Whitstable Town 1st Team
Matches
Wed 31 Aug 2022  ·  Premier Division
Canterbury City
0
3
Whitstable Town Football Club
Whitstable Town 1st Team
M Gething (8'), H O'Donnell (15'), J Huggins (60')
Three Out Of Three In The League

Three Out Of Three In The League

Ron Martin3 Sep 2022 - 00:43
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https://www.whitstabletownfc.c

Whitstable bounce back from cup disappointment with a comfortable away win

CANTERBURY CITY 0 WHITSTABLE TOWN 3
SCEFL Premier Division
Wednesday August 31 2022 19.45

This “Bank Holiday” fixture, which was delayed by a couple of days due to Canterbury’s FA Vase tie on Sunday, resulted in a straightforward win for Whitstable. Two well taken early goals by Matt Gething and Harry O’Donnell were a reward for a very bright start by Whitstable, who played some good football throughout the game. They were guilty of missing a number of opportunities to add to their score and had to settle for just one more goal from James Huggins on the hour mark. Canterbury never really threatened a resolute Whitstable defence and Dan Eason in goal did not have a save to make throughout the entire match.

Both teams were dumped out of the FA Vase at the weekend, with Whitstable exiting in a penalty shootout at Westside and Canterbury losing 2-1 to Phoenix Sports on Sunday. In the league, Canterbury had won one and lost two of their three games played and Whitstable had just played the two away games, collecting six points and two clean sheets on their travels. Former Oystermen Danny Walder and Danny Keyte were in the Canterbury team, who have a new “home ground” at Sittingbourne this season. Whitstable manager Richard Styles made several changes to the starting eleven, with Joe Nelder, Ryan Flack and Harry O’Donnell coming in for Reece Gillies, Josh Oliver and George Sheminant.

Whitstable took the game to their hosts from the start, pressing the Canterbury players and passing the ball around quickly, using the full width of the pitch. Tom Mills almost set up Gething, but the ball just got away from him in the box. The early pressure soon brought a goal, which came just after Canterbury were awarded a corner at the other end. The ball was quickly cleared to Gething on the right, who passed it across to Lightfoot he pulled it back from the left for O’Donnell to cross to the back post where Gething arrived to force the ball home to give Whitstable an 8th minute lead. Another goal always looked likely and it came in the 15th minute when Huggins found Gething on the right and his cross was volleyed into the net by O’Donnell from about 6 yards out. The chances continued as Will Thomas headed a corner just wide, Tom Mills had a shot blocked, Ryan Flack’s low drive was held by Lee Kidman in the home goal and O’Donnell shot over the bar. The only attempt by Canterbury in a one-sided first half saw Walder try his luck from 25 yards, but his shot sailed high over the bar. Whitstable won several corners in a spell of pressure during which O’Donnell and Flack had shots deflected away by home defenders. A few minutes before the break, a promising Whitstable attack ended with Kidman saving a low Huggins shot and the score was 0-2 at half time.

Whitstable threatened again early in the second half, with Flack and Lightfoot firing just over the top, then Gething had a shot deflected behind. Joe Nwoko did try to make something of a rare Canterbury attack, but his effort was quickly snuffed out on the edge of the penalty area. Whitstable scored their third goal in the 60th minute when Flack collected the ball in the centre circle and picked out the run of Huggins, who coolly rolled it past the advancing goalkeeper. It was almost four immediately after the restart as Nelder sent Gething clear, but his lob over Kidman bounced up and hit the underside of the bar before being cleared. The flow of the game then became interrupted with numerous substitutions, although there were still more opportunities for Whitstable. Flack and Gething both shot over and Kidman denied substitute George Sheminant. The ball was in the Canterbury net again in the 89th minute, when a Mills cross was turned in, but it was ruled out by the assistant’s flag. In added time, Gething and Josh Oliver both had shots blocked before Richard Atkins collected the rebound and played in Oliver who placed his shot just the wrong side of the far post. Mills volleyed a cross over the top just before the referee called a half to proceedings, with the score somehow remaining 0-3.

It was a good performance by Whitstable, but on another day, they would hope to convert a higher percentage of their chances. Attention now turns to the first home game of the season and the start of a new era, with a 3G pitch at the Belmont; Welling Town are the visitors.

CanterburyDataWhitstable
0Shots on target7
1Shots off target10
1Shots blocked7
2Corners6
8Fouls conceded4
4Offside5
0Penalties0

Canterbury City
Lee Kidman, Wesley Jno-Baptiste, Marcus Travers, Danny Keyte (c), Alex Emery (Enike Ayomoto 74), Cameron George, Danny Walder, Tyrell Mitford, Devonte Roberts (Alex Coyne 56), Joe Nwoko, Gerry Owen (Oliver Ruler 82).
Subs (unused): Dylan Ruler, Teddy Chandler.

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Jake Mackenzie (Joe Jarvis 82), Tom Mills, James Huggins, Freeman Rogers (c), Will Thomas, Kyron Lightfoot (James Jeffrey 63), Joe Nelder (Josh Oliver 68), Matt Gething, Ryan Flack (Richard Atkins 76), Harry O’Donnell (George Sheminant 63).
Subs (unused): none
Goals: Matt Gething 8, Harry O’Donnell 15, James Huggins 60.

Attendance: 145
Referee: Jacob Miller
Assistants: Stuart Beadle & Chris Clarke

Match details

Match date

Wed 31 Aug 2022

Kickoff

19:45

Attendance

145

Competition

Premier Division

League position

5
Whitstable Town
19
Canterbury City
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