Erith & Belvedere   1          Sillett 30

Royal Naval Depot 2          Taylor 74, Leonard 84

Kent Amateur Cup Final, 2 April 1934 (at Dover)

 

Continuing the series counting down the 100 most memorable games in our history.  Today, the closer of two consecutive Kent Amateur Cup Final defeats.

 

1933-34 was a mediocre Kent League season for Deres, finishing fourth bottom.  It was a remarkable goalscoring season: in 36 games, 5 clubs scored a century of goals and 3 clubs including ourselves conceded a century.  We scored more than any other team in the bottom half, in no small measure down to Alf Sillett, who scored 28 and his record contribution to our record scoreline will feature later in this series.

 

In the Kent Amateur Cup we beat Ramsgate Grenville 7-0 in the first round, Chislet Colliery 4-0 in the second, and Bostall Heath 1-0 in front of a Danson Park crowd of 1,641 in the semi-final.  Which took us to the Crabble.

 

 

KENT AMATEUR CUP FINAL – Erith and Belvedere lose to Royal Naval Depot

 

After holding a 1-0 lead at half-time, Erith and Belvedere succumbed to the Royal Naval Depot 2-1 in the final of the Kent Amateur Cup at Dover on Monday, before a large attendance.

 

After the excellent display they put up in the first half, Erith were very unfortunate to lose, but the pace of the game proved a little too much for them, and they fell away towards the end.  Until sixteen minutes from the end, however, they held the Sailors, who were then showing more dash.  The whole of Erith’s defence played staunchly, and the forwards, too, although sometimes erratic when near goal, gave a good account of themselves.

 

Winning the toss, Erith and Belvedere took advantage of the wind and faced the sun.  Neither goalkeeper was tested during the opening stages of the game, until Bowles worked his way through and shot from the edge of the penalty area, but Whitehouse saved.  A remarkable series of escapes for the RN goal followed.  Scott sent in a grounder and Whitehouse dived to punch it out but Bowles, following up, hit the bar, and as the ball rebounded down to the line Whitehouse made a smart recovery and cleared.  Erith were having the better of the exchanges now, and shots from both wings looked dangerous.  Once Sillett had an opening and grazed the bar with a great first-time drive.

 

Erith took the lead after 30 minutes.  Bowles started the movement which resulted in the goal by passing out to Friend, who lobbed the ball into the centre, and Sillett, running up, slid it past Whitehouse.  A wonderful save by Whitehouse followed.  Scott obtained a pass from Bowles and shot in hard from the edge of the area, but the goalkeeper, throwing himself across the goal, punched away.  Then the RN Depot took a turn to attack, and Peters was frequently in action, one save from J Taylor being especially good.  Just before the interval Erith returned to the attack, and twice Whitehouse saved shots from Bowles.  At half-time Erith held a well-deserved 1-0 lead.

 

For the opening quarter-of-an-hour of the second half Erith held their own.  Once Friend burst through and, rounding Kyte, shot just over the bar.  The RN goal had a miraculous escape when Perfitt passed through to Beal, who lobbed the ball over Whitehouse’s head, but Kyte, dashing across, hooked the ball off the goal-line.  After that the RN gradually took charge of affairs and Speed was a constant source of danger on the left-wing.

 

The Depot equalised 16 minutes from the end.  The referee awarded a corner when, after Peters had saved and was clearing, Mann rushed in and, meeting the ball, sent it outside.  The referee evidently thought that it touched Peters as it was going out, but the crowd behind the goal certainly did not.  Speed placed the corner into the goalmouth and J Taylor headed in.  After that the RN Depot were definitely on top, and Leonard scored the winning goal six minutes from time with a great shot from 25yds range.  Except for occasional breaksaway which brought no result, Erith seldom looked dangerous after that.

 

In the conclusion, the trophy and miniatures were presented by Mr H R Geddes of the KCFA.  The Mayor of Dover (Councillor F H Morecroft) congratulated both teams on their excellent display.

 

Erith and Belvedere: Cyril Peters; George Morris and Don Read; Bob Horne, Billy Bowles and Bob Vincent; Jimmy Friend, Len Scott, Alf Sillett, Reggie Beal and Fred Perfitt.

RN Depot: Whitehouse; H Taylor and McDonald; Browne, Glenister and Kyte; (?), J Taylor, Leonard, Mann and Speed.

Referee: J P Farmer

 

Deres went on to finish 16th in the Kent League, the Depot were 6th.