Whitstable Town 1st Team
Matches
Sat 16 Oct 2021  ·  South East
Whitstable Town Football Club
Whitstable Town 1st Team
L Griffiths (23')
1
0
Phoenix Sports
Whitstable Claim First League Win

Whitstable Claim First League Win

Ron Martin18 Oct 2021 - 01:17
Share via
FacebookTwitter
https://www.whitstabletownfc.c

Griffiths goal makes it two out of two for new management team

WHITSTABLE TOWN 1 PHOENIX SPORTS 0
The Pitching In Isthmian League South East
Saturday October 16 2021 15.00

New manager Keith McMahon continued his positive start as Whitstable gained their second 1-0 win of the week, this time collecting a first league victory in their seventh game and a valuable three points. A good first half performance might have seen Whitstable comfortably ahead at the break, but they had to settle for a well worked goal by recent signing Luke Griffiths. The second half was harder work, as several players seemed to be feeling the effects of the midweek cup semi-final win, but the team defended well with captain Tom Mills outstanding at the back and Phoenix rarely tested Dan Eason despite plenty of promising possession.

Following their Kent Senior Cup semi-final win on Tuesday, Whitstable returned to their search for league points in an interesting game for the manager who has strong connections to opponents Phoenix Sports. Both teams needed a win; Whitstable had just one point from their first six games and Phoenix had four from eight, having lost their previous five. Whitstable made just one change from the Gillingham win, with Harry Stannard replacing the suspended Harry Goodger up front.

Whitstable began brightly, causing the Phoenix defence numerous problems and a low cross by Gus Barnes created a chance for Tom Carlton to shoot, but his effort was blocked. On 6 minutes, Stannard made himself space on the right before picking out the run of Muhammed Cham with a perfect left footed cross, but his header was pushed onto the post and behind by Steve Phillips. Carlton then curled the ball just wide from 20 yards. Phoenix won a free kick around 25 yards out in the 13th minute and James Dyer struck it well, but Eason saved well. Whitstable were forced into an early substitution when Jack Miles was replaced by Will Thomas, who slotted in alongside captain Mills in the centre of defence. The chances kept coming for the home team and a deep Jake Mackenzie cross was headed back across goal by Stannard to Griffiths, who shot over the bar. Eason made another good save when Dyer cut in from the right and curled in a testing shot. Whitstable got the goal their lively start deserved in the 23rd minute. Carlton collected a loose ball and drove forward before passing to Stannard who found Barnes on the right and his pull back was met by Griffiths who scored from 12 yards. Whitstable should have increased their advantage as they created a number of good chances, with Barnes and Cham regularly running at the defence. A great pass by Stannard set Cham free, but Phillips saved. As the interval approached, Cham ran across from the left before unleashing a shot that flew past the far post. There was one more great opportunity on the stroke of half time when a forward pass by Griffiths was missed by George Whitelock, leaving Barnes with just Phillips to beat, but he dragged his shot wide.

Phoenix had more possession after the break and worked a good position only for Cham to clear the danger, then a free kick went right across the Whitstable box with no one able to apply the finish. Mills was next to deny Phoenix a sight of goal, but Dyer went close on 59 minutes when his shot from 18 yards flew just wide. Thomas was booked for pulling back Lekan Osideko as he burst forward. The impressive Barnes who had ran himself to a standstill was replaced by Montrell Deslandes on 68 minutes. Jeff Duah-Kessie curled an effort wide after some more pressure from the visitors. Cham chased a long ball into the corner and won a free kick that Danny Walder almost squeezed in at the near post, then when the ball was cleared to Carlton, his low shot was saved. Walder and Cham combined to feed Stannard whose shot was gathered by Phillips, before a Deslandes header from a corner was kept out. There was a late scare for Whitstable in added time when Eason came out to a long ball and tried to pass to James Brown, but the ball ended up with Dyer who could only curl it back into the grateful hands of Eason. Carlton was just off target with a long range effort and the final whistle blew shortly afterwards.

Whitstable will hope that their improved performances continue as they now face two away games, with trips to Sittingbourne on Tuesday and Ashford next Saturday.

WhitstableDataPhoenix Sports
6Shots on target3
5Shots off target5
4Shots blocked1
5Corners5
8Fouls conceded11
0Offside6
0Penalties0

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Jake Mackenzie, James Brown, Danny Walder (George McIlroy 86), Jack Miles (Will Thomas 16), Tom Mills (c), Gus Barnes (Montrell Deslandes 68), Luke Griffiths, Harry Stannard, Tom Carlton, Muhammed Cham.
Subs (unused): Ollie Gray, Nico Cotton.
Goal: Luke Griffiths 23
Yellow cards: Gus Barnes 54, Will Thomas 67.

Phoenix Sports
Steve Phillips, Fraser Walker (c) (Henry Douglas 65), George Whitelock, Alex Brefo, Ben Fitchett, Andrew Dythe, Lee Bird, Zak Bryon, Jeff Duah-Kessie (Henry Ikeije 80), James Dyer, Lekan Osideko.
Subs (unused): Oliver Andrews, Aaron Clarke, Alfie Evans.

Attendance: 376
Referee: Joseph Gray
Assistants: Fabio Roque & Charlie Roberts

Match details

Match date

Sat 16 Oct 2021

Kickoff

15:00

Attendance

376

Competition

South East

League position

18
Whitstable Town
20
Phoenix Sports
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

First Team Sponsor - FibreTech UK Ltd
Management Sponsor - The Tony Rouse Mispronunciation Society
Management Sponsor - The Tony Rouse Mispronunciation Society
Management Sponsor - Stuart Kingston