Herne Bay 0-2 Chatham Town - We were generally awful, admits Herne Bay boss Simon Halsey

HERNE BAY  0-2  CHATHAM TOWN
The FA Carlsberg Trophy Preliminary Round
Saturday 15^th September 2012
Paul Parkinson reports from Winch’s Field

CHATHAM TOWN progressed into the FA Trophy First Qualifying Round courtesy of two goals that Herne Bay hotly disputed due to close offside decisions that went in the visitors’ favour.

Roddy N’Diane’s finish in first half stoppage time swung the game towards Chatham, and Jack Pallen’s second half goal sealed the result.

For Herne Bay manager Simon Halsey though, the standard of the performance was of more concern than the result. He said after the game: “I can’t moan about not progressing in the Trophy after that result. That is the worst result of the season without a doubt. Our passages and patterns of play weren’t there, not linkage between front and back, we were generally awful.”

He added: “We haven’t got to grips with playing here this season. No team likes losing, let alone at home, but we’ve got used to not losing at home over the last few seasons. When you see some of the things we’ve done today, you don’t deserve to win. We didn’t create enough chances, and if you don’t get crosses in or shots on target, you don’t win games.”

“You can see by the disappointment in me that I have high expectations and maybe I have to bring them down. But I’m here Tuesday and Thursday with Hugo (Langton), and what we see in training, we are not putting into practice on a Saturday. We train the way we want to play, and that is not the Herne Bay I’ve been accustomed to.”

By contrast, Chatham Town boss Kevin Watson admitted: “It was best described as a professional performance. We did all the little bits and pieces well and deserved the win. There are parts of our game that we haven’t done so well, so we have emphasised and worked on that. We are a team that has the potential to play and create things.”

“We had a similar start last season, losing early in the FA Cup and the same results in the League, but last year we also lost at this stage in the Trophy, so we’ve changed that. It shows we have progressed and it’s good to still be in the cup competition.””

In a scrappy first half, neither goalkeeper had a shot to save until the 38th minute although both Josh Sargeant and James Turner for Herne Bay, and Garry Tilley and Pallen had efforts off target.

A deflected effort from Steve Hanson’s challenge on N’Diane saw the ball loop over a back-pedalling Dan Eason, but the Herne Bay keeper was able to claim comfortably, before Eason was tested by a rasping N’Diane drive that he had to claim at the second attempt.

A Tom Bryant free kick was deflected into the path of Hanson, whose sliding effort was parried wide by Chatham’s Tim Roberts, but the deadlock was broken deep in stoppage time.

As Matt Solly played the ball over the Herne Bay back four, the defence stopped believing they had caught Pallen offside, but N’Diane continued running, drawing Eason to the edge of the area, before deftly lifting the ball over the keeper into the empty net.

Michael Turner curled a shot over the Chatham bar at the start of the second half, but Eason was the goalkeeper tested, being forced into a full-length save by Solly’s 25-yard drive.

Just after the hour, Bay substitute Danny Williams swivelled well to connect with a long throw that bounced through the Chatham area, but his shot was straight at Roberts, and soon after, Williams knocked Eason’s long kick past Roberts, but his touch took him too wide to find the equaliser.

This was to prove crucial as Chatham doubled their lead on 70 minutes, as Ryan Palmer’s curled through ball saw Pallen beat the offside trap, drive into the area and calmly slot the ball past Eason.

Not surprisingly, with two such controversial incidents, both managers saw the goals very differently.

Halsey said: “The two goals, for me, they were both offside, they looked clearly offside, so added to not playing well, that is the end result.”

Watson, whose side benefited from both decisions, contended, “Jack was offside so he didn’t get involved. Roddy has continued his run, their defence stopped, and he’s finished it superbly.”

“There was another one in the first half where I felt Jack was onside as he ran from his own half, but he keeps making that run. Sometimes he gets caught, but for his goal, I wasn’t in line, but I’ve been told by someone who was in line and would be honest with me, that he was OK. He’s still got to finish it though even under a bit of pressure, but he’s a goalscorer.””

Tilley had the chance to increase the lead, but dragged his shot wide, after Lee Hales and Jack Jeffrey combined well down the right side.

Williams set up Tom Parker, whose effort dipped just over the bar, and Calum McGeehan looped a speculative ball back into the box, which landed on the roof of the net, but it was too little, too late for Herne Bay.

The one consolation for Halsey is the imminent arrival of new players to bolster Herne Bay’s resources. Two of the new players have already been announced and should be introduced on Wednesday night in the Kent Senior Cup against Dover Athletic - Dan Wisker, signed on Thursday from neighbours Whitstable Town, but whose clearance only came through at 11:00 today, too late for this game, and soldier Robert Storrie, currently awaiting international clearance having previously played for Morton in Scotland, who has been posted to Canterbury. A third player is expected to arrive on a month-to-month loan from Blue Square Bet (Conference) South side Dover Athletic after Wednesday’s game.

Halsey was understandably upset that the clearance, especially for Wisker hadn’t been completed in time for him to play, explaining, “A situation has occurred over the last 48 hours, which is disappointing in the way others do their business and meant that certain players couldn’t play today. After today, maybe they can put fresh impetus into our performances. But that doesn’t mask the fact that we should have done better. We’ve just got to go again on Wednesday.””

For Watson, though, a return to league action beckons, and he said, “We’re back to the League now, against Wroxham, and it will be a tough game. We’ve now got versatility within the squad, strength in depth, and we’ve got players like Jamie Lawrence, who started the season, sitting on the bench. He’s a quality player who has missed out today, but the flexibility we’ve got allows me to run with quite a small squad. We haven’t had any injuries yet, so we have a full squad to choose from.”

Watson added: “All the subs have done well. Kes was precautionary, he probably could have played on with a sore Achilles, but it’s always a worrying area. Roddy’s got a sore knee, hopefully it’s only an impact injury, so we’ll assess him in the week.”

Herne Bay:  Dan Eason, Joe Nelder, Tom Bryant, Nathan Eastwood, Steve Hanson (Tom Parker 79), Calum McGeehan, Josh Sargeant, Dean Grant, Andy Irvine (George Landais 56), James Turner (Danny Williams 56), Michael Turner.
Subs: Gary Sayer, Steven Lloyd

Chatham Town:  Tim Roberts, Brad Potter, Ryan Laker, Lee Hales, Matt Newman, Kes Metitri (Mark Lewis 46), Roddy N’Diane (Ryan Palmer 54), Matt Solly, Jean-Michel Sigere (Jack Jeffrey 64), Jack Pallen, Garry Tilley.
Subs: James Lawrence, Harry Smith

Goals: Roddy N’Diane 45, Jack Pallen 70

Booked:  Ryan Laker 86

Attendance: 248
Referee: Mr Adam Bakalarz (Bromley)
Assistants: Mr Kevin Nicholson (Hornchurch, Essex) & Mr Tim Burnham (Stone)