Whitstable made a successful return to cup action for the first time since their Wembley triumph, winning this FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round tie away to Lingfield, although the game was played at the home of Steyning Town. The final score would suggest that this was a very comfortable win for the Oystermen, but they made it a bit harder for themselves than it should have been by conceding two very soft goals in the first half. Jeff Duah-Kessie capitalised on some casual defending to give Lingfield the lead, although Bradley Schafer equalised shortly afterwards. Whitstable then appeared to be cruising when a Jake McIntyre free kick and a header by Javaun Splatt put them 3-1 ahead, only to then concede an unnecessary penalty that Duah-Kessie converted to reduce the deficit before half time. A frustrated management team changed things around a bit for the second half and Whitstable added four more goals without reply, another for Schafer and a hat trick by substitute Dean Grant. Dan Colmer in the Whitstable goal had little more to do at the other end as Whitstable eased though to the next round.

With Lingfield's home ground temporarily out of action, this cup tie was switched to the 3G pitch at Steyning, a new venue for Whitstable. The teams had met two years ago in the FA Vase at Whitstable when a last minute winner by Conor Wilford gave Lingfield a 2-1 win. The Southern Combination League had yet to kick off, so this was Lingfield's first competitive fixture whereas Whitstable had the 2-1 win against Punjab United under their belts. Still without two key midfielders, Mikey Dalton and Connor Wilkins, Whitstable's injury list had increased during the week with Luke Mandry, Tristan Holden, Jake Abrahams and Essa Jadama all ruled out. New signing Theo Osinfolarin came in for his debut and Under 23 players Harry Baptiste and Tagan Kray were included among the substitutes. There was a familiar face in the Lingfield line up, with striker Jeff Duah-Kessie wearing the number nine shirt; he made two appearances for Whitstable towards the end of the 2023-24 season. The away supporters appeared to form the majority of the meagre crowd of 66.

The first goal attempt came in the 7th minute when James Miles chipped the ball forward for Javaun Splatt who shot into the side netting and Splatt headed a Bradley Schafer throw wide of the near post as Whitstable applied some early pressure. Splatt then set the ball back to Miles whose shot was blocked. A quiet phase followed before Lingfield opened the scoring in the 20th minute. Whitstable had looked a little lethargic and this proved costly when a long ball wasn't dealt with and dropped to Stephen Hodge who found Jack McDonnell on the right. His low cross went straight to Jake McIntyre who could only divert it into the path of Duah-Kessie and his shot managed to find its way past two defenders and goalkeeper Dan Colmer. Whitstable did respond quickly and were level two minutes later when Miles threaded the ball through to Jayden Boulton on the left and Schafer arrived at the back post to convert his low cross. Miles almost got on the end of Ashdon Day's cross before Rhyan Ramsay curled a shot wide at the other end. Whitstable went close again when Splatt got free on the right and pulled the ball back for Osinfolarin whose shot was blocked and when it was collected by Schafer on the left, his effort went over the bar.

Whitstable did take the lead in the 34th minute after Splatt had been fouled just outside the area and McIntyre drove the free kick through the wall and past Jack Webb-Olley. Things got even better on 38 minutes as Fin Cotton made a run to the right corner before pulling the ball back for Miles whose first time cross was headed in by Splatt to maintain his record of scoring in every game he's played for the club. Kobi Asante tried his luck, but was way off target, before Whitstable gifted Lingfield a route back into the match on 42 minutes. Hodge got past several challenges on the left touchline and found Duah-Kessie whose run into the box drew a challenge by Will Thomas who brought him down and the big striker stepped up to beat Colmer from the penalty spot. Added time saw another wayward attempt by Ramsay, while Osinfolarin was unable to divert the ball towards goal when Whitstable worked a promising position. The teams went in with Whitstable leading 3-2, although they would have been disappointed with that score line.

Manager Jamie Coyle had seen enough and changed things around for the second half, taking off a defender and introducing attacking midfielder Callum Peck. A handball gave Schafer a chance to send a dangerous free kick into the box where Webb-Olley bravely denied Day. The fourth Whitstable goal was scored by Schafer on the hour mark as he ran on to a long ball by Finn O'Mara, twisted and turned in the box, leaving two Lingfield players on the ground before finding the net. Whitstable then took the opportunity to replace strikers Splatt and Day with the experienced pair Dean Grant and Joe Healy, while Lingfield also made a change. Miles struck a free kick into the wall and McIntyre's follow up effort was also blocked, then a long range swerving shot by Boulton was pushed around the post by Webb-Olley for the game's only corner kick. Cotton's cross was headed over by Grant as the pressure continued.

Grant scored the first of his three goals in the 75th minute running on to an Osinfolarin pass, bringing the ball under control and firing it past Webb-Olley. Asante had the only Lingfield goal attempt of the second half when he got into the box but fired high and wide of the target. Whitstable were reduced to ten in the 82nd minute when substitute Jack Peters was sent off for a poor challenge on McDonnell. It made no difference to the flow of the game and Whitstable soon scored their sixth when Peck got free on the right and crossed for Grant to finish from close range. With the game over, more substitutes were introduced including Kray for his Whitstable first team debut. There was still time for Grant to complete his treble and again he had Peck to thank for another pinpoint cross from the right. The referee called a halt shortly afterwards with the score at 2-7 and Whitstable celebrated with their supporters who had made the long trip to Sussex.

This was the first time Whitstable had scored seven goals in an FA Cup tie; the last time they scored six was in 2004-05 in a 6-0 win against Wick during a memorable campaign that eventually saw them lose on penalties in a Second Round replay at Maidenhead. They will be on the road again in the next round when they play Edgware & Kingsbury on Saturday 16th August.

Whitstable are without a game on Saturday, but have arranged an away friendly at Beckenham Town on Tuesday. The next league fixture is at Bearsted the following Tuesday.

Lingfield	Data	Whitstable
2	Shots on target	10
4	Shots off target	5
0	Shots blocked	5
0	Corners	1
12	Fouls conceded	20
2	Offside	7
1	Penalties	0

Lingfield
Jack Webb-Olley, Jack McDonnell (c), Prince Aderogba (Joseph Forson 74), AJJ Harris, Tyrone Maala-Bryan, Rhyan Ramsay (Carl Brown 62), Stephen Hodge, Matthew Cheeseman, Jeff Duah-Kessie, Kobi Asante, Gus Ward (Tyrece Drummond 90).
Subs (unused): Charlie Gee, John Cave, Connor Summerfield, Adam Nicholson.
Goals: Jeff Duah-Kessie 20, (pen) 42.
Yellow card: Jack McDonnell 78

Whitstable Town
Daniel Colmer, Theo Osinfolarin, Finn O’Mara, Will Thomas (Callum Peck 46), Jake McIntyre (c), Jayden Boulton (Tagan Kray 90+2), James Miles (Jack Peters 67), Fin Cotton, Javaun Splatt (Joe Healy 61), Bradley Schafer, Ashdon Day (Dean Grant 61).
Subs (unused): Zach Keeble, Harry Baptiste.
Goals: Bradley Schafer 22, 60, Jake McIntyre 34, Javaun Splatt 38, Dean Grant 75, 86, 90+3.
Yellow cards: Javaun Splatt 21, Jayden Boulton 73.
Red card: Jack Peters 82

Attendance: 66
Referee: Mark Spence
Assistants: David Winter & Alex Howard