Bexley                       1          Cassell 61

Erith & Belvedere   2          Whiskin 57, Simmons og 88

 

Erith & Belvedere   3          Ruel 20, Carter 71, 86

Bexley                       1          Cassell 87        

Kent Amateur Cup Final, 29 April and 3 May 1967

 

Continuing the series counting down the 100 most memorable games in our history.  Today, the first trophy as a manager for Roy Dwight.

 

We saw earlier in the series how Roy Dwight, the Belvedere boy who won the FA Cup with Nottingham Forest in 1959, enjoyed the best ever managerial debut for Deres as we beat Wokingham 7-0 in New Year’s Eve 1966.  The 1966-67 season ended with previously relegation-threatened Deres in 6th place in the Athenian League first division, and the bonus was the chance to retain the trophy we’d won the previous season – which we duly did. 

 

DWIGHT WANTS ANOTHER CUP FOR THE DERES!

 

“Now for next season’s FA Amateur Cup,” cracked manager Roy Dwight after Erith and Belvedere had retained the Kent Amateur Cup at Park View last Wednesday with a 5-2 aggregate against Bexley.

 

The season’s largest crowd saw Dwight’s boys romp home with goals by Terry Carter (2) and Brian Ruel.  But it might have been a different result without some brilliant saves by goalkeeper Chris Howes.

 

In the first leg Howes saved two certain goals – one from the penalty spot – and on Wednesday he was invincible until three minutes from the end.  No wonder he was immediately chosen to play for Kent against Leicestershire in Saturday’s final of the Southern Counties championship at Loughborough.

 

Deres took the lead with a fine Ruel goal in the 20th minute.  The 19-year-old leader collected the ball with his back to the goal, whipped round, and sent it crashing home.

 

Encouraged, Deres piled on the pressure and waves of forwards bore down on the Bexley goalmouth: time after time the ball swept across the penalty area, but the fates were kind to Bexley.

 

Deres might have had four more goals before half-time.  As it was, they had to be content with their one-goal lead.  Alan Young went closest to scoring when his shot from a pinpoint Sansbury back pass thudded against the bar with the defence in a tangle.

 

Erith kept up the pressure after the interval and Hunt did well to stop a sizzling shot from Ruel.  Moments later a Hall centre ran across the empty goalmouth but Erith failed to put the ball into the net.

 

Carter’s first goal in the 71st minute was a gift after a bad mistake by Hunt: the goalkeeper weakly side-footed out a shot from Ruel and Carter made no mistake from close range.

 

Carter’s second goal four minutes from time caught the whole Bexley defence wrong-footed.  He ran on to a Ruel pass, slipped past the two motionless backs as they appealed for offside, and evaded a despairing dive by Hunt before calmly placing the ball into the net.

 

Even as the cheers rang out Bexley pulled one back through Peter Cassell, but it made no difference.  Just to make the point Hall sent in a screaming 30-yarder that rebounded from the angle of the bar as Bexley stared in disbelief.

 

Mr Reg Dixey, a member of the Kent Cup committee, presented the cup to skipper Dennis Crawford and medals to players and officials.

 

Deres: Chris Howes; Eric Hibberd, John Coombes, Dicky Hubert, Dennis Crawford, Ken Baker, David Hall, Terry Carter, Brian Ruel, Alan Young, Paul Sansbury.

Bexley: R Hunt; J Warner, B Applegate, L Calvert, P Simmons, P Jenner, V Crow, C McGannon, D Stacey, P Carroll, R Orpin.

 

 

(Note that Bexley was and remains an amateur club, not to be confused with Bexley United, a semi-pro Southern League club which played at Park View Road until 1976 when the club folded and Welling United moved in a year later.)