Margate continued their preparations for the 2026/27 season as they faced the Reserves at Hartsdown Park on Saturday afternoon.
With Raynes Park Vale withdrawing from the scheduled fixture with just 24 hours’ notice, the Blues were forced to face their own reserves side, which proved to be a good workout for Jamie Coyle’s side.
Margate named three trialists in their starting XI for the first half as they continued to be without Finn O’Mara, David Adewoju and Norman Wabo, and it was the reserves that forced Jacob Russell into the first save of the afternoon as Woody Pitman sent a header goalwards from a corner.
Margate seemed slow getting the ball forward in searing heat once again at Hartsdown Park. On 21 minutes they did work the ball well to Trialist #24 who saw his effort placed just wide.
Tyler Hatton saw a good header from a corner fly narrowly wide as the first team struggled to create meaningful chances.
In the 40th minute they did take the lead as Trialist #19 cooly nodded home from a corner to give the first team a 1-0 half-time lead.
Margate made several changes at half-time and looked much sharper after the break, although the reserves continued to make a game of it with lots of hard work and desire to keep the first team at bay.
Their resilience paid off until the 57th minute as Ronald Sithole found TT Walters who fired Margate into a 2-0 advantage.
Sithole appeared to be the spark for Margate as looked dangerous down the right hand side. A Ralfi Hand free-kick flashed just wide of the post before another Sithole effort this time crashed off the post as Margate continued to try and extend their lead.
Margate extended their lead further in the last 15 minutes as a strike from the right hand side was superbly rifled home before Lewis Chambers headed in a fourth shortly before the end.
It was a useful workout for the Blues first team, whilst the Reserves showed plenty of sharpness and desire to point to themselves having a strong squad ahead of their debut season.
Margate first team return to action on Tuesday evening at Hartsdown Park as they welcome SCEFL Premier Division side AFC Greenwich Borough for a 7:45pm kick-off.
The reserves return to action for a pre-season friendly on Friday 24th July at Hartsdown Park as they welcome Minster Reserves as they continue to prepare for the new season.
