'Gate Denied A Precious Point Away At Chatham

By Riley Finch

Margate were denied a precious point on the road by Rowan Liburd’s quick-fire response for Chatham Town at the Bauvill Stadium.

The Chats took the lead 22-minutes in after Jamie Yila cut inside from a quickly taken corner to curl into the opposite post with a brilliant finish. The game was fairly even up until that point, in fact, the entire game there was little between the two sides.

We had almost taken the lead prior to their goal in bizarre circumstances, with keeper Mitchell Beeney allowing the ball to roll under his foot and almost into his own goal. We were showing signs of life, but desperately needed a goal after the interval.

Who other than defender Tyrone Sterling to turn provider and swipe at Kadell Daniel’s cushioned header to sneak the ball at the near post under Beeney to get us back level. The defender’s fourth goal of the season was short lived, however, with Chatham responding in just six minutes.

Margate fell victim to another set-piece, the ball bobbled in the box, falling to a Chatham player, who’s shot was saved brilliantly by Harry Seaden, only to present itself to Liburd for an easy tap in. It looked as though Chatham would seal the win after Yila was slipped through on goal for a one-on-one.

However, Seaden stayed big to block a certain goal, only to follow it up with another terrific save, with the ball eventually landing to Ashley Nzala who blasted over. It seemed as though Chatham would rue their missed opportunities, with the 'Gate planning a late assault on the home side's goal.

Ben Greenhalgh slipped through Yaser Kasim, with a sight of goal, but a defender slid in to block the opportunity. Alfie Panyi was presented an open goal after the 'Gate worked the ball to the back-post but once again, a Chatham player was there to get the block.

The same situation was presented to Steve Cawley, but the home sides heroic defending continued blocking any chance of a shot which would lead to a certain goal. Chance after chance, you only felt it would take just one more to get one over the line.

A last minute free-kick earned us a corner but sadly the referee blew the whistle before we could take the opportunity. A case of, just not our day, it would seem.

The result was disappointing but the performance will give us some confidence going into our next fixture, we certainly deserved a least a point from the contest.

A run of five tough matches in which we have faced sides either in or challenging for the play-off places has ended today against second placed Chatham.

Now we look to a run of more favourable fixtures, which starts with a massive away game against Cheshunt this Tuesday.

Margate: 1. Harry Seaden, 2. Archie Panyi, 3. Toby Stevenson, 4. Yaser Kasim (Fyn Rutherford 76'), 5. Tyrone Sterling, 6. Harry Hudson, 7. Dominic Vose (Vinnie Bowman 77'), 9. Steve Cawley, 10. Kadell Daniel, 11. Ben Greenhalgh, 15. Mohamed Kamara (Lewis Knight 90')

Unused subs: 13 Reece Hobbs, 16 Mohammed Ahmed

Attendance: 1,897

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