Margate were narrowly defeated 3-2 by Corinthian on Tuesday evening in an entertaining pre-season clash at Corinthian Sports Club.
Manager Ben Greenhalgh had a fully fit squad at his disposal and named a strong starting XI for the encounter. The Blues made a lively start, with Ibrahim Olutade breaking down the left early on, only for his low cross to narrowly evade the onrushing Greenhalgh in the centre.
Both sides showed early attacking intent, with Corinthian heading over from a decent opportunity. Margate nearly took the lead in bizarre fashion on 13 minutes when George Lamb’s cross from deep evaded everyone, including Olutade, and was almost spilled over the line by the home keeper before he scrambled to recover just in time.
Just two minutes later, the Corinthian keeper redeemed himself with a stunning double save—first denying Olutade from close range and then reacting brilliantly to stop Sam Blackman’s follow-up effort. It was a defining moment in the first half and gave Corinthian the momentum to open the scoring in the 22nd minute. A corner delivery was flicked goalward by Tommy Mitcham and found its way in via a deflection.
Despite the setback, Margate continued to press and created several half chances through TT Walters, Tom Derry, and Olutade, but were unable to find an equaliser before the break, going into half-time trailing 1-0.
Corinthian doubled their lead shortly after the restart with a spectacular volley from Dolapo Oladipupo that gave Wray no chance.
Margate responded with a flurry of substitutions on the hour mark, including the introduction of Kieron Agbebi, who made an immediate impact. In the 68th minute, Greenhalgh’s free-kick was parried into the path of Agbebi, who calmly slotted home his first goal for the club just five minutes after coming on.
The Blues were level just five minutes later as Agbebi rose highest to head home from a Margate corner, completing his quickfire brace and capping off a superb impact from the bench.
With the momentum firmly in their favour, Margate pushed for a winner, but it was the hosts who snatched victory against the run of play. In the 84th minute, Akash Santhosh was afforded too much space in the box and fired a low strike past Hobbs to seal the win for Corinthian.
Despite the result, there were plenty of positives to take from the performance, particularly the impact of the substitutes and Agbebi’s impressive brace.
Margate are back in action this Saturday as they welcome Isthmian Premier Division side Dulwich Hamlet to Hartsdown Park for their sixth pre-season fixture.
Margate XI:
Wray (Hobbs 63’), Hatfull (Trialist 63’), Hudson (Knight 63’), Wells, Lamb, Blackman (Walsh 45’), Davey (Garande 45’), Greenhalgh, Olutade (Atkins 63’), Walters (Oboagye), Derry (Agbebi 63’)
Goals:
Kieron Agbebi (68’, 73’)
