This midweek fixture on a chilly evening in early October, saw me travel to the Bourne Stadium, Sevenoaks, to watch a first round Velocity Trophy tie between Sevenoaks Town, of the Isthmian League (South East Division) and Tooting & Mitcham United, of the Isthmian League (South Central Division).

The Bourne Stadium has a capacity of 1150, with room for 150 seated in the three covered stand. There are also two covered standing areas. The club has ambitious plans in place to expand the stadium and facilities. This season a new electronic scoreboard has been added.

Last week had seen Sevenoaks Town’s manager, Harry Hudson, celebrate the birth of his and his partner’s first child. His side have had a disrupted start to the Isthmian league campaign in 2022-23, sitting currently in 17th place with just four points from five games.

This position is somewhat exacerbated by the broken league campaign that Sevenoaks have experienced, due to the successful FA Cup run that Sevenoaks have had this season. This run saw the home side reaching a fourth round qualifying tie, against National League South’s runaway leaders, Ebbsfleet United, following a fine away win in the third qualifying round match away at Bath City, also of the National League South. This means that Sevenoaks Town come into the Velocity Cup tie with a confident air to their play, with regards cup football.

Sevenoaks Town’s top scorers so far this season have been, Ryan Gondoh, with eight goals and Yahaya Bamba and Omari Hibbert, both with three goals.

Tooting and Mitcham United currently sit in fifteenth place in the Isthmian League South Central Division. Manager Ashley Bosah will be concerned at his side’s lack of goals thus far this season, with Emil Acho-Adjei top scoring with just three goals.

The game started with Sevenoaks passing confidently. Bamba had a great early chance to open the scoring but he failed to make the final contact required. In the 11th minute, Sevenoaks Town took the lead, when their number 9, Freddie Parker, broke free and fired the ball past the keeper’s inside post.

The goal seemed to rally Tooting & Mitcham United briefly and they started to put a series of attacking moves together. However, as the half wore on, Sevenoaks Town, marshalled by the passing play of Bentley Graham and Bradley Wilson, began to look more and more dangerous.

In the 32nd minute Omari Hibbert fired the home team 2-0 ahead, with a fiercely struck shot, from the edge of the Tooting & Mitcham United penalty area.

At half time the teams went in for the break, with the home side two goals ahead. The lively crowd of 132, looked forward to the promise of more goals in the second half.

The Second half began with more Sevenoaks dominance. Some early substitutions by the home side, disrupted the fluency of their play and somewhat against the run of play, Tooting & Mitcham United began to claw their way into the match, creating more and more pressure. With twenty minutes left Harvey Browne pulled a goal back for the away team, with a close range finish to make it 2-1.

Despite some intense pressure, Sevenoaks Town defended well and held on to secure the victory on a chilly evening under the Bourne Stadium lights, progressing into the next round.