This was a dour game against a resolute and somewhat physical side containing a number of new players who were out to impress their manager, and although we were not at our best we created a number of chances early on that could have changed the game. It was not until late in the game that we got our magic moment when after being pegged back to 1-1 Dominic Vincent, on his promotion from our Under 18 side, came on as a late substitute and with just his first touch of the ball scored our winning goal much to the delight of his team-mates. We started off on the front foot on the greasy surface with Alastair Gordon testing keeper Pat Lee with an early shot before, at the other end Lewis Chambers was wasteful with a chance from Liam Middleton’s corner, blasting high over the bar. We should have scored straight after when Alastair’s corner was headed out wide to Alex Gaggin who sent it back into the middle, but Junior Baker was unable to keep his shot on target from close in. Alex was causing constant problems out wide with his pace and his low ball in reached Alastair whose shot narrowly evaded the far post. Sittingbourne had a good chance when a long kick from the keeper was spread wide to Izzy Adebeyo in space, but as he made ground on goal Joe Mant was quickly out to block his shot to safety. Just after the 20 minute mark we finally took the lead when Malachi Hudson tricked his way down the left, going past his Arben Muskaj and then wide of keeper Lee, before slotting home into the far corner. We came close to a second goal immediately after when Malachi broke through again where his shot was blocked into the path of Charlie MacDonald, but his shot came back off a post. The hosts were defending well looking solid and were not afraid to put a foot in, but our passing and movement was impressive and their keeper made three decent saves as we looked to extend our lead. Charlie MacDonald went close with a couple of efforts before, just before the break Sittingbourne were given a massive let off by the referee. Alex cut in from the right, getting through the home defence with his pace before he was brought down by a cynical tackle from behind by Tom Fagg, and with a booking already to his name a second yellow card was expected, but the referee inexplicably let him off with a talking to. The Bourne manager, to his credit, sensibly substituted the player at the break after apologising to Keith.
The second half was an altogether different affair as Sittingbourne visibly upped their game while we began to go through the motions somewhat, possibly thinking the job was done, and the hosts put us under a lot of pressure in the early part of the half. Billy Lewins got clear on our goal, but Joe Mant was the saviour as he blocked the shot with his legs then, after Jack Steventon pulled back Lewins just outside the area, Henry Woods fired his free kick straight at Joe from a good position. On a break from us, Malachi got down the flank on the left before cutting the ball inside to Jack Steventon but his shot cleared the angle. With 20 minutes remaining as the pressure was kept up Sittingbourne finally got their reward when Izzy Adebeyo got down the right and sent in a dangerous low cross that had Joe Mant and Brad Simms in two minds, and as they hesitated Roman Campbell nipped in to force the ball over the line. Stung by the setback we finally began to apply some pressure of our own and within three minutes had restored our lead with a great move. A great run down the left by Alex saw him blocked in the corner but his neat back-heel released the overlapping Jake McIntyre who crossed low into the middle first time, where the newly introduced Dominic Vincent, making his debut, timed his run to perfection to powerfully side-foot home at the back post with his first touch of the ball, before being engulfed by the rest of the team. We finished the game strongly after the goal settled us, but the warning was there that we cannot afford to coast in games whoever the opposition is and let’s hope we learned from this valuable lesson. We have a settled squad at the moment but it is encouraging that the youngsters from our Under 18’s are making the step up and not looking out of their depth, which should augur well for the closing months of the season.

VCD Athletic: Mant, Simms, McIntyre, Baker, Denny, Steventon, Gaggin, Gordon, Odusanya, MacDonald, Hudson (Vincent 73)

Subs not used: Guthrie, El-Moyhalbel, Barrington, Cecil

Attendance: 120