The Intermediate Cup is contested by reserve teams from Senior clubs across the county, and this year’s competition has been one of the closest-fought to date.

Tonbridge Angels route to the final has been entirely on the road, with the club drawn away in all their qualifying fixtures.  The competition started well for the Angels, with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Corinthian FC’s u21 side before a 4-2 win over Phoenix Sports put them into the semi-finals.  Tonbridge were handed a trip to Deal Town in the penultimate round, which the west Kent club breezed through with a comprehensive 4-0 victory to secure their appearance in the final.

Hollands & Blair have appeared in several Senior and Intermediate county cup finals in recent years and the reserve side maintained the tradition after beating Whitstable 2-1 in a tense semi-final.  Earlier rounds saw them beat VCD Athletic 3-2 on the competition’s opening day, before a 5-1 home thumping of Ramsgate put them into the hat for the next round.   An away draw at Holmesdale in the quarter finals proved no issue for Hollands & Blair, who continued their run in the competition with a 2-0 win and with 12 goals in total go into the final as the top-scoring team in the Cup this year.

This year’s Kent FA Intermediate Cup has also been chosen by the governing body to promote the FA’s Respect programme.  The Respect programme aims to ensure safe and enjoyable environments for everyone in grassroots football through spectator and player behaviour and through clubs and leagues taking pro-active steps to improve their matchday experience.