Wembley heartbreak for Whyteleafe as FA Vase final dream dies after extra time

NO FAIRY-TALE ENDING AFTER CLUB'S AMAZING JOURNEY

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DANIEL Bennett's 24th goal of the season gave Whyteleafe the lead at Wembley on Sunday, but wasn’t enough to complete the dream of winning the FA Vase final.

The fine margins of fitness, possibly no game for three weeks - unlike their Kent opponents Whitstable who contested play-offs and enforced substitutions through cramp injury seemed ultimate factors.

On a boiling afternoon, the sapping conditions of 90+10 minutes of normal time, plus extra time, proved a step too far as the Oystermen won 2-1.

However, owner-manager Kelly Waters and his co-manager Ennio Gonnella, plus coach James Junior, can look back with pride, taking a club that only started in 2021 to a Wembley final.

Three seasons ago, away games were played on bumpy park pitches with no changing facilities. Playing at the plush facilities of Wembley was barely a faint dream.

Whitstable had early pressure with a couple of corners, but Bennett’s 17th minute strike sent their 4,500 following into raptures. It came courtesy of a run from Craig Braham-Barrett, who slid the ball into Gasper Mico on the left side of the box. The Leafe winger cut inside for Bennett, who lifted the ball over keeper Daniel Colmer, a former team-mate from his long career.