The U16s set off at ‘silly-o'clock’ last Sunday, bound for Deal to play for a place in the Quarter Final of the League Cup. At the end of the long journey, and after some time to stretch their legs, the boys seemed in good spirits ahead of kick-off.

But as seems to be the norm for this season, they were slow out of the traps, and this prompted the home side to take full advantage, taking the lead on 15 minutes. The Wells responded by having an attack of their own, and as the ball ran loose in the Deal box, Miah was on hand to place it into the top right-hand corner of the net for 1-1.

You would have thought this would spur the lads into action, but they did the opposite and after a dubious free-kick award for a handball which would have needed our players to have had hands like Brotherly Love [did anyone see Kenny Everett?], the kick was launched in to The Wells area, and with no one moving, ended up in the net to restore the lead for Deal. Worse was to come before the half time whistle, again from a free kick situation that found The Wells sleeping - the ball being played quickly into a forward who scored a decent effort for 1-3.

Obviously, this was not the team performance expected, and during the break it was pointed out to the boys that the first half was not acceptable, and things had to change.

As the second half started it was a totally different game, and The Wells were up for the fight, causing the home side plenty of problems, with chances coming non-stop. The end-product eluded Tunbridge Wells though until a free kick floated into the Deal box found Jack Harris running onto the end of it, and his header powered into the net for 2-3.

The Wells continued to press, and had a goal disallowed - but they kept going and were soon rewarded as skipper Williamson slotted home the equalizer. At 3-3, the supporters were jumping up and down - could this be another come-back to remember? More was to follow…

With only seconds remaining, The Wells had a chance to grab that winner, only for the ball to be just out of the reach for the advancing Jarrett - so extra time was needed, with only one side looking the likely winner.

Within minutes of the start of extra time, Ryan Waterman embarked on a run into the area, and with a chip put The Wells 4-3 up. Into the second period of extra time, Tunbridge Wells pressure paid, and Jack Huke got in on the act to make it 5-3. That wasn’t the end of the story, though, and with a couple of minutes left, where Jarrett narrowly missed out at the death in normal time, he made sure of now, firing a low shot into the net to give the final score a liberal helping of icing - 6-3.

“This was a great second half/extra time performance, but this group of players must stop giving sides two-goal leads,” said Darrell Cousins, U16s coach. “We are playing at the highest level and a substandard performance like the first half can not be accepted. We got away with it this week, and full credit to the boys for that - now we get to play for a semi-final place in this competition. It’s back on the road for the lads this coming weekend though, as we face VCD in the Kent FA Cup - 11pm kick off.”