Chatham Town Women will be wary of their Kent Cup final opponents - a side who they’ve already beaten in two competitions this season.

Chats defeated Kent rivals Dartford on the way to winning the Isthmian League Cup, and also beat them in the first round of the Combined Counties Cup. The two teams meet at the Gallagher Stadium tonight (Thursday, 7.45pm) to contest for county honours.

Kent Women’s Cup holders Dartford look set to finish as runners-up in the London & South East Regional Premier Division behind Fulham - one league below Chats - and are sure to provide stiff opposition, with plenty to fire them up.

For Chatham, who have finished third in the National League, Division South East table, it’s a chance to get their name on a second trophy with another cup final yet to be played.

Chats boss Keith Boanas said: “Their League Cup final on Sunday against Fulham didn’t get played, so they’re going to be fresh, chomping at the bit and eager to take this trophy, which they won last year.

“They knocked us out in the semi-final last year at Dartford, so we know it will be a tough, tough game.

“We’ve beaten them twice already, and we've just got to reproduce what we did in previous games. We've got to play calmly, but with quality.

“It's a cup final and anything can happen.”

Dartford were disappointed that last Sunday’s League Cup final against Fulham was called off at short notice.

Fulham withdrew from the match 24 hours before kick off. They had been informed that they had played an ineligible player in previous rounds and stated they were withdrawing from the competition.

Dartford said in a statement that they were saddened by the announcement and said: “Not only did this disrupt weeks of preparation for the team and management, but frustratingly left many supporters’ plans in ruins.

“The club is pressing the league for a quick outcome of their investigations and will inform supporters of their decision when they have it.”

Their focus is now on playing Chatham Town in the prestigious competition that Boanas hopes will be an entertaining spectacle.

He said: “The most important thing is that it's a great advert for women's football in Kent because it can always be strengthened.

“We’re both playing at a decent level of football in the area, a place for young girls to strive to be at in Kent outside of the top level.”

Chatham ended their league campaign last Sunday with a 1-1 draw away to Cambridge United, played in front of almost 1,000 fans at the Abbey Stadium.

Amelia Woodgate opened the scoring but gone was the ruthlessness of the past two games, which in league and cup action had seen Chats clinch 10-0 wins back-to-back.

Boanas said “Playing at their stadium was nice and it was a great atmosphere. They had a fairly decent crowd and I think they raised their game to their crowd.

“We were disappointed with the performance and it was like a complete contrast to our last few games.

“We didn't really make their keeper make one decent save. Our goal was decent but everything else was kind of no power, or off target. We didn't create anything like we had done in the previous games so that was a concern.

“But to be fair, they could defend well and were clearly up for it because there was a decent crowd and they were cheering them on throughout but the result obviously didn't affect or hurt us in any way.

“If it had been a more vital game, I think I'd have been fuming.

“We wanted the performance to be better. We talked about maintaining our standards over the last few games to keep them up to the level that we'd reached.

“That one dropped below what we would expect and with the cup final coming up Thursday, we want to make sure that we're back on it and back in the right frame of mind by then.”

Thursday’s final is Chatham’s penultimate game of the season, with one more trophy to play for in the Combined Counties Cup. A date and venue to play Watford has yet to be determined.

Chats thrashed Portsmouth’s development side 10-0 to reach the final of that competition.

“We just dominated it and we finished our chances,” said the manager.

“Things clicked and I didn't really have to coach, didn't really have to make any comments at half-time or afterwards apart from ‘well done, keep playing like that and we shouldn't struggle against anybody’.

“That was the message against Cambridge. We knew it was on a decent grass surface. It was a nice atmosphere.

“We knew they'd have that little bit of support because they'd obviously let everyone in free of charge. It was one of those days.

“My immediate comment in the huddle afterwards was, ‘stick that performance down the toilet and flush it away!’

“We know we're better than that.”

Boanas will hope that performance can be a timely warning about keeping standards high.

“That's the way we've got to look at it,” he said.

“It's a little warning that no one's going to just lay down and die for you and let you do what we did to other teams. They're going to see that and see it as a challenge and Dartford will certainly do that.”

Chatham will hope to have midfielder Jasmine Auguste back available after she missed last weekend’s game due to running the London Marathon, raising money for Barnardo’s children’s charity.

“What she's done this year compared to her season last year is phenomenal,” said her manager.

“Her time was decent, and she's had a slight Achilles problem, but she's managed to overcome that.”

Ciara Hynes is eligible to play on Thursday after being sent off at the weekend for a second bookable offence, penalised after a clash of heads, a decision Boanas felt was harsh.

He said: “She jumped up with another player, both crashed heads and the other girl's gone down. It was just a clash of heads but we can’t appeal it.”

Kick off tonight (Thursday) in Maidstone is 7.45pm.