Whyteleafe win 4-3 on penalties

Jersey had overtaken A.F.C. Whyteleafe in the last match of the season which meant that they met at Springfield rather than in Surrey for this play-off. Had A.F.C. Croydon Athletic not scored a last minute equaliser on Saturday Jersey would have been at home to Sittingbourne instead. Sittingbourne were therefore hosted by Croydon in the other play-off semi-final taking place concurrently. Jersey and Whyteleafe had both been promoted from the Combined Counties League last season and matches between them were cagey affairs often with only a single goal scored. Last season there were two 1-0 away wins, this season Jersey won with a similar score at Springfield in October before a goalless match in the return in February, Jersey’s only goalless match of the season. Whyteleafe arrived with 25-8-9 109-46 record, one point behind Jersey but with a better goal difference. They had the divisions second best attack and third best defence. Jersey only had the ninth best attack but the meanest defence.

Jersey brought back the five players that had been “rested” as substitutes on Saturday. Therefore Toby Ritzema, Rai Dos Santos, Miguel Carvalho, Adam Trotter and Jamie Watling swapped roles with Fraser Barlow, Joe Kilshaw, James Sunley, Francis Lekimamati and Harry Curtis.

Whyteleafe brought in Moses Emmanuel, a substitute on Saturday, for Palace Francis who was unavailable. Ryan Gondoh, also a substitute on Saturday,displaced Eniola Hassan.

The match was naturally a cagey affair with so much at stake and the sides “knowing” each other well. There was scant goalmouth action, but what there was in the first half was mostly Jersey trying to break down the massed Whyteleafe defence. A long ball out to the right from Jay Giles allowed Carvalho to get in a cross that just eluded Ritzema in the middle and a few minutes later Lorne Bickley got in a shot from the edge of the box that was never going to trouble Slavomir Huk. Toby Ritzema made an excellent run down the left flank but his cut back from the byline was blocked by Huk’s left leg. Just before the interval Trotter tried to curl a cross shot into the top left corner from the right channel with the outside of his boot but did not manage to get any bend on the ball. In the following minute Carvalho wriggled through the middle before being brought down on the edge of the area. Ritzema swept home the loose ball from twenty yards off Huk’s right hand, but the whistle had already been blown.

There was early drama at the start of the second half with Carvalho pulling a hamstring and having to be replaced by Lekimamati. After four and a half minutes,just after Euan Van der Vliet had saved at his near post from Gondoh, and before the subsequent corner was taken, it was pointed out to the referee than the Town end goalmouth was in relative darkness. It transpired that the cluster on each pylon that faced across the goalmouth was not working, although the other four clusters in each corner were. An electrician eventually managed to get one of them working and the referee deemed that sufficient for the match to resume. He gave the sides a ten minute warm up and after a 37 minute overall delay the match resumed but with the clock deemed to be at 52 minutes, rather than 49.30.

Luke Watson hit an excellent twenty yard shot just wide and within a minute Daniel Bennett had seized upon a fortunate ricochet at the other end to just miss with a cross shot. A first time shot from Ritzema hit Huk on the chest. With quarter of an hour to go Whyteleafe substitute Kershaney Samuels shot from the edge of the box which Watling managed to deflect over the bar. The seminal moment arrived on 77 minutes. Bickley cut in on the left byline beating Hani Hechchena and squaring the ball to the onrushing Lekimamati, His shot from five yards hit Huk on the forehead and rebounded away for a corner. Jersey left it very late to bring on their attacking substitutes, particularly James Sunley, whose talents may have been able to unlock the Whyteleafe defence, as the stalemate continued.

Nothing of significance occurred in the remaining twenty minutes and the Isthmian semi-final play-offs do not play extra time, unlike those in the Northern and Southern leagues. Jersey won the toss and opted to go first with the penalties being taken at the “brighter” Robin Hood end. Jay Giles smashed the first one down the middle as Huk dived to his left. Helge Orome placed his clinically top left which although Van der Vliet guessed correctly, he could not get near. Rai Dos Santos had Jersey supporter’s hearts in their mouths as his shot bounced down and in off the underside of the bar. Gondoh, like Orome, went top left to make it 2-2 before Lekimamati and substitute Jamie Mascoll both blasted their efforts high over the bar. James Queree just beat Huk’s right hand as he went bottom left before Jordan Johnson-Palmer nonchantly went top left again for Whyteleafe. Substitute Joe Kilshaw went the same way as Queree but did not strike it as well as Queree and Huk guessed correctly to make the save. Another substitute, Mason Saunders-Henry, applied the coup de grace changing the Whyteleafe method to bottom right as Van der Vliet went the way of all the previous Whyteleafe successes. Whyteleafe therefore advanced to the final not having scored in their three matches with Jersey this season. They will travel to A.F.C. Croydon Athletic, who beat Sittingbourne 2-0, in three days time.

Whyteleafe also defeated Croydon on penalties to secure promotion, this time 5-4 after a 1-1 draw in front of 1.262. Whyteleafe took the lead midway through the second half before Croydon equalised with a penalty with a couple of minutes remaining. The final had extra time whereas the semi-finals did not, the league’s explanation being that they did not want one side disadvantaged if only one semi-final played an extra thirty minutes.

Jersey Bulls – Euan Van der Vliet, Jamie Watling (wore 15), Jay Giles (wore 14), James Queree (c), Luke Campbell, Toby Ritzema, Luke Watson (wore 16), Adam Trotter (wore 12), Lorne Bickley, Rai Dos Santos, Miguel Carvalho
Substitutes – 7. Fraser Barlow (for Bickley 90+1), 8. Joe Kilshaw (for Watson 76), 20. James Sunley (for Trotter 85), 21. Francis Lekimamati (for Carvalho inj. 48), 23. Harry Curtis (not used)

Red/White/Red; GK All Light Blue

Elliot Powell (Manager), Dan Garton (Assistant), Dave Kennedy (Coach), Richard Hebert (GK Coach), Karl Benest (Kit), Steve Martin (Medical)

A.F.C. Whyteleafe – Slavomir Huk, Helge Orome, Hani Hechachena (wore 17), Mannie Mensah (wore 14), Aaron Goode, Corey Holder (c), Daniel Bennett, Jordan Johnson-Palmer, Moses Emmanuel, Craig Braham-Barrett, Ryan Gondoh
Substitutes – 10. Mason Saunders-Henry (for Bennett 90+1), 12. Kershaney Samuels (for Mensah 70), 15. Jamie Mascoll (for Braham-Barrett 76), 16. EniolaHassan (for Emmanuel 70), only four substitutes

All Olive Green (Gold trim); GK All Yellow

Ennio Gonnella (Manager), Danny Rose, Kelly Waters, Wayne Bullen and Gerardo Gonnella (Coaches), Lydia Passera-Hughes (Medical)

Formations (R to L)
Jersey Bulls (4-1-4-1) 1; 4-15-5-14; 16; 11-12-8-7; 9
A.F.C. Whyteleafe (4-1-4-1) 1; 17-5-6-22: 14: 7-2-8-23; 9

Officials – Adrian T. Harris (Selsey), Michael A.I. Jones (Orpington) dug outs, Thomas D. Murray (Crawley, ex Sutton) grandstand, James F. Kerten (Bognor Regis) fourth official

Caution(s) – Luke Watson (JB) 33, Euan Van der Vliet (JB) dismissed after the final whistle

Corners – Jersey Bulls (1) 4; A.F.C. Whyteleafe (3) 10

Assist(s) – none

Player of the Match – Jamie Watling

Added Time – 3.00 & 6.10 (9.10) (plus 37 minute “floodlight” stoppage)