Tonbridge Invicta 2 v 1 Bredhurst Village - Cup Semi Final

Invicta U18’s reach Final Faulkner excels as Hermitage strike puts Invicta on the way to the Final Tonbridge Invicta U18’s reached the final of the Maidstone Minor league Cup, (the Ron Hamer trophy) with a narrow 2-1 victory over Bredhurst Village at Larkfield today. Two second half goals from Chris Hermitage and Jack Edmeads sealed the win, but Invicta man of the match was James Faulkner who made a string of superb saves to keep the tie alive after Invicta went behind. Invicta with a full squad of 16 available for the tie, lost Luke Huartson in the warm up as his knee had not fully recovered. Matt Thompson returned from his one match suspension and the side that did so well v Castle Colts formed the starting line up. Invicta made a bright opening with Tom Willers going close but Bredhurst were clearly up for this game and were quicker in the tackle and more creative in their attacking options. Nicholls and Freke had to make challenge after challenge as Thompson and Stengel found the attacking width of Bredhurst a real threat. When they did get through Faulkner was at his best to deny the opposition; a shot low to his left being the pick of 3 vital saves in the first period. It was no surprise when Bredhurst went ahead on 35 mins with a fine turn and shot into the corner. Leading scorer Tom Willers was being well, marshalled and despite some fine runs was never able to get his shot away. Half time proved a relief to Invicta. The second period saw Whittome replace Teddy as Invicta started winning a share of the 50:50 tackles and found themselves in more possession of the ball. Mason replaced a Stengel and the influence of Edmeads began to take shape as more space became available in the middle of the park. Both Phillips and Thompson had good attempts on goal, but it was from a throw in that Edmeads flicked on and Holmes won the next challenge, which saw the ball fall to Hermitage and he crashed a volley over the keeper from just inside the box. 1-1 with an hour gone. This certainly lifted Invicta’s work rate and the game became more open as both sides looked for a winner. A point blank save from Faulkner again denied Bredhurst as they won a series of corners. Invicta’s second goal came on 75 mins when Phillips found his shooting boots and as his shot bounced off the bar, Edmeads coolly slotted home to make it 2-1. Invicta could not kill the game off as Bredhurst pushed on with numerous tackles and headers being won by the Invicta defence to see the game through. A much improved performance from Invicta in the second period but this game could easily have gone either way without the hands and body of James Faulkner!

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When	2008-01-20 19:17 2008-01-20 19:17 2008-01-20 from 19:17 to 19:17
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