The Bulls’ biggest task so far, as they faced Isthmian League Chertsey Town in an attempt to reach the final qualifying round and possibly meet a Conference National side.

Chertsey who compete in the same division as Sutton Common Rovers, Jersey’s victims in the last round, have had a renaissance in recent years. They were regularly in the lower reaches of the Combined Counties Premier Division but in 2018-19 they won it. That same season they also won the F.A. Vase at Wembley after an eleven match campaign. Elevated to Division 1 South-Central of the Isthmian League they have been in the top half of the table in each of the two recently curtailed seasons.

This season they are again well placed having had two wins and three draws in their opening five league matches. In the F.A. Cup they have disposed of Erith & Belvedere and Chesham United without conceding a goal, the latter playing in a league a level above them. They had also attended the Bulls’ replay at Sutton Common Rovers in order to assess what they were up against.

The Bulls welcomed back to their starting line-up captain James Queree, Kamen Nafkha and Sol Solomon with Ruben Mendes-Pestana promoted from being a substitute at Horley. Joe Kilshaw, Luca Margaroli and Kieran Lester reverted to the extensive bench that is permitted for F.A. Cup ties. Fraser Barlow was unavailable as he was on holiday.

A morning of sharp showers was improved upon for the afternoon start but there was still a strong wind blowing that made ball control difficult at times.

Jersey kicked off attacking the Town end and the combative nature of the match saw both sides have a player cautioned in the opening ten minutes.

Little goalmouth action was seen until just after half an hour when Chertsey scored.
A soft free kick on the left corner of the penalty box was directed to the top right corner of the Jersey goal. Euan Van der Vliet palmed it away but unfortunately on to the head of an opponent who directed back towards the penalty spot. There Jay Gasson found himself in space and he made no mistake.

At the interval Jersey brought on Jake Prince for Jack Griffin to see if he could assist Lorne Bickley in attack. In the first half, high balls forwarded towards him had been well dealt with by Gasson and Daryl Harrison, the Chertsey central defenders.

Just before the hour a shot by Chertsey captain Andrew Crossley forced Van der Vliet to give away a corner which was ably dealt with. Ten minutes later Margaroli was brought on for Mendes-Pestana as Jersey continued to search for openings.

Within a couple of minutes the Bulls had their only clear cut chance of the match when the ball fell to Jay Giles left of centre but his shot flashed past the right post.

Chertsey had deployed their experience to run down the clock which led to nearly seven minutes of added time. In the second of these Prince brought about the only serious save that Chertsey ‘keeper, Nicholas Jupp, had to make.

The record crowd, almost 500 up from the previous round, had seen a good battle. It was one that made Jersey realise what they would be up against on a more regular basis if they were to attain promotion as they were handed their first competitive home defeat.

Jersey Bulls 0; Chertsey Town 1 (Jay Gasson 32)

Attendance – 1,611 (club record)

Programme – £2, 28pp colour

Jersey Bulls – Euan Van der Vliet, James Queree (c), Jay Giles, Jack Griffin, Luke Campbell, Kamen Nafkha, Jonny Le Quesne, Adam Trotter, Lorne Bickley, Ruben Mendes-Pestana, Sol Solomon

Substitutes – Luca Margaroli (for Mendes-Pestana 72), Calvin Weir (not used), Jake Prince (for Griffin 46), Sammy Sutcliffe (not used), Joe Kilshaw (not used), Kieran Lester (for Trotter 87), Jonny Willows (sub GK, not used), only seven substitutes

Red/White/White; GK All Yellow.

Gary Freeman (Manager), Kevan Nelson (Assistant), Dan Seviour (Coach), Richard Hebert (GK Coach), Jason Carpenter (Assistant GK Coach), Jim Robertson (Physio)

Chertsey Town – Nicholas Jupp, Lewis Jackson, Mason Welch-Turner, Kevin Maclaren (player/manager), Daryl Harrison, Jay Gasson, Magnus Abisogun, Ashley Lodge, Jake Baxter, Andrew Crossley (c), Mark Bitmead
Substitutes – Casey Maclaren (for K. Maclaren 86), Lewis Gallifent (sub GK, not used), Quincy Rowe, Tony Halsey (for Bitmead 66), Bryan Taylor (not used), Manu Gogonas (not used), Sam Hurrell (not used), Sam Murphy (for Abisogun 79), only eight substitutes (nine are permissible in F.A. Cup ties)

Royal Blue & White Stripes/Royal Blue/Royal Blue; GK All Purple

Steve Dormer (Director of Football), Mick Bennett (Coach), Kevin Cleary (Coach), David Hill (GK Coach), Ellie Fancus-Smith (Physio.)

Referee – Luke Donaldson (Greenwich) Level 3 referee usually to be found officiating in the Isthmian League

Assistants – Dan Jeffery (Brighton) Level 4 official with the Southern Combination League & Scott Orchard (Worthing) Level 4 with the Combined Counties League

Cautions – Lewis Jackson (CT 3), Luke Campbell (JB) 9, Jay Gasson (CT) 50, Kamen Nafkha (JB) 75, Andrew Crossley (CT) 85, Jonny Le Quesne (JB) 90+5

Corners – Jersey Bulls (2) 2; Chertsey Town (2) 7

Player of the Match (sponsors) – Magnus Abisogun (CT)
Player of the Match (commentators) – Euan Van der Vliet (JB)
Player of the Match (away club) – Daryl Harrison (CT)