WITHAM TOWN 2 HERNE BAY 4

FA Trophy preliminary round

There will be no FA Trophy run for Witham Town this season as Garry Kimble’s team bowed out at the premilinary round stage with a 4-2 defeat by Herne Bay.

The visitors from Kent took advantage of some poor defending to book their own place in the next round, while Witham were left to turn their full attention to moving up Ryman League division north.

It was a bright start from the hosts, but they didn’t really threaten the visitors’ goal other than from an early run by Ryan Charles.

However, there wasn’t too much threat to the Witham goal in the opening stages either as both teams felt their way into the game.

That was until the 24th minute, though, when Herne Bay did get a breakthrough as James Turner slotted home from inside the Town box.

Witham responded well, with some good running up front from Charles, Danny Emmanuel and Shamido Pedulu, who was making his return to the club after joining from Heybridge Swifts earlier in the week.

However, no-one could apply a killer touch before the break as Herne Bay held the advantage at half-time.

Witham Town came out well at the start of the second-half and had the better of the possession, however, once again, pressure could not be turned into a goal threat.

And they paid the price in the 61st minute when Herne Bay broke from a deep defensive position to score a second goal.

It was a sucker punch and a touch unfortunate as Witham keeper Lewis Down made a great first save but Herne Bay substitute Elliot Cutts was in the perfect position to tuck away the rebound.

The visitors’ two-goal lead was short-lived, though, as Lewis Godbold finally discovered Town’s shooting boots.

In the 64th minute, the ball fell to the Witham skipper in a central position and he drilled a low shot into the goal to make it 2-1.

It was a strike that put plenty of extra spring in the hosts’ step and Herne Bay were suddenly the ones being pushed into defence.

They remained dangerous on the break, though, and only a superb save from Down denied Joe Nelder in the 77th minute.

However, the two-goal advantage was soon back in place as, from the resulting corner, Liam Quinn as able to get in front of his marker and turn the ball into the Town net for a 3-1 lead.

Witham came back once again and their pressure saw them make it 3-2 when Godbold slotted home his second, but it came in the 90th minute and proved to be too little too late.

As Town pressed hard for an equaliser deep in injury-time, a long ball forward found Herne Bay’s Danny Williams, who tucked away a fourth goal to make sure there would be no comeback as Witham bowed out of the Trophy.