Kent Merit Under-18 Boys Cup Final: Sheppey United 2 Chatham Town 3

There was no shortage of goals, yellow cards or competitive challenges as Chatham defeated rivals Sheppey to take the honours at Whitstable on Sunday.

Persistent rain gave a slick touch to the excellent 3G surface at The Belmont and both teams didn’t shirk a challenge in a game that referee Thomas Amber did well to prevent boiling over.

There was no surprise that a red card eventually followed in the second half, Chatham eventually taking advantage of their numerical supremacy to run out winners.

“I’m absolutely delighted for the boys,” said Chatham manager Paul Scovell. “They’ve worked so hard throughout the year in all the different under-18 competitions.

“They really turned it on. We knew it was going to be a tough game against Sheppey who are a big rival in terms of football clubs.

“This journey started in September and goes all the way through to April, you have to stick to it and work hard.

“We knew it was going to be a tasty affair, it always is against Sheppey. The referee sometimes needs a bit more help in these games but I thought he conducted himself well. He had to dish out a few yellow cards to keep control but with it being a derby it was always going to be a feisty one.

“Even at 1-0 down I didn’t feel we had really got into the game and once the penalty went in I thought we were going to grow from there. We started the second half really well and it was a matter of time before we went ahead and then getting the third was a real clincher.”

Sheppey were quickest out of the blocks and led after six minutes, Jack Marsh feeding Kenzie Monahan whose left-foot finish found the far corner as the offside flag stayed down.

Chatham were handed a way back in the game midway through the half when the referee judged