Chatham Town (N) - 3rd May 2023

By Josh Cole

The long-awaited day has finally arrived, it’s the DFDS Kent Senior Cup Final where we will take on Chatham Town at Priestfield!

The league season concluded last week where as we were defeated 3-2 by Potters Bar at Hartsdown Park condemning Margate to a 17th place finish in the Isthmian Premier Division.

Chatham have secured the Isthmian South-East league title and promotion into the Isthmian Premier Division before the final game came around, but they didn’t take their foot off the gas as they beat Littlehampton convincingly 4-1 on the final day.

Manager Reece Prestedge is missing several first team players ahead of the final with Ruben Soares-Junior and Fyn Rutherford cup tied, whilst Ade Cole and Taylor Fisher will be missing.

The ‘Gates Road to the Final saw us breeze past Faversham Town in the first round with a 5-0 win away from home. The second round then brought the challenge of Sheppey United to Hartsdown Park where they were brushed aside by the Blues with a 3-0 win. The Quarter-Final continued the good form in the Kent Senior Cup as we took on Cray Valley and dispatched of them 3-0. The Semi-Final saw us face rivals Ramsgate, but we were 3-0 up by the 47th minute, before comfortably strolling to a 3-1 win on a memorable night at Hartsdown Park in front of a crowd of 1481.

Chatham Town started off with a tricky first round tie as they scraped past Ashford United needing penalties to decide the game after it ended 2-2 in 90 minutes. In the second round they shocked Dover Athletic by beating them 2-0 at home, booking their place in the Quarter-Finals. Chatham needed penalties once more to decide a game this time against Corinthian as the 90 minutes ended 1-1. The Semi-Finals saw Chatham take on a struggling Welling United from the National League South and Chatham pounced by beating the Wings 2-0 at home.

This game is all ticket; therefore, supporters must purchase in advance. Supporters still needing to purchase a ticket can do so by clicking here.

If you can’t make it to Priestfield this evening, then you can stay right up to date with all the action on our official Twitter feed @margate_fc from 7pm.

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