The congested early season fixture list, and the high number of injuries that have accompanied that, meant Whitstable sent a very different looking team to Sussex for this Velocity Cup game against Steyning Town. The game was effectively over after half an hour as the hosts built up a 3-0 lead, courtesy of an early Alex Brewer penalty, a well struck free kick by Adam Adam and a Billie Clark goal. There were first team debuts for seven players and six Whitstable Town academy students were included, but the team battled hard and only conceded a fourth goal in the 89th minute when Clark scored his second of the night. There was a late consolation for Whitstable when a Josh Ford cross was headed in by Dean Grant seconds before the final whistle.

The teams met for the first time ever on Saturday when Whitstable completed a comfortable 4-0 home win in the league. The draw for the Velocity Cup Second Round meant they would meet again, at Steyning just three days later. The punishing fixture schedule, which will continue with Whitstable playing twice a week for the next month, pointed to this being a completely different game. Consequently, manager Lee Martin made ten changes to the team that kicked off on Saturday, with just Matty Holness remaining. Dane Bough, aged 17, made his debut in goal, trialist Bruno Pereira was also given a start, and also in the squad were six promising young players from the academy: Marli Collier, Josh Newstead, Mason Buckingham, Jack Heaton, Josh Ford and Albie Curtis-Tooze. Robbie Rees became the ninth captain to lead the team out so far this season. Steyning themselves made a number of changes, with their team comprising five of the starting eleven and their five substitutes from the previous game, plus a change of goalkeeper. The game attracted a sparse crowd of 65 to watch events unfold on the 3G pitch.

The game could hardly have started more disappointingly for the Oystermen as they conceded a corner that was played short and when the ball came into the box, an attempted clearance hit Max Blencowe and ran loose. Adam Adam and Jack Hillier challenged for the ball and Hillier slid in and appeared to put it out for another corner, but Adam went down as they collided and the referee awarded a penalty that was dispatched into the top corner to give the Barrowmen the lead in the second minute. Things soon got worse when Holness was penalised for a push on Adam 28 yards from goal and Adam curled the free kick into the top left corner out of the reach of the young Whitstable keeper to make it 2-0 with just under 10 minutes played.

Whitstable had a chance on 19 minutes when Collier chipped the ball forward, Asamoah jumped for it with a couple of defenders and the ball dropped for Dean Grant who left footed shot bent wide. Adam flashed a low cross right across goal before Rees put a long range shot over the bar at the other end. Then Steyning scored their third goal in the 28th minute as two passes released Billie Clark down the left and he sped into the box before stroking the ball past Bough into the far corner of the net. In the 36th minute, a quick break down the left and a low cross by Clark gave Adam the chance to shoot, but this time Bough did well to push the ball away. Ryan Bernal had arrived late at the ground, but was introduced a few minutes before half time. Clark raced clear once more and his shot across goal hit the far post and Whitstable were able to clear the rebound. 3-0 down at the break, it appeared Whitstable's Velocity Cup journey was over.

Clark curled a shot wide at the start of the second half, then the home defence managed to block Grant's shot, while Bernal's follow up was easily saved by Sonny Carter. After Grant's 52nd minute shot was deflected wide, he then got his head to Collier's corner, but the ball went just the wrong side of the far post. Heaton and Ford came on to make their debuts in the 58th minute before Jesse Sentamu shot over following a corner kick. The game was paused while a yellow card was shown to the Whitstable bench who had expressed their frustration with the officiating. The remainder of the game, until the final few minutes, passed with few incidents, although two more Whitstable substitutes were introduced to make their first appearances, Buckingham and Curtis-Tooze. Steyning substitute Leo Ginger made a promising run, but his shot lacked the power to trouble Bough.

Just as it appeared that the game was drifting to a close, Steyning added a fourth goal in the 89th minute when Adam threaded a pass through the middle for Clark to shoot past Bough. Whitstable finally got some reward for their efforts with the last action of the night when Grant headed in Ford's cross from the left to make it 4-1 and the referee called a halt before the game restarted. It is perhaps a shame that these cup games have to be scheduled at such a busy time of the season, but it did at least provide an opportunity to give a number of young players some experience of first team football.

On Saturday, Whitstable travel to play early league leaders South Park Reigate, hoping to resume their impressive recent league form. The two teams sit first and second in the current form table with their last six matches earning South Park 16 points and Whitstable 12.

Steyning	Data	Whitstable
6	Shots on target	2
3	Shots off target	4
2	Shots blocked	4
3	Corners	2
7	Fouls conceded	13
0	Offside	1
1	Penalties	0

Steyning Town
Sonny Carter, Max Blencowe (Eddie Greening 73), Jared Rance, Conrad Honore, Marcus Allen, Jesse Sentamu (Elliott Hanslow 70), Billie Clark, Bright Kuntu-Blankson, Alex Brewer (Leo Gnger 61), Finn Daniels-Yeomans (c), Adam Adam.
Subs (unused): Alfie Mansell, Henry Yorke-Johnson.
Goals: Alex Brewer (pen) 2, Adam Adam 10, Billie Clark 28, 89.
Yellow card: Marcus Allen 52

Whitstable Town
Dane Bough, Matty Holness, Nathan Green (Mason Buckingham 76), Jack Hillier (Albie Curtis-Tooze 79), Josh Newstead (Josh Ford 58), Tom Hanfrey, Marli Collier (Jack Heaton 58), Robbie Rees (c), Dean Grant, Derek Asamoah, Bruno Pereira (Ryan Bernal 38).
Subs (unused): none
Goal: Dean Grant 90+3
Yellow cards: Matty Holness 18, Nathan Green 23, Josh Ford 68.

Attendance: 65
Referee: Joshua Langley-Fineing
Assistants: John Pike & Daniel Woolmer