Whitstable Town FC

..Picture: Town goal scorer Andy Martin: Tunbridge Wells 2 Whitstable Town 1 Oysters miss the boat?
Any chance that Whitstable had of a top three finish and with it the remote possibility of a top three spot and promotion was lost after a Well Fargo style smash and grab by the home side. Town; the better team by a country mile in the first half were undone by two ?sucker punch goals? in the second as they pressed for all three points. With the FA still dithering right up until the last day of the season, their decision on league places will not be heard until early May, Whitstable need a large slice of Lady Luck to go their way to step up to the Ryman League. It was not to be as Marc Seager?s side, for the third or forth time this season outplaying the opposition, but despite playing some neat football, unable to find the back of the net.

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Town hit the woodwork in the fifth minute; Marcos Perona?s well-struck free kick just outside the area clipped the angle of Tunbridge stranded keeper John Whitehouse?s goal. Town piled on the pressure and pegged the home side back into their own half, Perona hitting the woodwork again in the 20^th minute after quickly taken free kick allowed him the space to shoot, again Whitehouse stranded. Minutes later Andy Kier, Town?s captain rose highest at a Perona corner, his firmly struck header came back of the post much to the despair of Whitstable?s bench. For the home side Aaron O?Leary and Adrian Hacher stayed clam in defence as Whitstable continued to press, Whitstable?s Andy constable with strike partner Steve Marshall both lively throughout never let the home sides defence rest.

Tunbridge Wells 2 Whitstable Town 1
Oysters miss the boat?  Any chance that Whitstable had of a top three finish and with it the remote possibility of a top three spot and promotion was lost after a Wells Fargo style smash and grab by the home side. Town; the better team by a country mile in the first half were undone by two ?sucker punch goals? in the second as they pressed for all three points. With the FA still dithering right up until the last day of the season, their decision on league places will not be heard until early May, Whitstable needed to win and a large slice of Lady Luck to go their way to step up to the Ryman League. It was not to be as Marc Seager?s side, for the third or forth time this season outplaying the opposition, but despite playing some neat football, unable to find the back of the net until a goal behind.

Whitstable Town 2 Greenwich Borough 0: ?Below par Town grab all the points ?
Picture: Andy Constable scored a great header to put Town 1-0 up: As a football spectacle this game would have come a low second to an afternoon spent wall papering the spare room, or assembling a flat pack wardrobe from Ikea after the wife had hidden the screwdriver. This was football at it?s most frustrating.
Some watching spectators questioned the players efforts, or rather lack of it as Whitstable were unable to mount a worthwhile attack on the Greenwich?s goal in the first 45 minutes, by which time the visitors could have so easily been two or three goals ahead.
With Gary Ward suspended, Arron Knight and Sam Prett both missing through injury, Whitstable manager Marc Seager who himself pulled up in the warm up with a slight strain had to field three substitutes all under 17 on the bench. He fielded a much changed side from the one which played on Saturday and won a comfortable 2-0 against Sevenoaks

Whitstable Town 2 Sevenoaks 0: ?Prett injury blow mares win?
Picture: Sam Prett unlikly to play again this season after injury: Whitstable followed on with their two recent good performances with a solid, rather than electrify display of football. With the ever dependable Rob Thomas and Andy Keir at the heart of Whitstable?s defence the visitor?s rarely troubled Mark Hickson?s goal, when they did threaten, mostly at corners and set pieces; Hickson was equal to them. Up front the lively Arron Knight, judging by the support from the sidelines one of Town?s favourite sons was bright in the opening exchanges. It was somewhat ironic that he needed to be substituted after he set up Town?s best move with a good run to the by-line after he came off worst in a particularly heavy challenge a couple of minute before. His replacement; Stuart Harrison was straight into the action linking well with Sam Prett and Steve Marshall who both worked hard in the opening spell of the game. Whitstable, who had a half decent shout for handball against Ryan Hackett waved away in the first 5 minutes, took time to find their rhythm.

Town Reserves finish runners-up
Picture: Peter Budge (left) with manager Simon Kay: Without playing yesterday; Whitstable Town reserves were guaranteed runners-up position in the 1^st Division of the KOL, as other results yesterday mean they cannot now be overtaken for 2^nd spot. The management team of Simon Kay with his assistant Peter Budge, along with Colin Budge are rightly delighted the have achieved success at the higher level. ?We are delighted,? said Kay: ?after the success of winning the 2^nd Div title last season and with it promotion; this is more than what we aimed for. We were looking to consolidate in this Division, which; mark my words has some very good sides in it, and do as well as we could. This season has exceeded our expectations, but his is no five-minute wonder, theses lads have been with the club a good long time and they know each others games, in lots of cases they have grown up together and they have all benefited from spells with the first team. I have a good relationship with Marc Seager, (first team manager) which is so very important between the two managers at the club. But most importantly myself, Peter and Colin work well together to bring the best out of the lads we have. We have a cup final in 10 days time and we are looking forward to showing Dartford what we can do. They have beaten us twice in the league this season so they will be confident, but we know all about them and we shall go into the game full of confidence.?

Peter Budge added: ?This is in some way a tribute not only to the players, but also to their families and loved ones, and indeed our own wives and families for the time we give so freely to Whitstable Town away from them. It is never easy but at times like this you have to feel its all worth while. It?s so nice to see the lads play football with smiles on their faces, and whatever the outcome in the cup final, we have had a great season.?

Simon Halsey: AUDIO:
Due to some technical problems this interview with Simon should have featured last week after the match:Simon was keen for you to hear his comments so better late than never this is his interview: This was the most one sided 0-0 match I have ever been involved in. ?Speechless at the fact we did not score, played some great football and played them off the park, but still could not score. We played at pace, to feet, played wide and I thought we played some great football. We always have a hard game at Thamesmead, but today they played their get-out-of-jail card.?

Picture Steve Marshall injured receives treatment: Thamesmead 0 v Whitstable Town 0: ?Dominant Town just makes the point?
Football is full of what ifs and maybes, tales of teams getting battered yet somehow winning in the dying minutes. Sometimes it seems unjust, unfair. But once again the team with all the possession, all the goal chances failed the walk away with all three points.
?Whitstable were the better side by a mile,? said the Thamesmead chairman after the game, ?I feel embarrassed that we shared the points, yet the crazy thing was we could have won right near the end with one of the few attempts we had on your goal throughout the game. That would have been so unjust but football is like that sometimes, the better team does not always win. If this was Monopoly, we just used the biggest ?get out of jail card? you will ever see.?

In truth Whitstable could, nay should have been at least three goals ahead at the interval, all the home side could muster in the first half was one free kick by Dean Burns, which went straight into the arms of the visiting keeper, Mark Hickson. Such was Town?s dominance that they never allowed Thamesmead strike duo of Burns and Cutis Williams to get into their penalty area in the first 45 minutes. Steve Marshall should have scored twice, on both occasions with just Thamesmead keeper Sean Glover to beat. One, and he will forgive me for highlighting it; he was round the keeper but ?lashed? his shot wide of an open goal.