Tunbridge Wells 2-0 Glebe - The FA Vase is massive for the town, for the club. It has a rich history - I'm not saying I''ll be able to follow Martin Larkin in 2013, says Tunbridge Wells boss Steve Ives

Tunbridge Wells 2 – 0 Glebe
Location	Culverden Stadium, Culverden Down, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 9SG
Kickoff	21/09/2024 15:00

TUNBRIDGE WELLS  2-0  GLEBE
The Isuzu FA Vase Second Qualifying Round
Saturday 21 September 2024
Stephen McCartney reports from Culverden Stadium

TUNBRIDGE WELLS manager Steve Ives says The FA Vase is massive for the town and the club and it has a rich history in the competition after reaching the First Round again with a comfortable victory over Glebe.

A crowd of 149 watched a poor quality, hard-fought Second Qualifying Round tie between two Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division rivals.

Tunbridge Wells went into the game sitting in fifth-place in the table with 14 points (four wins, two draws) from their 10 games, while Glebe arrived in the bottom three with seven points (two wins, one draw) from their eight league outings.

Tunbridge Wells were without centre-half Siji Akinlusi, who is suffering with a potentially long-term knee injury.  Glebe were without two centre halves in James Fitchett (groin) and Daniel Okah (tendons in hand).

Glebe talisman four-goal striker Jamie Philpot woke up with a reoccurring stiff neck and was substituted at the interval.

Tunbridge Wells sealed their passage through to the First Round when winger Regan Corke tucked home two breakaway counter-attacking goals to take his goalscoring tally for the season to five.

Glebe had defeated Sussex side Mile Oak 4-2 away from home to reach this stage of the competition – and they extended their losing run to four games as former Chipstead (Kent) and Sporting Club Thamesmead manager Fred Dillon has now lost seven of his 11 games managing in the ninth-tier for the first time.

Ives said: “I thought it was a tight game, a physical game. I personally felt that we had more shots on goal and thankfully Reg (Regan Corke) has popped up twice and (we’re) in the hat (with a) clean sheet.”

Dillon said: “Disappointing to be honest. I feel like we’ve got a good group but ultimately mistakes cost you and today it was a couple of individual errors that we probably should’ve done better with and obviously we got punished with.”

Both managers we’re asked about their game plans, after Glebe came away from here with a point in a 2-2 draw on Saturday 17 August.

Ives said: “Well, to be honest the problem with game plans at this level is you’re only as good the information you have.

“We played Glebe and they played 4-3-3 (formation). We’ve played them today and they’ve mirrored the formation that we played last time, which we didn’t play, so for a tactical point of view it all goes a little bit out of the window.

“We set up today to get the ball to our wingers as much as we could. I thought that was an area where we could hurt them and I think the most of the quality did come down the flanks.”

Dillon added: “We changed shape just because we felt when we came and played these last time that we had an opportunity to get into wide areas against them.

“They changed their shape, we changed ours and game plan was to get in and around them in wide areas and ultimately I think in spells I thought we did well but not the result we were looking for.”

Glebe played with a back three for the whole first-half, with Sam Wood (left), Jerry Nnanami (centre) and Daniel Vaughan (right).

“Jerry’s fantastic. He’s been great to have him in the changing room, on the pitch. He’s an exceptional lad all round, so it’s pleasing to have him in there,” added Dillon.

Wood raised his right-arm before delivering a deep free-kick from the right with his left-foot, which was knocked towards goal by Harry Harding.  The ball was punched away by goalkeeper George Bentley before Kazzeem Richards smashed the ball upfield after 108 seconds.

Sussex referee Stuart McKenzie held up play (5:43-7:44) to stop his watch and disappear down the tunnel to the dressing room to collect a replacement pair of football boots and with the temperature at 21 degrees sanctioned a water break during the first half (26:20-28:48) but not in the second half. Incidentally, the first half lasted 52:23, the second half 53:04.

The game exploded into life, with Tunbridge Wells striker Rhys Bartlett having a couple of chances within 25 seconds.

Rory Ward played the ball back to central midfield partner Jack Walder, who hit a first time ball in behind Vaughan to play in Bartlett, but debutant goalkeeper James Smith came off his line and used his chest to make a vital block (11:56).

Smith’s poor clearance was controlled by Bartlett, who took a touch before trying to chip the goalkeeper from 30-yards, the ball dropping and taking a couple of bounces as it flashed just past the foot of the right-hand post.

Ives said: “We did also feel every now and again the ball over the top of their experienced centre-halves but we did possibly feel if we could catch them out we might have the pace on them.

“Rhys got in and he also got the lob didn’t he from the goalkepeer’s mistake.  You’ve got to admire the improvision but it felt like it was inches away.”

When asked about his debut goalkeeper, Dillon replied: “We’ve been sort of keeping tabs on James over recent weeks.  We just want some competition (for Justin Lee).

“He’s been playing at Hassocks, so he was at Raynes Park then he had a couple of games at Hassocks and then obviously we’re going to get competition in to raise our levels.

“He came through the door and that was his first one. He trained with us in the week and went in today.”

The home side were enjoying a dominant spell.  Glebe’s high right-back Dayo Santana failed to help out Vaughan defensively, so Tunbridge Wells left-back Richards and impressive winger Festos Kamara often linked up well down the left, causing Vaughan problems with their link-up play.

Ives said: “I thought they were probably getting in behind, normally it’s Regan. Everyone knows about Regan but actually Festos and Kazzeem today combined really well.  I think they got in at least three times into the 18-yard box.  Fes has flashed a shot wide, a couple of crosses that have created a little bit of havoc, so yes, I felt like wide areas were our biggest outlet today.”

Dillon added: “They got in a few times down that side. We adjusted where we changed shape and a couple of players were just a little bit uncertain of when to press, when to stand off and from those hesitations they got in and they had a couple of opportunities.”

Glebe produced a well-worked move when Wood launched the ball out of defence towards the half-way line.  Reggie Rye – who played behind Philpot and Harding – chested the ball before hitting a volley into the left-channel for left-wing-back Kelvin Bakare to run towards the by-line before putting over a cross for Philpot, whose shot from a tight angle deflected past the foot of the near-post.

“I’ve been telling Kelvin about getting deliveries in the box and he’s done exactly that,” said Dillon.

“I think if Philpot weren’t carrying (a stiff neck injury), he breaks his neck to get there and he probably meets it.  But where he is carrying something, he’s held his run slightly and then he’s ended up picking up deep and the angle’s changed for the first-time finish.”

Ives said: “The last time we played, we played a back three and the issue that caused us sometimes was when our wide centre-half got pulled out and it left the middle centre-half one-v-one with Jamie and he’s an incredible player. His movement is very good so actually having the four today meant we could have a two-v-one against him so I thought we did well.

“I can’t deny though I was delighted when I saw he didn’t come out (for the second half). I hope he’s not hurt but I was delighted when I didn’t see him not come back out because he’s a massive, massive threat.”

Wood’s set-piece deliveries were on the money and his deep corner from the right was met by Nnanami’s header at the far post but Santana snatched at his first-time shot and swept it past the near-post.

“It’s one of them. He’s taken it early, fair play to him, but sometimes if he hits that into the crowd of people there’s a chance of a deflection coming off someone and going in but it was a good chance, it was unlucky,” admitted Dillon.

The stop-start nature of this Kent derby offered very little quality or excitement as both sides struggled in the warm conditions and the vocal Bentley was called into making a comfortable save in the 31^st minute following the water break.

Haring was fouled by Hine and Richards dropped down injured on the edge of the Tunbridge Wells penalty area before Harding took a quality taken free-kick from 30-yards, which bounced into Bentley’s gloves for a routine save.

“Listen, Harry’s got some real quality. He’s come in, he hasn’t played for a while (family commitments), so he’s getting himself up to match speed and the more minutes he gets, the better he’s going to get,” said Dillon.

“He has the quality, he’s seen something early and he thought ‘I’ll take it,’ but as it stands didn’t execute it how he wanted to.  I think another couple of weeks he’ll be hitting the target.”

Ives said this about his vocal goalkeeper.

“I cannot remember George having to make a great save. He did everything he did, well. He came out, he punched, he cleared his lines, he kicked well but I don’t think he had too many direct assaults on his goal, so the team have done their job haven’t they.”

Richards picked the ball up close to the half-way line and drove past three Glebe players as his lung busting run got him towards the by-line. He played a one-two with Unwin before whipping in a cross towards the near post.  Bartlett powered his header towards the top left-hand corner, only for Smith to fingertip the ball against the underside of the crossbar in the 34^th minute.

Ives said: “It was a really good header. It was kind of going away from him, so he really had to use his neck and he’s got good power on it. It was a bit of a loopy one. The keeper’s got fingers on it and it’s come back off the underside of the crossbar. I feel if we maybe had someone having a gamble on the follow-up but we didn’t but it was a great header, unlucky.”

Dillon added: “I think that James may have got a touch to it. Fair play, it was a good save.  Again, they’re always going to get an opportunity. It’s how we defend it determines what happens.”

With Nnanami resilient for Glebe, Corke very quiet and out of the game on the right, Tunbridge Wells tried to score in an ambitious manner in the 44^th minute following a set-piece.

Right-back Harry Hudson launched his fourth long throw into the box, Walder flicked the ball on at the near post from within a crowd of players and attacking midfielder Ward’s ambitious scissor kick screamed over the crossbar from 10-yards.

Ives said: “What did I say at half-time? It seems like a lifetime ago! We just said we felt we were having our success down the flanks. What we said was we’ve just got to make sure is with the slope in our favour don’t start forcing it, which hopefully we didn’t. 

“I just stressed the fact that the central midfield battle, I thought they were winning a few more second balls so I just asked Rory and Walder just to make sure they competed as much as they could, which they did and it was about concentration.

“We’ve worked on a lot of little things – now I won’t go into detail – but we’ve worked on a lot of little things to try to get us advantages from re-starts and from open play.

“I just needed someone to grab it by the scruff of the neck and thankfully Reggie did.”

Dillon added: “Just said, we’ve had many games we’ve come in at 0-0. I said it’s for us, it’s for the taking. They’ll be a chance and I just said a bit of belief – ultimately it went against us.”

Dillon explained why Philpot failed to emerge for the second half and his replacement, right-back Kai Card was the guilty party for both of the home side’s counter-attacking goals later on in the half.

“Jamie’s struggling a little but with like a stiff neck, so it’s been a bit of a reoccurring one. One minute it’s been alright and then all off a sudden it’s just been playing up a little bit so just wanted to look after him to be totally honest.

“I think he’ll be alright (for our next game).  I think it’s like anything, a stiff neck but it’s a re-occurring issue.  He went into the game with it. He woke with it.  Daisy looked at him and we done everything we can but at half-time I just thought I don’t want to take the risk with him. If he does something more then he’s going to be out for latter in the week and I didn’t want that to happen.”

Glebe missed Philpot’s presence during the second half.

“He looks after things, he holds the ball up well for us. He’s massive for us but ultimately if he’s not right, then I’ve got to do what’s right for him.”

Card was penalised for a foul on Kamara close to the half-way line and Kamara played a woeful 20-yard pass down the line which Unwin did well to keep the ball in play, as Tunbridge Wells attacked down the slope.

An unpressed Unwin was given oceans of space to then cut into the box before crossing towards the unmarked Corke, who lacked composure and lashed his shot high over the crossbar from 15-yards in the 51^st minute.

ives said: “I do remember that one – that was a horrendous miss weren’t it!  I haven’t spoken to Reg whether he’s going to claim there was a bobble.  We do miss a lot of chances and it keeps me on the edge of my nerves more than I could do with.”

Tunbridge Wells struck the woodwork for the second time in the 59^th minute.

Card escaped a booking as he chopped down Kamara as he cut inside him and Glebe lined up a five-man wall for Corke’s 20-yard free-kick.

Corke smashed the free-kick low into the wall and the ball came back out to the winger and he drilled his first time right-footed shot against the outside of the foot of the left-hand post.

“Personally, I didn’t feel the wall were 10 yards back but actually that almost kind of provided us with a bit of a bounce for it to come back and we were unlucky in the end,” said Ives.

Dillon added: “We shouldn’t be giving free-kicks away there and we did and sometimes you get punished for them.  The wall stood firm, it dropped back out and I remember him just shooting early. Maybe if he had taken a little bit more time he might’ve hit the target but ultimately nothing came from it at the end.”

Wood raised both of his arms and floated in a corner from the right, which was cleared out to Bakare, who cracked a right-footed half-volley sailing past the diving Bentley and over the top of the far post from 25-yards.

Tunbridge Wells took a deserved lead with 18 minutes and 10 seconds on the clock.

Centre-half Hine rolled the ball back towards his goalkeeper Bentley, who drilled a right-footed clearance over the top of Card and into the left-channel.

Ives had just played a tactical masterstroke and switched Corke over to the left-wing and Corke got in behind and kept composure to roll his right-footed shot across the keeper to find the centre of the goal in a one-v-one from a tight angle some 12-yards from goal.

“They changed the formation as well, so they matched us up again,” said Ives.

“I felt a bit sorry for that lad coming on because you’ve got to get up to the speed of the game and you’ve got Regan running at you.

“We kind of sniffed it out and we moved him from the right to the left (just before the goal) to see if we can have some success and without trying to take too much credit he instantly did, so yes I will take the credit, why not.”

Dillon said: “I felt it’s a learning curve for Kai. He’s a young lad, just come in. He’s been with the football club a long time and obviously he’s earnt the right. He’s had a couple of good performances with us.

“A change of shape, just meant him coming out of it but then obviously it’s learning when you come into these games. It’s intense, you have to be very proactive and ultimately he’s just switched off for a second and in that second you get punished.”

Glebe’s Femi Ogunbiyi fouled Joshua McArthur Nolan and Corke delivered a poor delivery which should have been comfortably gathered by Smith as the ball was heading straight down his throat.

However, the Glebe goalkeeper dropped the ball and Walder pounced on it and slid in to poke it into the base of the side netting from three-yards.

Walder certainly put his body on the line while sitting in front of the Tunbridge Wells back four today.

“Walder’s always in and amongst it in the penalty box. I think he’s got the taste of it now because he had three in three before today but you know him, he’ll put his body on the line and he was a little bit unlucky, a little bit unlucky,” added Ives.

Glebe enjoyed a spell of playing on the front foot with numerous balls being pumped into the Tunbridge Wells box from the left from either Wood or substitute winger Zak Loveridge.

Tunbridge Wells’ centre-halves of Hine and Shield were resilient and repelled the crosses as Glebe certainly missed Philpot during the second half where they failed to create any clear-cut goalscoring chances from open play.

Dillon said: “They did that well, they made it difficult for us. I spoke to the lads at the end and said like the commitment levels from them, when they went in front and all off a sudden they were two and three of their players getting to the ball, pressing it quick and making it difficult for us.”

Ives added: “I think all the time it’s 1-0, where’s there’s no extra time in a cup game, there’s always the possibility, well the other team have got to do something haven’t they, especially when they’re 1-0 down.

“I felt like they were getting a little bit desperate to be completely truthful and I felt we were relatively comfortable.  Law of averages you know enough balls in there maybe one drops but the centre-halves, the whole back line between them must’ve headed the ball about 300 times today and I think they stood up and done well.

“Bentley has done really well, the whole defensive unit has done, did they really look in any doubt to you?”

Tunbridge Wells sealed the deal by scoring their second goal, one minute and 27 seconds into stoppage time.

Wood took a free-kick from inside his own half and Tunbridge Wells defended deep and in numbers inside their penalty area.

Nolan was outside his penalty area and smacked a long ball over the top and Card was ahead of Corke in the initial foot race inside Glebe’s defensive third.

Corke easily ghosted past the right-back who opened the gate and as goalkeeper Smith rushed off his line to narrow the angle, Corke produced a second composed finish with his right-foot, slotting into the empty net from 20-yards.

“Again, I’m going to take the credit for that one as well. A couple of free-kicks prior to that, Reg has been in and around the edge (of our box) just as an extra man for us but I actually said to him ‘stay high, we need an out ball,” said Ives.

“Again we turned over possession, put him in a running race and you don’t want to be in a running race with Regan Corke, so the only question is has he got the composure, the finish and he did, brilliant!”

Dillon added: “Very similar, a ball in behind. Just the hesitation again. I think maybe between the keeper and Kai, they’re debating whether one should come, one should pass it back. For me, it’s defend first, defend first, clear your lines and ultimately everything else can come from that.”

Both sides are making league trips in midweek with Ives taking his side to eighth-placed Fisher (four wins from nine games), while Dillon takes his side to the side immediately above them, Sutton Athletic (one win, four draws).

The Fish thrashed First Division side FC Elmstead 4-0 at home in the Challenge Cup today, while Sutton Athletic beat Copthorne 4-1 in The FA Vase.

Dillon is finding there is a gulf in class between the tenth tier and the ninth. This game was more of a tactical battle between the two managers and Ives made the right decisions at the right times and his side came out on top as a result.

“I was frustrated, I’m not going to lie and I believe in this group of players and there’s been performance where we’ve done ever so well but we haven’t punished other teams and ultimately it’s a disappointing day,” said Dillon.

“We wanted to get to the next round but now we go Wednesday night and move fast. We go into the league and points is the key and we have to make sure on Wednesday night that we’re right at it.

“You don’t have much time. I learn fast at this level. Mistakes cost you, you move on. We’ve got to put it right and ultimately Wednesday night is where we look to make that happen.”

Dillon was asked about losing seven of his 11 games in charge and working for a chairman that wields the axe quicker than any other in the division.

“Again, that’s out of my hands but ultimately we’re rebuilding. I’ve said it before, we’ve had some good performances. We have to put points on the board.  Today was a Vase game, an opportunity of getting in the next round. We didn’t quite do it and we’ve learn from that so Wednesday night it is everything to get three points and we’ll pick a side that fingers crossed will get over the line and put some points on the board.”

Tunbridge Wells will be in Monday’s FA Vase First Round draw and looking to replicate Martin Larkin’s class of 2012-13 that reached the Wembley Final, losing to now National League North side Spennymoor Town.

The Tunbridge Wells squad at Wembley Stadium in 2013:
Chris Oladogba, Jason Bourne, Lewis Mingle, Joe Fuller (Tom Davey 58), Scott Whibley, Perry Spackman, Jon Pilbeam (Richard Sinden 85), Andy McMath, Andy Irvine, Carl Cornell (Jack Harris 57), Josh Stanford.
Subs: Andy Boyle, Michal Czanner

“You know, you’re from the town (the editor of this website lives in Tunbridge Wells, grew up in Bromley), you know the club. It’s got a rich history in the competition. It means a hell of a lot of the fans so to be in that is massive for us,” said Ives.

“Look, the league is our priority but this is a good distraction and you can have some great away days if you get a good draw and keep on performing.

“I think it’s just good for the team to put in a resolute performance like that, similar to the Larkfield game, it was gritty, it was determined, a clean sheet is really, really important to me – so yes, we’re in the next round.

“The FA Vae is massive for the town, for the club. Martin Larkin, 2013. I’m certainly not putting any pressure on saying I’ll be able to follow that but it’s nice to have a little bit of  break from the league and a little bit of romance for the cup.”

Eastbourne resident Ives – who works in Tunbridge Wells – takes his side to play Ajay Ashanike’s Fisher, which is always a tough place to go to, especially on a Tuesday night.

“Yes brilliant. I say thank you very much to the league for throwing, that’s tremendous. Luckily I’ll be going from work but it’s normally a good away day for the supporters so it’s a shame for Fisher really because we normally take quite a few on a Saturday. They go on a bit of a pub crawl, which that won’t be happening on a Tuesday night.

“But I respect Ajay a lot. I always think his teams provide a massive test, especially on their pitch, so let’s hope we haven’t got too many knocks or sore bodies for that one.

“I’m not sure whether I’ll still have a full squad available after today because it felt like quite a bruising battle to me, so we’ll just hope we’ll be ok. We do have a big squad though and I’m fortunate the under 23s provide us with good back up so we’ll be ok for numbers but obviously when you’re winning, you want to keep things rolling.”

Tunbridge Wells underperformed with a thirteenth-place finish last season and are currently in the top five.

VCD Athletic (25 points from nine games) are the surprise leaders and the four play-off places contain Holmesdale (18 points from 11), Faversham Town (17 points from seven), Punjab United (15 points from seven) and Tunbridge Wells (14 points from 10).

Whitstable Town (14 points from nine), newly-promoted Larkfield & New Hythe (13 points from seven) and Fisher (12 points from nine) follow.

When asked how he has turned around his side’s fortunes, Ives replied: “I think it’s too early to say we’ve turned anything around to be truthful and we’ve had some frustrating results this season. We’ve already lost four times in the league and every single time it was 2-1. I think we’ve got a more settled group, I think we’re probably a bit more close-nit.  I feel like the camaraderie and the togetherness is a little bit better and that carries you a long way.”

Tunbridge Wells: George Bentley, Harry Hudson, Kazzeem Richards, Lewis Unwin, Ryan Hine, James Shield, Festos Kamara (Jacob Feasey 70), Jack Walder, Rhys Bartlett (Jack Gallagher 90), Rory Ward (Joshua Nolan 69), Regan Corke.
Subs: James White, Ryan Moir

Goals: Regan Corke 64, 90

Booked: Harry Hudson 90

Glebe: James Smith, Dayo Santana, Kelvin Bakare (Zak Loveridge 69), Jerry Nnanami, Sam Wood, Daniel Vaughan, Femi Ogunbiyi, Alex Arif (Red Jenkins 62), Jamie Philpot (Kai Card 46), Harry Harding, Reggie Rye (Fred Obasa 53).
Sub: Alfie Kitt

Booked: Reggie Rye 45, Femi Ogunbiyi 90, Red Jenkins 90

Attendance: 149
Referee: Mr Stuart McKenzie
Assistants: Mr Lewis Bellamy & Mr Gerry Kehoe