Before a crowd of around 350 at the Culverden Stadium, St Peter FC defeated Tunbridge Wells 11-10 on penalties on Saturday, following a 3-3 draw after 90 minutes and extra time.
Three times the Islanders led – through Sol Solomon, Sam Dewhurst and Calvin Weir – only to be pegged back each time by their hosts, who are former FA Vase finalists.
Captain Luke Campbell slammed home what turned out to the winning penalty kick, as Tunbridge cleared the crossbar with their next effort.
St Peter have still not lost a single match in Kent since entering the county’s lower-ranked Shield competition in 2017/18. The Islanders stormed to overall victory in that tournament in April 2018, beating Bexley 6-1 in the final.
‘The penalties were unbelievable,’ said victorious Saints manager Freeman.
‘Every one was well taken by both teams and 16-year-old substitute James Carr also netted when he was under a lot of pressure.
‘It was a hard game, Tunbridge had a couple of very good players and we were unable to play our usual free-flowing football, but we worked really hard to get the result.’
Southern Counties East FL members Tunbridge Wells are currently playing in Step Five of English football, one level above where Jersey Bulls intend to play their football next season, having applied to enter a team into the UK leagues.
Full report in Monday’s Final Whistle.
