Rye Bays second game of the season away to Hawkhurst proved to be another epic match. Starting the stronger and limiting Hawkhurst to very few chances, Rye took the lead in the 12th minute with a sweet left-footed corner by Tom Wilkieson that was met by a fine header from Jordan Kilsby: 1-0. Rye pressed ahead from the kick-off and again allowed Hawkhurst very few chances with Tom Giles and Jason Dalton both playing well with Liam Wearing between the posts. The second goal came in the 20th minute via another corner from Wilkieson which was met again with an identical header from Kilsby: 2-0.
The start of the second half saw Rye playing a different formation which allowed Hawkhurst to get a foothold in the game 10 minutes in and Hawkhurst scored a well taken goal to make the score 2-1. Rye began to look shaky and within minutes Hawkhurst scored the equalizer with a long range strike. Hawkhurst could smell blood and soon exploited Rye’s nervousness to go 3-2 up. Rye’s formation was changed again allowing an extra man to push forward. The plan worked as Rye showed strong character and within five minutes had equalized from a smart move in midfield that allowed Spencer Milton to run with the ball down the right wing. He whipped in a great cross to find Kai Jerrey unmarked in the box to bury the ball in the net. Rye again had the upper hand and in the 50th minute there was another amazing run from Milton – his cross from the right again met Jerrey who bagged his second.
In the last five minutes of the game the ball was struck by Hawkhurst two yards out but was somehow saved by the outstanding Liam Wearing in goal. With just two minutes left Rye cleared a Hawkhurst corner but with the ball being pinged back in it drifted into the far right corner levelling the score at 4-4. In the final minute Milton again found Jerrey in the box but this time his effort went just wide of the post.
Undoubtedly this was a cracking game and a great advert for youth football.