Whitstable Town FC

Whitstable knocked in five goals in a great confidence booster ahead of next weeks FA Vase home tie against Andover. Sam Prett scored the first, Andy Constable knocked in a couple with player/manager Marc Seager scoring from the spot after Prett had been pulled back inside the area, Stuart Harrison, much to the delight of his fellow team-mates finishing off with goal number five for Town.

 ?I know we have good players at Whitstable,? said manager Marc Seager: ?the game of football is a simple game that sometimes the lads make harder than it is. Essentially it?s about confidence and that comes with scoring goals and winning games, this win has come just at the right time for us, the performance from the lads today was spot on. Andy Constable worked hard, he knocked in a couple, had one disallowed and had a hand in a couple of the other goals, but Andy will be the first to say it?s a team game and all the lads today all played well. I was very pleased with the work rate and the finishing, which is what we have lacked these last few weeks.?

The changes in management during the week at Sevenoaks were bound to have an impact on the game. The fact that the team, currently languishing at the bottom of the KOSL started with renewed purpose was no surprise, they had a lot to prove and were out to impress the temporary management and any prospective new manager in the crowd. Although they started very brightly, it was Whitstable who had the best of the early chances with Tom Parker and Stuart Harrison overlapping well down the left, opening up the home side defence a couple of time before Andy Constable had what looked like a perfectly good header disallowed in the 19^th minute.

Immediately following the goal Tom Parker went in hard for a 50/50 ball with Wayne Balmer who seemed to feel the tackle was ill timed. As much as he protested, the Ref after some deliberation had a quite word with both players and normality was resorted.

Two minutes later Whitstable were in front, Constable playing Prett in with a delightful pass, the young striker coolly sliding the ball to the side of the advancing Sevenoaks keeper John Paul Green in the 22^nd minute. From the restart Prett was fouled when on a great run into the Sevenoaks area, Seager going close with the resulting fee kick. Whitstable were buzzing and kept up the pressure as the side that have only found the net twice so far this season, struggled to gain any momentum. The central pairing for Whitstable of Seager and Marcos Perona playing in midfield, started to control the game.

The pacey Tom Parker and Harrison working well on the left continually troubled the home side, on the right Arron Knight and Gary Sayer overlapped well to create chances for the visitors from both flanks. Goal number two coming from good work by Knight, his first timer cross met perfectly by Constable who planted a firm header past John Paul Green in to put Whitstable 2-0 ahead with three minutes remaining to the end of the first half.

Whitstable keeper Mark Hickson, who although largely a spectator for the preceding 45 minutes, raced out for a ball which could have been dealt with by his defensive centre-backs pair of Shane Davies and Any Keir, the trio tangled along with Sevenoaks Danny Powel and the ball trickled over the line to put the score at 2-1. This was the only time the duo  were troubled by the home side, except for a ten minute spell at the re-start, they were in control for the remainder of the  match.

Sevenoaks 1 Whitstable Town 2

Harrison? Moon walking?.

Buoyed by the goal the home side enjoyed a good ten-minute spell, Hickson handling well with some high balls and saving low down from Powell and Sevenoaks skipper Dave Forester. Seager rallied his side and they took a grip on the game once again in search of more goals.
Constable, again involved in goal number three, this time his pass into the stride of Prett was even better than the one for the first goal. As Prett sprinted into the area his shirt was almost pulled off his back by Andy Mills, after some debated Mills was shown a straight red card as is required as he was the last defender. The Ref consulted with his linesman over the spot where the offence took place, Seager coolly despatched the penalty to put Town firmly in the box seat at 3-1 with the home side now reduced to ten men. More worthy scribes than I have pointed out how difficult it can be playing against a side with just ten men, Seager, to his credit drove his payers on as if they were trailing by the two goals, not the other way round. Shots for Seager, Prett and Constable all beat the Sevenoaks keeper but skidded past the post as the home side struggled to get into Whitstable?s half.
Harrison, so often of late, the player who look the least likely to last till the end of the game was still full of running, it took the combined efforts of two players, fouling him to stop his run. Seager floated in a delightful free kick for Constable to head in unopposed in a crowded penalty area. It was Constable?s second of the game with Town now leading 4-1.

  Still Town pressed, with Seager making way for Toby Roy, Prett for Andy Martin, Tom for Robbie Summers as Whitstable still wanted more goals.
It was Martin, stepping up from the reserves after a great run of form was the provider for Towns fifth goal, Martin sliding the ball into the path of Harrison, whose neat footwork gave him the space to get in a shot and score goal number five, much to the delight of his team-mates who teased him that the last time he?d scored, was when man first set foot on the Moon.

It must be said that the less than perfect pitch was not  the type of surface to play neat passing football on, the fact that Town, for the greater part , played as if they were on a billiard top was full credit to them, at the Belmont it could have been double figures.

Team: Mark Hickson: Tom Parker: Shane Davies (Capt.): Andy Keir: Robbie Summers: Gary Sayer: Marc Seager: Marcos Perona: Stuart Harrison: Sam Prett: Andy Constable: