Chatham Town beat Maidenhead United on penalties to claim a place in the FA Youth Cup for the first time in the club’s history – Goalkeeper George Ray saves four times in a thrilling shootout win

Chatham Town have made it through to the first round of the FA Youth Cup for the first time in their history.

Chats were twice in front against Maidenhead United in Wednesday night’s third qualifying round tie, which ended 2-2, but they won through after a nail-biting penalty shootout which saw goalkeeper George Ray make four saves.

Chatham scored their first two spot kicks but failed to convert their next three. Maidenhead missed a chance to win the shootout with their fifth kick. In sudden death, Chats scored three times to win 5-4.

First-team boss and club chairman Kevin Hake was there to watch and was thrilled to see the young side become history-makers.

He said: “It was a fantastic night for the football club and one this group of players will remember for a long time. The game was a really well-spirited contest and, after finishing 2-2, the lads showed great character and composure to come through the penalty shoot-out.

George Ray will quite rightly get a lot of the headlines after saving four penalties in the shoot-out, which was an exceptional achievement, but the team as a whole deserve tremendous credit for the performance on the night.

“I thought the lads were excellent throughout and showed real togetherness, discipline and belief to get us over the line.

George Ray was the hero last night, incredibly saving FOUR penalties from the shootout to send us into the first-round of the FA Youth Cup for the first-time ever.