite a physical game but I think we’re ok.  The squad is strong, there’s been two or three boys I’ve had to leave out of the 16 (man squad) tonight and the under 23s are going well, so there’s a depth there, so if it comes to it, I’ll turn to them and I’ll be confident everyone can step up and do a job.”

Tunbridge Wells are six points adrift of the play-offs and only four points clear of the relegation zone.

Holmesdale lost 2-0 to Fisher at Oakley Road tonight and a leaked WhatApp message sent by Holmesdale manager Reece Parara insisted that everyone “was expected” to attend a training session at 13:30 this afternoon to prepare for the game.

Club's training during the day during the week is unheard of in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division - the ninth-tier of English football - simply because it's a PART-TIME LEAGUE!

Club’s that suffer with bouts of delusions of grandeur are often quickly shot down in flames by their league rivals, as Fisher proved in Bromley tonight.

Last season, Whitstable Town printed their players' surnames and squad numbers on their shirts - the move backfired. They finishsed in sixth-place.

The message read: “Afternoon gents.  We will be training Tuesday 1:30pm at Goals in preparation for the game in the evening against Fisher.

“Everyone is expected to be there!!!

“If you are working, you have two days to come up (with) a reason why you can’t attend, work, or have to leave.”

In response to the leak and the club’s now perceived full-time status, Parara said in a statement: “A lot of people have too much time on their hands. 

“Amazing what training sessions you can put on when the majority of your boys are youngsters and part of your academy.

“I can confirm the lads who have jobs are on half-term as they work in schools.”

Ives, naturally, was asked about Holmesdale’s training schedule during tonight’s post-match press conference.

“I think it’s not really for me to talk about other people’s business too much.

“I think if I was the Holmesdale manager, I’d be extremely disappointed that what should be private communication on a WhatsApp group has somehow got into the public forum.

“I think everyone has got to use the resources available to them to the best of their, use your hand the best they can and if they’ve got the fortunate position where the boys are on a college programme or whatever and that’s an option for them, then great.

“It’s not an option that’s available for me and even if my boys were available, we haven’t really got the money to do it anyway.

“But I don’t begrudge anyone doing the best of what they can. I don’t think anyone can say that Holmesdale are throwing ludicrous amounts of money at it, so if they’re fortunate enough that they can offset that by training more, then good luck to them.”

Tunbridge Wells: George Bentley, Kazzeem Richards, Mo Alaka (Ryan Hine 85), James White, Harry Hudson, Josh Woodliffe, Josh McArthur Nolan (Lewis Unwin 63), Jack Walder (James Shield 72), Regan Corke (Jack Gallagher 82), Jacob Feasey (Rhys Bartlett 89), Festos Kamara.

Goals: Jack Walder 25, Regan Corke 40, Jacob Feasey 76

Pagham: Connor Kelly, Alfie Davidson, Ryan Hallett, John Phillips (Ben Hauxwell 61), Darryl Woolers (Tobie Appleby 81), Toby Pointing, Carl Brown (Isaac Glanfield 81), Oliver Clarke (Ronald Kardos 61), Evan Harris, Howard Neighbour (Tom Jefkins 46), Oscar Johnston.

Goal: Evan Harris 71 (penalty)

Booked: Oliver Clarke 21

Attendance: 102
Referee: Mr Nathaniel Roff
Assistants: Mr Steve Fogden & Mr Samuel Girt