Recap
There was more cup disappointment for Deal on Wednesday night when they were beaten by Division One side Kennington in the quarter-finals of the SCEL Challenge Cup.
Coming four days after the FA Vase defeat by Consett it means the end of the Hoops’ hopes of silverware this season and Derek Hares’ side could have no real complaints about this latest loss at the hands of a Kennington team who have now claimed three Premier Division “scalps” in cup competitions this season.
Deal seemed to be suffering a hangover from the Consett game in the first half and eventually paid the price a minute before half-time when Calvin Sedenu put Kennington ahead following a corner.
The Hoops then suffered another blow early in the second half when Kane Smith had to go off with an ankle injury, and soon afterwards Kennington doubled their lead when Gary Clarke converted a 54th-minute penalty.
Steve O’Brien pulled a goal back for Deal, again from the penalty spot, four minutes later only for Clarke to restore Kennington’s two-goal advantage almost immediately and the Ashford-based side then played out time to book their place in the semi-finals.
Deal: Tonkin, Paxman, Hark, Smith (Bigginton), O’Brien, Munday, Foster, Chapman, Reeves, Coyne (Walsh), Penny (Lewis).
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