Having previously won just once in more than three months, Whitstable treated their fans to a second success at the Belmont in just four days. This was a much tighter game than the 3-0 defeat of Whitehawk on Saturday, but new player manager Andy Drury and his team put in another good performance to eventually overcome a useful Chichester team. Whitstable had the better of a goalless first half, during which Drury struck the bar from distance, but then lost two players due to injury. The decisive goal was scored from a corner early in the second when Scott Doe’s header found its way into the net after striking the underside of the bar. Chichester had a lot of possession in the last 25 minutes, but were unable test Dan Eason in the home goal who was well protected by a hard-working defensive display by the whole team.

This was the third meeting of the season for the two teams, but the first at the Belmont Ground. A youthful Whitstable squad were beaten 4-0 in the FA Trophy a couple of days after the resignation of Lloyd Blackman in September, then Keith McMahon’s team were edged out 2-1 in a league fixture a few weeks later. The Sussex team made the long midweek journey to Kent, without regular right back Ryan Davidson, sitting comfortably in mid table despite a 3-0 loss to Corinthian in their last game. Whitstable continued their quest for points to lift them off the bottom. Andy Drury named the same team that had beaten Whitehawk, but Muhammed Cham who scored in the league defeat at Chichester returned to take his place on the bench. There were 265 in attendance at this rearranged midweek fixture to see if Whitstable could build on their return to winning ways.

It was a bright start from the Kent side, but the first goal attempt was an ambitious shot from Ben Mendoza that was comfortably held by Eason. Charlie Heatley and George Monger cleverly set up Drury whose shot was saved at the near post by Kieran Magee. In the 14th minute, Drury ran on to a good Harry Goodger flicked header on the left and chipped Magee from about 25 yards, only to see the ball rebound off the bar. It looked as though Heatley would tuck the rebound home, but he could only steer it the wrong side of the post. Chichester broke quickly from the first Whitstable corner, but left back Veron Nzinga got across well to deny Ethan Prichard. A promising spell of possession by the visitors eventually led to an opening for Callum Overton in the box, but he shot straight at Eason. The tireless Heatley made himself some space before shooting wide, then he won the ball in midfield and found Jack Hanson on the right of the area and he turned past his marker before his left footed shot was smothered by Magee as the unmarked Heatley waited in vain for a return pass. Overton was booked for a foul on Drury and Danny Walder tried to repeat his free kick success from the last game, but this time found the trees. Whitstable suffered a blow in the 41st minute when Hanson chased a ball over the top, but collided with the goalkeeper who just managed to head the ball clear. Both were injured and Hanson was somewhat harshly shown a yellow card before having to depart the action with a dead leg. The final chance of the half was created by Heatley on the left who fired the ball towards the near post where Magee did enough to keep the ball out as substitute Montrell Deslandes closed in.

In the 52nd minute, Magee punched a Walder free kick out to the 18 yard line where Deslandes and Drury collided as the Whitstable manager headed the ball back towards Heatley who appeared to be pushed over as he was about to shoot. The referee blew, but not for a penalty, and just restarted the game with a dropped ball following treatment to Deslandes who had taken a nasty knock to the face. Heatley then won the ball on the left, but shot wide from a narrow angle. In the 56th minute, an attempted clearance hit Deslandes and the defender tried to avoid the rebound, but the officials decided he failed to get out of the way and awarded a corner. Walder’s delivery from the right was headed powerfully against the underside of the bar and appeared to go into the net off Magee as several players followed in., but it was enough to give Whitstable a vital lead. Deslandes then had to be replaced after failing to recover from his injury. Chichester made a double change on 65 minutes, introducing Tyrone Madhani and Kaleem Haitham, and went on to enjoy the majority of possession for the remainder of the game. Will Thomas, who had a good game alongside Doe in central defence, made a crucial block as Haitham tried a shot following Chichester’s first corner in the 72nd minute. Josh Clack hit the side netting, before Walder was cautioned for limping off too slowly when being substituted. Haitham was off target again and Rob Hutchings volleyed over the top, then a left wing cross was headed tamely towards Eason by Lewis Hyde. At the other end, Heatley continued to chase down everything and together with Goodger did a good job relieving pressure. Hyde headed a cross wide in added time and Whitstable held on for the 1-0 win and another valuable three points.

Whitstable have certainly played much better football in the past couple of games and next travel to Corinthian on Saturday to see if their winning run can be extended. There are just four games remaining and four wins must be the aim to try to climb out of danger.

Whitstable	Data	Chichester
4	Shots on target	3
6	Shots off target	5
1	Shots blocked	1
4	Corners	3
12	Fouls conceded	12
1	Offside	1
0	Penalties	0

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Jake Mackenzie (c), Veron Nzinga, George Monger, Scott Doe, Will Thomas, Danny Walder (George McIlroy 78), Andy Drury, Charlie Heatley, Harry Goodger, Jack Hanson (Montrell Deslandes 43, Stephen Okoh 59).
Subs (unused): Jack Miles, Muhammed Cham
Goal: Scott Doe 56
Yellow cards: Jack Hanson 41, Danny Walder 78, Charlie Heatley 85, Harry Goodger 90+3.

Chichester City
Kieran Magee, Jack Farrier (Tyrone Madhani 65), Rob Hutchings, Emmett Dunn, Lewis Hyde, Ben Pashley (c), Lloyd Rowlatt, Ben Mendoza, Callum Overton, Josh Clack, Ethan Prichard (Kaleem Haitham 65).
Subs (unused): Lloyd Coote, Daniel Potter, Oliver Carroll.
Yellow card: Callum Overton 36

Attendance: 265
Referee: Kane Dempster
Assistants: Michael Butcher & Wayne Horsfall