Pre-season continued for Whitstable with another game against Premier Division opponents and this time it was Margate, managed by Jay Saunders, who made the trip along the north Kent coast. The game certainly contained plenty of goals for the crowd of just over 200.

Whitstable went close to opening the scoring in the 7th minute when Tom Bryant glanced a header just wide from a long Connor Sanders throw in. Most of the first half action however was to take place at the other end and Margate scored their first goal on 10 minutes. Dan Johnson released James Jeffrey, who raced clear of the defence on the left and his low shot beat Dan Eason at the near post. Whitstable forced a corner a couple of minutes later when young midfielder Liam Gillies tried a low shot that was turned around the post by Jon Miles. Margate were soon causing more problems though and scored again in the 16th minute when Jeffrey fired the ball across from the right and it rebounded to Kadell Daniel who powered it into the top corner. On 20 minutes another quick break down the left by Kudus Oyenuga led to a third goal, as he pulled the ball back for Jordy Robins who curled it into the net. The home defence was struggling to deal with the pace of the Margate attacks at this point and it was soon 4-0 when Jeffrey collected a Daniel pass and shot across Eason, with the ball striking the right hand post before rolling into the net.

There was some relief for Whitstable as they pulled a goal back in the 28th minute from a free kick on the right, which was taken by Osman Proni whose low left footed curler missed everyone and went into the far corner to make it 4-1. Tarik Ibrahim then threatened another home goal, but after a good run, his cross shot was pushed out by the goalkeeper. Margate soon added another two goals in quick succession, in the 33rd and 34th minutes. Firstly, Oyenuga ran on to a pass by Robins and scored easily, before Daniel broke through from the right and lashed the ball past Eason to complete the first half scoring and leave his team with an incredible 6-1 lead at the break.

Margate made four changes at the start of the second half, introducing Craig Holloway, Michael Abnett, Harrison Hatfull and Ben Swift, whilst Whitstable replaced Ibrahim, who had taken a knock, with Luke Girt. A few minutes later, Marcus Evans and Danny Patterson also joined the action for Whitstable, who were beginning to see more of the ball in midfield. The most significant change was made on the hour mark, when former Ramsgate striker Aaron Millbank came on for his first Whitstable appearance. In the 73rd minute, after the visitors had made a few more changes, Millbank was hauled over in the box and got up to place his penalty into the bottom left corner. Just a minute later, a sloppy pass was intercepted by Proni and he played in Millbank, who finished well from just outside the box. It was now Whitstable who were creating the chances and a good move by Millbank and Proni led to a corner that was headed over by Bryant, then another good Proni free kick was almost touched home by Evans. Whitstable made some late substitutions, as Muhammed Cham, Owen Fitt and James Trueman joined the action. In the 90th minute, Millbank completed his hat trick after the referee pointed to the spot again when he was tripped in the box and once more he found the left corner, sending Holloway the wrong way. Little time remained and an entertaining game ended with a 6-4 win for Margate.

Whitstable have another friendly on Saturday, when newly promoted Bowers and Pitsea, who won the North Division last season, make the trip from Essex to the Belmont Ground.

Whitstable manager Lloyd Blackman has since completed the signing of Aaron Millbank and had this to say on Friday, ahead of the Bowers and Pitsea game:
“I’m delighted to have the signature of Aaron Milbank for the coming season. I’ve been speaking to Aaron throughout the summer as he’s been travelling with his girlfriend and we’ve kept in constant communication. He’s a player I know very well and his qualities are there for all to see, as seen on Tuesday night with his performance less than 48 hours after arriving back in the country.
It provides good options now as the squad is really taking shape. With the budget we have, it was always a case of staying patient, but I’m really excited with the group we have now. We’ve purposely had tough opposition, so to highlight the areas we need to improve on and the players have been first class in what we’re trying to achieve. Tomorrow’s opponents will arguably be the most challenging this pre-season, but it’s another test for this new group and I’ll be looking at certain things as we prepare for the start of the season in two weeks’ time.”

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Jake Mackenzie, John Walker (James Trueman 85), Connor Sanders (Danny Patterson 54), Tom Bryant (c), Liam Dickson (Marcus Evans 54), Liam Gillies, Osman Proni (Muhammed Cham 85), Marcus Elliott (Aaron Millbank 60), Tarik Ibrahim (Luke Girt 46), Alex Anderson (Owen Fitt 85).
Goal: Osman Proni 28, Aaron Millbank pen 73, 74, pen 90.

Margate
Jon Miles, Giani Ashley, Ernest Turay, Eze Ebazoeme, Dan Johnson (c), Lekan Majoyegbe, Adem Ramadan, Jordy Robins, Kudus Oyenuga, James Jeffrey, Kadell Daniel.
Subs: Craig Holloway, Ben Swift, Harrison Hatfull, Chris Sessesgnon, Noel Leighton, Jordan Ababio, Michael Abnett, Jay Porter.
Goals: James Jeffrey 10, 23, Kadell Daniel 16, 34, Jordy Robins 20, Kudus Oyenuga 33.

Attendance: 207
Referee: Peter Conn
Assistants: Matthew Grist & Matt Sell