2022/23 Season Review - Part Two

Written by David Hansen

January

W1 D2 L3

Folkestone Invicta 4 – 0 Margate FC

Margate FC 3 – 3 Brightlingsea Regent (MacArthur 2’, Greenhalgh 16’, Oke 93’)

Margate FC 3 – 4 Whitehawk FC (Greenhalgh 2’, 20’, Shooman 90’ OG) - Isthmian League Cup (Velocity Trophy)

Horsham FC 4 – 0 Margate FC

Margate FC 1 – 1 Bowers & Pitsea (Roberts 13’)

Margate FC 3 – 1 Wingate & Finchley (Blackman 17’, Cole 30’, Roberts 75’)

Reece Prestedge’s first game in charge was one to forget as Margate were put to the sword by Folkestone Invicta in a one-sided affair. Margate managed to rescue a point in a dramatic game at Hartsdown Park against bottom of the table Brightlingsea. Another free scoring game came three days later as Margate welcomed Whitehawk to Hartsdown Park for another Velocity Trophy match. The ‘Gate would crash out losing 4-3 to Whitehawk. This was compounded by another 4-0 defeat at the hands of Horsham making the start to the Prestedge era one to forget rather quickly. The rest of the month was better for the Blues as the ‘Gate managed to pick up four points from a possible six including a good 3-1 victory over Wingate & Finchley at Hartsdown Park.

February

W1 D3 L2

Kingstonian FC 0 – 2 Margate FC (Greenhalgh 57’ PEN, Wood 85’)

Hastings United 0 – 0 Margate FC

Margate FC 0 – 1 Bishops Stortford

Herne Bay 1 – 1 Margate FC (Wood 67’)

Margate FC 0 – 1 Carshalton Athletic

Enfield Town 0 – 0 Margate FC

A lack of goals would hurt Margate in the month of February, with the Gate only netting three times in six matches meaning one goal every other game across the whole month. Two of these goals came in the first game of the month against Kingstonian away from home. After this Margate fans didn’t have a lot to cheer about for the rest of the month in terms of goals as the only other game came in a draw away to Herne Bay where Nathan Wood countered Herne Bay’s opening goal. The month ended with a draw against Enfield which was a hard-earned point as Enfield were high flying in the division at the time but overall Margate had a month with nothing to write home about.

March

W3 L3

Margate FC 2 – 0 Corinthian-Casuals (Soares-Junior 68’, Blackman 93’)

Potters Bar Town 0 – 1 Margate FC (Hatfull 26’)

Canvey Island 5 – 2 Margate FC (Greenhalgh 45’, Barton 88’)

Bognor Regis Town 1 – 0 Margate FC

Margate FC 0 – 1 Aveley

Hornchurch 2 – 3 Margate FC (Blackman 50’, Greenhalgh 64’, 86’)

March was a very mixed bag in terms of results as the Gate picked up three victories and three defeats, but the best news was Margate started finding the net with more regularity again. Unfortunately, goals were being conceded at an alarming rate with nine goals being shipped throughout March which included a 5-2 loss against Canvey Island making it the most goals they’ve conceded in a single game this season. A month which started in an excellent way as the ‘Gate won two games in a row and kept two clean sheets against Corinthian Casuals and Potters Bar Town. Three losses on the bounce then followed against Canvey (5-2), Bognor Regis (1-0), and Aveley (0-1), before an amazing comeback from 2-0 down at half time against league leaders Hornchurch to win 3-2 including a goal from by the halfway line from Greenhalgh in the 86th minute.

April

W1 D1 L4

Margate FC 2 – 2 Lewes (Blackman 3’, Soares-Junior 20’)

Haringey Borough 1 – 0 Margate FC

Margate FC 0 – 1 Folkestone Invicta

Billericay Town 3 – 0 Margate FC

Margate FC 3 – 1 Ramsgate FC (Greenhalgh 27’, Kasim 43’, Smith 47’) - Kent Senior Cup (Semi-Final)

Margate FC 2 – 3 Potters bar Town (Smith 19’, 29’)

The month started off promising with a solid 2-2 draw against promotion chasing Lewes but then three league defeats in a row stopped any momentum that Margate had built from the last two games. The final goals of the season both went to Harvey Smith in a 3-2 home defeat against Potters Bar Town in the last game of the season.

Fortunately for Margate, other teams around them in the table were unable to accumulate enough points, meaning Margate would avoid relegation and the ‘Gate finished in a disappointing 17th place avoiding relegation by eleven points which in turn was twenty-eight points off a play-off place.

However, the season could be salvaged as Margate had managed to get themselves into the Semi-final of the Kent Senior Cup where they would take on local rivals Ramsgate with a place in the final and a trip to the Priestfield stadium in Gillingham on the line. With 1481 fans crammed into Hartsdown Park, Margate were put under pressure early, but the game changed as the visitors were reduced to ten men in the 9th minute allowing Margate to go on the front foot. This momentum shift allowed Margate to punish Ramsgate with three goals to book their place in the final against Chatham Town at Priestfield.

May- Kent Senior Cup final

Margate FC 1 – 1 Chatham Town (Wood 16’)

Margate won 5 – 4 on penalties

Margate went into the final without their top scorer Ben Greenhalgh who was away awaiting the birth of his third child giving a chance to youngster Henry Young. Margate started the better, putting Chatham Town under early pressure on the backline of Chatham but they stood firm until the 16th minute where Nathan Wood fired a shot low into the bottom right and corner from the left side of the six-yard box after a break from Chatham corner moments earlier. From then on in, Chatham were upping the tempo and putting the ‘Gate backline under pressure looking for a route back into the game. Goalkeeper Daniel Jinadu thwarted Chatham with several good saves much to the frustration of the Chatham fans. Unfortunately, Chatham were not to be denied as a 97th minute free kick was whipped and headed home over an onrushing Jinadu by Reece Butler to send the game all the way to penalties.

Every penalty was put away well with both teams navigating to their fifth penalty unscathed, Chatham’s last penalty where Danny Kedwell had his penalty saved by Jinadu to his bottom left corner making himself the hero. Harry Hudson stepped up and slotted his penalty into the bottom right corner out of the reach of the Chatham keeper, sealing Margate’s first Kent Senior Cup trophy since 2005, which sent the travelling ‘Gate fans into a frenzy, ending what was an underwhelming season with success right at the end.

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