Whitstable Town FC

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

Manager Seager saying; ? We knew this was going to be no easy ride, I reminded a supporters during the week when they predicted we would be on a goal feast against Greenwich that they have only lost once in their last five matches which was against Maidstone so we were expecting a hard game. To be honest we were out of it for 60 minutes or so and it was only when we had a good ten-minute spell when we pulled a few passes together that we looked like this season?s Whitstable side; up until then we were poor. We had two shots on target, both in the second half and scored two goals, which just about summed the game up for me.?

What was not mentioned was the energetic pairing up front of Lee Anderson and Hussain Budek for the visitors nearly put them ahead twice in the first half alone. Andy Keir and Rob Thomas both came to the rescue of stand in keeper Marl Lane, both times when Anderson should have scored. Lane played in place of Mark Hickson who had injured himself in the match on Saturday, putting his shoulder out and needs rest before he can play again. Whitstable were lucky on two occasions on when Lane played a ball to his defender and did not strike his shot hard enough, his defence covered for him as Sam Scootes shot just wide. Minutes later just headed wide after Town?s defence looked all at seas after failing to clear the ball, Anderson?s header just outside Lane?s upright.

Half Time: Whitstable Town 2 Greenwich Borough 0

Picture: Stuart Harrison who scored the winner in dying seconds of the game: With the visitors desperate to finish the season in a higher position than third from bottom, Whitstable were aiming for third from top spot, the game had all the makings of a nervy nail biter right to the end. In the 54^th minute Lane was nearly caught out by Scootes again, Thomas the saviour this time as the visitors sniffed an upset. It was not until the 60^th minute, after some good possession that Whitstable started to threaten Michael Holby?s goal, Marcos Perona and Andy Martin were both just inches away from balls across the six-yard box.

When Town scored it came after Steve Marshall showed great strength in holding off his maker; who in the end fouled him about 15 yards out wide of the visitor?s penalty area. Stuart Harrison, until then like most of his colleagues a bit player in the game fired in the most delightful cross for Andy Constable who flicked a glancing header past Holby in the 82^nd minute. As is often the case the opposition went straight down the other end and nearly equalised, Kier clearing off the line after Lane had smothered one shot from Budek but was unable to get to the second, Kier staying calm.

Town won the game in the dying seconds after visiting keeper Holby went up for a last chance corner which was cleared by Lane to Kier who in turn found Harrison, who for a moment seemed unaware there was no keeper in the visitors goal. When he looked up just two Greenwich defenders were racing back vainly; he fired into the bottom corner from just outside the box to seal the match for Town at 2-0.

With other results in the league going their way Town still have an outside chance of a top three finish which given the way the season started seemed unlikely to say the least. As they say, ?it never over, till it?s over??

Team: Mark Lane: Shane Davies: Rob Thomas: Andy Keir: Michel Adcock: Alex Hossick: Marcos Perona: Andy Martin: Stuart Harrison: Steve Marshall: Andy Constable:

Subs: Harry Gower: Sam Rigden: Robert French: Marc Seager: Gary Sayer: