It was that time of year again, the annual Non League Finals Day at Wembley Stadium which sees the FA Vase & FA Trophy Finals take place one after the other, bringing together four sides right from Step Five up to Step One over the two finals (ok so teams below step five can reach the final too but rarely ever do, if at all!!!) and also sees four sets of fans along with neutrals like myself brought together to celebrate what is a great day for the non league game.
The day is normally well attended too, and almost 39,000 fans turned out over the two games to witness joy and success for two of the sides and despair and disappoint for the other two, sadly in finals there has to be a winner and a loser, that's how it goes, and the four sides aiming to gain the former feelings were AFC Whyteleafe, Whitstable Town, Aldershot Town & Spennymoor Town, who would grab the trophies then, let's find out shall we.....
Isuzu FA Vase Final - AFC Whyteleafe Vs Whitstable Town
The first final of the saw Combined Counties Premier South AFC Whyteleafe lock horns with Southern Counties East Premier Whitstable Town, now Leafe had finished runners up (at the current state of play) having amassed 95 points in their 38 league games, and finished only a point behind Champions Redhill, now this is because Jersey Bulls had three points deducted for fielding an ineligible player in one of their league games, meaning they went from winning the league on goal difference to ending up third and joining Leafe in the playoffs.
However, Jersey Bulls are appealing and with several other clubs now potentially having the same issue, it's rather all up in the air in that division, I will say no more it because I don't know enough to be able to discuss, and also it's got nothing to do with this final, but anyway Leafe had that doubt hanging over them so they had this focus at least and wanted to claim the Vase in only their fourth season as a club after they were formed following the demise of the original Whyteleafe.
Whitstable (I think) have no such issues as after they finished third in their league, some thirteen points behind Champions Faversham Town, they lost their home semi final in the playoffs to Fisher, meaning they missed out on promotion, that league also has some potential issues re ineligible players too, so their could be some changes to that table as well although I don't think it affects anyone involved in the promotion/play off picture, otherwise it wouldn't have taken place (VCD beat Fisher in that final to gain promotion along with Faversham).
So, Whitstable wanted to finish the season in a high after that disappointment, although they did come into this final as underdogs for many, but this is a final so it was still a hard one to call as well, although I did have a feeling for Whitstable, just a gut feeling, but would I be correct or would Leafe go on and win like many thought they would?
Very warm conditions greeted the players for this lunchtime kick off, so fitness would be tested for sure, who would settle the quicker? Leafe certainly did just that and grabbed a 16th minute lead after a superb move saw Daniel Bennett make a surging run into the box and was found unmarked before he lofted a lovely finish over keeper Daniel Colmer and into the far corner, and Leafe had that advantage.
Seven minutes later came a pivotal moment in the contest, with Colmer making a superb save to deny Leafe's Aaron Watson and prevent them going two goals up, you felt if they had of done it could of turned out very different to how it did, as thereafter Whitstable began to get themselves into the contest and were looking far more threatening than they had been earlier in the half.
Leafe though did go into the break a goal ahead, and we were no nearer to to knowing who would be winning this final, well, seven minutes after the break, we had an equaliser, when Harvey Smith hit an effort at goal from outside the box which seemed to deceive keeper George Hill and end up in the net, and now we were back on level terms, with the momentum now with the side from Kent.
But they had keeper Colmer to thank again just before the hour mark when he saved brilliantly from Ryan Gondoh & Watson in quick succession after they had caught Whitstable on the counter, and then it was the turn of Leafe keeper Hill to someone deny Robbie Rees from point blank range with twelve minutes to go, it seemed impossible not to score but Hill had other ideas.
Ten minutes of added time were shown, and with extra time looming it's not what a tired set of players wanted to see, could someone win it and take the vase at the last knockings perhaps? Well, both sides had openings in that added on time, Leafe came the closest when they were inches from netting a 95th minute goal, Rodney Eruotor smashing an effort against the bar, Whitstable then saw scramble inside the Leafe box result in nothing, and it meant extra time, would anyone win it before those dreaded penalties came along?
Six minutes into the extra period and Ronald Sithole looked odds on to give the Kent side the lead, but someone hit the inside of the post from barely three yards out with the goal at his mercy, but, he was to make amends in the 100th minute when after his initial effort was saved by Hill, he kept his cool before lashing home and giving Whitstable the lead and saw them twenty minutes or so from Vase glory.
Could Leafe fight back, they were a tired outfit, much like their opponents, but only a last ditch challenge from Jerald Aboagye denied Leafe's Eruotor, but Whitstable should have sealed the contest in the 119th minute when Joe Healy broke clear, but he could only dink wide of the target, but the Kent side held on to record a superb comeback victory and win the FA Vase for the very first time!!!
AFC Whyteleafe 1 Whitstable Town 2 (aet)
With the Vase final lasting almost three hours from when it first kicked off, it meant their was only about an hour between games, thankfully their were no delays, so let's see how the FA Trophy final panned out.....
Isuzu FA Trophy Final - Aldershot Town Vs Spennymoor Town
This pitted Vanarama National League Shots against Vanarama National League North Spennymoor, so many felt the National League outfit would be big favourites over their opponents who were a level below, however Aldershot, who I believe had never reached Wembley ever, even the old Aldershot didn't do this, had just completed a rather disappointing season in the league, finishing down in 16th and only five points above the drop zone.
They had even finished below their bitter rivals Woking as well, although they had defeated them in the semi final of this competition, Spennymoor themselves had finished ninth in their league and had just missed out on the playoffs by one point, so although they would have been disappointed with this, they had a final to compete in, this after a very dramatic semi final win on penalties at Rochdale, a side who had reached the National League play offs after finishing fourth in that division, so this game at Wembley was far from being a one horse race, that's for sure.
The Shots would have the advantage fans wise though, with 18,000 of them making the trip to Wembley, and outnumbering the Spennymore fans by almost four to one, but the game is played on the pitch, and not the stands, how would this one play out, we were almost ready to find out, again in very warm conditions, and with the sun now making it's way up to us in the section we were sitting in, it was now a warm one for us too!!!
Aldershot had plenty of the ball in the opening twenty minutes or so, and had the most of the half chances that were created, but it was Spennymoor who had the first real chance of the game midway through the half, Finley Shrimpton broke clear down the right flank and found the unmarked Rob Ramshaw who seemed destined to slot into the bottom corner, but got no power behind it and side footed straight at keeper Marcus Dewhurst.
And almost immediately down the other end Shots nearly took the lead themselves when Jack Barham forced a decent save out of Brad James, the game you felt had finally burst into life, however, for the remainder of the opening forty five minutes it didn't really have much to report, and at half time it remained goalless with many of us hoping somebody would find a goal in the second period to prevent another extra time period in the day.
It had been a largely disappointing final so far, and no doubt Spennymoor would have been happier of the two sides heading into the break, but, four minutes into the second half Aldershot grabbed the lead, a ball in from the right saw Barham get a foot on the ball and guide it beyond James just inside the post and into the corner of the net, sending the 18,000 Shots fans wild.
It was the perfect start to the second period for the favourites, and a disaster for the underdogs, it gave Aldershot the belief they could now go on and win this, and with twenty minutes to go they affectively sealed the contest when doubling their lead after Dan Ellison guided a header into the far corner and now you felt they could enjoy the final part of this game.
And in the 87th minute came the moment of the final, and probably non league day, goals wise at least, it was certainly a great way for Aldershot to stamp their victory as a bouncing ball sat up in front of Josh Barrett who sent a wonderful looping effort from outside the box beyond James into the far corner for a truly superb goal, the keeper had no chance at all, and it sealed The Shots Trophy glory in the process!!!
Full time Aldershot Town 3 Spennymoor Town 0
So, well done to both Whitstable Town & Aldershot Town on their first ever wins at Wembley on their first visits, commiserations to AFC Whyteleafe & Spennymoor Town on their losses although they played a huge part in the day and should be more than proud of even reaching the final.
So as ever another enjoyable Non League Finals Day, six goals, a comeback win after extra time and a superb goal to end the day, not to bad eh, here is to next year's one!!!
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