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As an old man once said and often repeats, “In a tight game, make sure you are wearing a Dane Court shirt”. Thus it proved to be the case as Dane Court's first eleven footballers lifted the Kent Cup for the third time in its 50 year history. These triumphs are always hard won, and are rightly celebrated. There were no easy games in their run to the final, and throughout the campaign the Boys have shown total commitment to the team and managers.... Wallace, White, Argyrides, and Coyne.

The final itself was an end to end, eleven goal, extra time thriller- not one for the faint hearted. On a clear, crisp evening over 400 supporters crammed into the Margate Football Club stands to cheer their school team. Dane Court Grammar School and Harvey Grammar School have a well established football tradition and it was fitting both should make and take part in such an action-packed Kent Final.

In the early stages both sides moved the ball well and the pace was lightning quick as the adrenaline coursed through their bodies. The game eventually settled down and after 20 minutes Court produced a precision move on their right and Sammi Takaloo squared a perfect ball for a tap in from five yards by Jack Hawkins. Dane Court’s back four looked relatively comfortable at that stage and dealt well with the Harvey forwards in open play. However, on thirty minutes a foul gave Harvey the chance of a direct free kick from 25 yards, which they converted via a wonderfully struck shot. Just before halftime, Josh Belsey had a great effort well saved and the break gave everyone a chance to catch their breath. The dressing room pep-talk appeared to work as Belsey slammed in his own freekick in the 55th minute to re-take the lead. Just a few minutes later, captain Matt Weatherley stooped low to head the ball in from a free kick to give Court a two goal cushion. The pace of the game increased and both sides had further chances before a very soft penalty was awarded to Harvey who’s striker emphatically found the roof of the net. Now it was all hands to the pumps for Dane Court as Harvey went for broke with wave after wave of attack. With only three minutes remaining of normal time, as the ball ran loose from a corner the Folkestone school equalised. Then, only a brilliant last minute save from Linus Hammond kept Court in the game.

Within a minute of extra time, it was Belsey who again terrorised the Harvey back three and slotted a beautiful left-foot shot into the bottom right corner. But within a minute of that another mix-up of the home defence saw Harvey level again. Tired legs were giving way to cramp for many and it needed the crowd to lift their side once again to greater efforts. Into the last 10 minutes and it was still in the balance until from a superb individual break from man of the match Belsey, saw him tuck away his shot to complete his hat-trick.

Harvey rallied once more, like a boxer rising from another knock-down and they equalised with just a few minutes left. These two worthy teams of young athletes continued to slug it out, desperate to land the killer blow. From somewhere the Dane Court boys managed to drag up the energy needed for another attack with only two minutes to go. Jack Hawkins took possession of the ball just outside the penalty area and had 2 shots blocked before he was on hand to rifle the ball home from the 18 yard line, cue delirium. Dane Court saw out the last seconds of extra time without further warning to secure victory. This in some way helps to atone for the team’s disappointment for losing the U15 Cup Final in 2019.

Many thanks to you all for adding such a prestigious trophy to the Dane Court cabinet and for providing another addition to the memory bank.

The team was:

• Linus De-Syllas Hammond
• Jack Hawkins
• Matt Weatherley
• Oliver Sexton
• Jack Bedford
• Sammi Takaloo
• Louie Procopi
• Samuel Coulson
• Ben Combe
• Fin Baker
• Harvey McIntyre
• Josh Belsey
• Tom Askin
• Todd Henniker
• Ollie Aitkin
• Ollie Todd