Take a look at this weekend's football highlights, plus an interview with Sheppey United's Lee Allen about how the club is feeling after their dominant win!
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00:00 As for the rest of this weekend's fixtures and results, it was a big weekend for Kent's
00:04 FA Cup entrance, although none had quite as tough a mission as Itmian's South East Sheppey,
00:08 who travelled all the way to Wales to take on one step higher, southern Premier side
00:12 Merthyr Town.
00:14 As the confident underdogs, the Eights had quite the mountain to climb, but were no less
00:18 confident.
00:19 First up for today's feature game, we travel all the way to Wales, where FA Cup underdogs
00:23 Sheppey United took on Merthyr Town.
00:26 The Eights faced an early setback as the hosts made it 1-0 inside the opening 20 minutes,
00:31 but a quick responding Josh Wisson equalised with this incredible punch from the edge of
00:34 the final third.
00:37 Captain Richie Hamill with just 20 minutes left put Sheppey ahead, sliding one past the
00:42 defence and town keeper, but this wouldn't be the end of Sheppey's Cup upset.
00:46 Quick on his feet, Danny Leonard got this solo low shot through the near post, and scoring
00:51 his maiden Sheppey goal, a well placed tap in from a James Fessy cross, Oscar Housko
00:56 sealed the deal to leave Sheppey 4-1 up at the final whistle.
01:00 Manager Ernie Batten described the win as one of the best days in his managerial career.
01:04 "The lads, you know, days like today define you as a player because, you know, there's
01:09 lots of players with ability, but it's the mental strength, you know, and we talk about
01:13 that now, because I think it's a big part of football, and as you go up the football
01:17 ladder, as you start playing bigger games against better opposition, you know, you're
01:20 going to get disappointments because you're playing good sides, so when we're in a goal
01:23 down, set the lads, you know, you've got to get over this disappointment, you've got to
01:26 brush it off and get on with the game and get yourself back in the game."
01:30 Elsewhere in those FA Cup third round qualifiers, just Margate will be left behind with Dover,
01:35 Ramsgate and Maidstone set to join Sheppey in round four.
01:38 Margate suffered a 2-0 battering at Chesham United in a game where a goal in each half
01:43 saw the curtain fall on their Cup run in 2023.
01:46 Meanwhile the Whites came from behind with sub Zidane Sutherland, making the difference
01:50 with a second half double to see Dover take a 2-1 victory.
01:54 The only Italian Premier fixture this week for Kent was with Folkestone, who took the
01:57 trip up to Essex on Saturday for a clash with Concord.
02:01 The two sides equalised early in the second half, sadly for the travelling Invicta fans
02:05 however, Concord's Tajee Anderson put the hosts ahead with just a few minutes to go.
02:10 Invicta now sit 10th in the standings and bottom place Rangers climb up by one to take
02:14 21st position.
02:16 And it was a first win in six games for EBS Fleet United in the National League, as Dennis
02:20 Kutubeside found their feet again with an astonishing 3-1 points grab from visiting
02:24 Ballroom.
02:25 A Luke O'Neill opener combined with a brace from Darren McQueen saw almost total domination
02:29 from the fleet over a Wood side that finished with just nine men due to injury.
02:34 Ballroom Wood managed to claw one back in the 36th minute.
02:37 "To be fair that's what I've been waiting for really, just to get off the mark and hopefully
02:43 now that I'm off the mark I'm hoping that the goals will just keep flooding.
02:48 And the thing is I've had more than enough chances as well which I think in previous
02:51 games I haven't really been having too many chances.
02:54 So it's a positive and hopefully I can just add to it."
02:57 And finally, a controversial refereeing decision led to Gillingham getting their first draw
03:01 of the League Two season so far.
03:03 A fourth minute opener from Macaulay Bond saw the 27-year-old take his first goal since
03:07 joining the Gilles in August.
03:09 However when a misjudged challenge by Ethan Coleman looked as though the referee was to
03:13 issue a yellow card, Mansfield paid a quick free kick before he had the chance to hand
03:17 it out.
03:18 The referee put his card back in his pocket, play continued which led to an equaliser from
03:22 Keylor Dunne.
03:23 With a possession share of 53-47 in favour of the Gilles, neither side could find the
03:28 winner as both seemed to have found their match ending the scoreline at one all.
03:32 Following the game, Gilles boss Neil Harris explained why he believes the frustrations
03:36 of his team were justified.
03:37 "His body language and his demeanour has made our team stop and think it's a yellow card.
03:47 And I said that is taking the decision out of the game.
03:52 He then has to bring it back.
03:54 And I spoke to him and he understands that.
03:56 He needs to see it again and discuss it with his coaches.
04:00 So it's very contentious and very subjective but ultimately I think we're right to feel
04:06 hard done by in the moment."
04:10 But to talk more about that incredible win for Sheppey, I'm pleased to say that I'm now
04:13 joined by Sheppey United's Head of Communications, Lee Allen.
04:17 On the line, Lee, thank you very much for joining us and welcome to Invicta Sport today.
04:21 What's the feeling at the club on this Monday?
04:23 It must be over the moon.
04:26 "Oh, so excited.
04:29 We can't wait for that draw to come out.
04:32 We thoroughly deserved that win on Saturday.
04:35 We went in as the underdogs and we weren't taking it lightly at all.
04:39 But to come away with 4-1 win, having been 1-0 down, the mood was brilliant on the way
04:45 home."
04:46 Absolutely, and we'll get on to talking about the draw in just a minute for round four,
04:50 for the final round of qualifying, the furthest the club has got before.
04:53 But let me take you back to the game.
04:55 So you're 1-0 down in the opening of the game.
04:58 It's looking like your average underdog cup clash, but then something changes.
05:04 What was that something that then turned it all around for Sheppey?
05:07 "Well, as soon as we went 1-0 down, the manager Ernie Batten was straight onto the lads saying,
05:13 'Chins up, keep going.'
05:15 Because it was an open game.
05:16 We were creating chances before they scored.
05:20 But as you can see here, the goalkeeper just makes a little mistake there.
05:23 Fair play to Wiseau.
05:24 He's hit that first time and it's a great finish.
05:28 Very composed."
05:29 Absolutely, it's all about being switched on, is it?
05:31 And we heard from Ernie after the game, he was absolutely elated.
05:36 Just how much passion he has for the boys and getting into the spirit of things.
05:42 Has that been the theme so far this season for Sheppey?
05:45 "Oh yeah, we've got fantastic team spirit here.
05:49 We've gone through a lot of changes during the summer, but one thing that has stayed
05:53 consistent is the performance and the attitude of all the lads on the pitch.
05:59 We've seen that around beating in the league.
06:00 We've only played three league games because we've had great success in the Cups.
06:05 But yeah, I can't fault any of the lads.
06:10 Everyone who played, they played with that passion and that pride.
06:14 You've got to bear in mind as well, these guys all got on the coach at 6 o'clock in
06:17 the morning, so I was up at 5 o'clock.
06:19 It was a long journey for them.
06:21 But you wouldn't have thought that any of that had to affect because right from the
06:26 first minute, they were up for it."
06:28 Absolutely, it was a trip well spent.
06:30 Not just for the players, but also for the fans that came along as well.
06:33 In the last few hours, we heard the fourth round draw.
06:37 Sheppey, you're going to be meeting with Italy and Premier side Bielerricci.
06:41 You've done it already.
06:42 The team have beaten a team step up.
06:45 Surely this is just a walk in the park?
06:47 "I wouldn't say that.
06:50 We don't take anyone lightly.
06:52 What we will be doing over the next two weeks now is doing our homework.
06:56 We'll watch how they play.
06:58 We'll probably talk to a couple of other teams, see if they can share some information.
07:01 I think we're better going in as the underdog.
07:06 The pressure is off us a little bit.
07:08 Pressure will be on them, especially being the home team as well.
07:11 We've not scored less than three goals in this competition.
07:15 Every game has gone through.
07:16 We've got goals in us, so if we can keep it tight, we've got fantastic winners.
07:21 We've got a great striker, we've got Goodmanfield.
07:24 The defence has been tight all season.
07:26 There's nothing to say that we can't go one more step forward and get that first round
07:30 proper.
07:31 That would be so fantastic for the loyal fans we've had.
07:35 We've had success in the last couple of years, but to get the first round proper would be
07:39 the ultimate for Sheppey United."
07:41 Absolutely.
07:42 We haven't got long left.
07:44 Just a really quick one now.
07:45 You're talking about that momentum.
07:46 No game this weekend, next one next Tuesday.
07:48 Is that welcome from the club in just a couple of words?
07:51 "We have got a game Saturday in the FA Trophy.
07:56 We play away to Ramsgate, which is going to be a tough game.
08:00 But in saying that, we went there in the league last year and we won there."