Steve Marshall

Town beat ?Bay? 2-1 (pictures)  Whitstable Town 2 Herne Bay 1  The 8^th minute goal prodded in by Steve Marshall owed much to the good work of young Stuart King who was convinced the ball had beaten ?Bay? keeper Sebastian Burton before Marshall claimed it. King, like all good strikers was desperate to claim the goal but rightly it was chalked up to his strike partner although young King, until the beginning of this season a Herne Bay player was fully praised by his teammates. At one nil up and their back to the wind Whitstable knocked the ball about with some style, the visitors at that stage were not in the game and the only debate in the crowd was how long before Town notched another. Both Marshall and King missed chances, Burton pulling off a great save from Town skipper

Part of the 367 crowd at the Belmont

Marco Perona who thought he had scored with a low drive.Herne Bay found a way back through an error by the seasons signing so; far young Josh Maine who instead of finding row z when under pressure from Simon Brown was dispossessed, only a wonderful save from Whitstable keeper Fewell kept out a thunderbolt shot from Richard Dimmock the visitor?s striker. This brief spell gave the visitors renewed hope and the remainder of the half was a much more even affair although Whitstable left the field at the interval the better side in most areas of the pitch.

Half Time: Whitstable Town 1 v Herne Bay 0

Herne Bay?s manager Jason Lillis must have ranted in the dressing rooms during the break as his side started with more intent. Whitstable however still had the upper edge with more chances although Whitstable keeper Fewell gradually had to play a greater part in the game. There were chances for both sides, Fewell saving again from the burly Dimmock, Burton at the other end saving from King, Perona and Jake Gess who all looked a threat.The games defining moment for the home side came in the 53^rd minute when Mickey Lane who had enjoyed a good first half prowling the sidelines latched onto a great ball down the wing. Lane took the ball in his stride hitting a curling cross first time tantalisingly swinging away from keeper Burton but inviting the onrushing Marshall who dived full length to score a gaol good enough to grace any Premiership club. Both Town supporters and the players roared their delight at the quality of the goal and for a while the visitors were really on the back foot. Dimmock however woke the

Whitstable's Josh Maine wins header

It was not to be as Whitstable played out the rest of the game to record a third Kent League win in a row with the prospect of a mouth-watering return fixture to look forward to in December.

Steve Marshall celebrates as does Stuart King who's shot Marshall turned in

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Two Steve Marshall goals, in the 8^th and 53^rd minute were just enough to see Whitstable win the first of the years two local derbys between the  Kent League sides. With nine points out the three games in the league so far, never one to get carried away Town manager Marc Seager was quick to point out how tough the visitors had been to overcome. ?We played in their half for the first fifteen minutes and after ?Marshy scored if we?d scored another quickly then I think it would have taken the wind out of their sails. But Herne Bay are a  ?never say die? type of team and we knew they would give it a go. They had a good spell as the first half went on, Kevin Fewell made a great stop from Richard Dimmock in the first half then two more, one of which was real quality from Dimmock again in the second half. But we defended in numbers and its great the get the three points in the bag as our next league game is not for a couple of weeks as we have FA Cup and Vase games to look forward to. Great crowd, good support and fabulous surface to play football on, all in all a great day for Whitstable.?

 

Steve Marshall mobbed by his team-mates after opening the score..

 

 

 

 

 

Andy Constable pressures the Bay defence late in the game