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| Whitstable 4 Erith & Belvedere 2 |
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Whitstable were under pressure from the first whistle, driven on by the Erith & Belvedere player/manager Wayne Brown in the centre of a three man back line the ?Deres? played a fast tempo game holding a very high line up the pitch. Deres had chance through Lee Morgan, saved on the line by Tom Parker, then Kevin Fewll pulled off a great save from Morgan as the visitors threatened to over-run Town.  Jackson'5' battles for the ball When they did break though it was a the result of some neat balls down the flanks stretching the three at the back, anytime the ball came through the middle the classy Brown snuffed out any chance of a Whitstable attack. Town?s best chance falling to Mickey Lane whose run in from the by-line and driven shot brought out a good save from Chris Arnold who tipped Lane?s shot over the bar. It was strangely subdued at the Belmont, but they erupted into life after Izwnna ?Jackson? Okiakam pounced to stab home from just yards out after the ?Deres had failed to deal with a whipped-in Tom Parker corner to give the home side the lead. His now familer celebrations brought smiles all round the ground. At the other end Whitstable keeper Kevin Fewell and his defence had done all that was asked of them, the visitors main threat coming from a succession of corners as they pushed Town back. Whitstable, thankful to be going in at the interval a 42nd minute Jackson gaol to the good after weathering some long periods of ?Deres? pressure. Half Time: Whitstable 1 Erith & Belvedere 0 Less than ten minutes of the second half had passed when the visitors were level, a simple ball Ten minutes later Constable was denied by Arnold with a good save he then redressed the balance, his neatly taken goal after some good build up involving Marcos Perona and Marlon Button, who had replace Lane; Button putting the big striker in; Constable fished well. Two minutes later and Town went further ahead, Constable slotting in from a tight angle, the ball just over the line before the Deres Morgan sliced attempted clearance. Town could have had another Arnold saving well from Marshall just before the visitors pulled one back. A far post header which beat Fewell into the top corner of his goal by Morgan after yet another visitors corner, gave the visitors hope at 3-2 with less than 20 minutes of the game remaining. It was Town who looked the more likely to score the longer the match went on, at this stage the visitors defenders started arguing amongst themselves as Button teased them on the left, with good runs on the right from Jake Gess. Fewell, Whitstable?s keeper still needed to be sharp as Whitstable pressed to put the game beyond the visitors. The winner came from the home sides Steve Marshall finishing as only he can running through as Deres defence dithered, Marshall slotting past Arnold in the 89th minute to seal the game at 4-2. The m.o.m for Whitstable, two goal Andy Constable who; his goals apart, never gave the Deres well organised defence a minute?s peace all afternoon and reaped his reward with two well taken goals. Simon Halsey, Seager?s assistant saying after the game: ?They came here today to give us a game, I imagine after the poor start they have had they saw this game as one that could turn their season around, in that respect and the result with three points still keeps us on the top of the table, I suppose I should be happy, but not with some of the football we played today. We can play better than that, the players know it and the supporters know it, that was a poor performance when you measure it against how well we can play.? Whitstable Team: Kevin Fewell: Gary Carter: Izwnna ?Jackson? Okiakam: Michael Adcock: Tom Parker: Jake Gess: Alex Hossick: Marcos Perona: Mickey Lane: Andy Constable: Steve Marshall: Subs: Gary Sayer: Stuart King: Rob Thomas: Sam Prett: Marlon Button: |
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