Whitstable manager Marcel Nimani’s first home game could not have been any tougher, as league pacesetters Erith and Belvedere made the trip to the north Kent coast on a warm October afternoon. Two away wins since the change had built confidence and anticipation of a close encounter, which undoubtedly helped to attract over five hundred to the game. They were not disappointed as the two teams produced plenty of good football and a dramatic conclusion. Whitstable edged the first half and led at the break as Harrison Carnegie scored on his debut. The second half saw the Deres apply more pressure on the home defence and Tyrell Richardson-Brown eventually equalised. Both teams had further chances, but the real drama occurred in stoppage time when Rob Strachan headed the Deres into the lead in the 93rd minute, only for substitute Muhammed Cham to volley in a last gasp leveller four minutes later.

Erith and Belvedere started the season with eleven straight league wins before losing to Tunbridge Wells in their most recent game, but still arrived at the Belmont with a very healthy lead at the top of the table. Two former Oystermen, Jack Miles and George Monger, were in their squad. There was a lot of optimism among the home supporters following two impressive performances since the new management team had been in charge. Helge Orome made his first home appearance since joining from Herne Bay and Harrison Carnegie, who had most recently been playing for Brightlingsea Regent in the Isthmian Premier Division, came in for his debut. Two other recent signings, Jeffrey Oredein and Atta Gyedu were on the bench.

Whitstable began promisingly, but there were few early clear cut chances. Stephen Okoh was fouled to the right of the box and when Kyron Lightfoot’s free kick was cleared to the 18 yard line, Carnegie tried a shot that failed to trouble Adam Molloy. Richardson-Brown, who had a good battle with Whitstable left back George Sheminant throughout the afternoon, blasted a shot well over the bar. Lightfoot was then also unable to keep his shot down when a poor clearance reached him. On 20 minutes, Dan Eason saved a low shot from Richardson-Brown after he was played in by Nathan Palmer. Whitstable then put together a great sequence of passes, but were unable to find an end product. They did find a way through in the 26th minute however when Sheminant won the ball in his own box before finding Dean Grant who did well on the left to skip past Ryan Palmer and send over a good cross to the back post where Carnegie arrived just in time to steer the ball inside the post. Soon afterwards, Anthony Morrison scuffed his shot wide for the Deres. Lightfoot was the first to be shown a card by the busy referee in the 34th minute for a challenge on Danny Lear; the away bench wanted a red, but a yellow was the decision. Grant was off target for Whitstable then a Lear cross came to nothing. There were corners at both ends as half time approached and Ryan Palmer curled an effort well wide after a threatening run from the right, but Whitstable still led by the single goal at the interval.

At the start of the second half, Lightfoot was replaced by Oredein and Monger came on in place of Miles for the Deres. The two substitutes had only been on the pitch for a few minutes when they were both shown yellow cards for some pushing and shoving. Oredein had to be substituted himself after sustaining a painful injury when fouled by Bradley Ryan. Defences were mainly on top, but the Deres made it 1-1 in the 65th minute when Jerome Wade broke into the box from a Ryan pass and although Tom Mills managed to get a challenge in, he only succeeded in diverting the ball across to Richardson-Brown who shot past Eason from close range. Eight cards had been shown, but when Orome was brought down by Ryan, he somehow escaped a second yellow, to the frustration of the home supporters. In the 77th minute, a good Nathan Palmer cross was met on the volley by Ryan, but Eason made a good save. Richardson-Brown made room for a shot, but put it wide, then Cham was set up by fellow substitute James Jeffrey, but the ball deflected just wide from a narrow angle. Former academy player Cham had two more attempts in the 90th minute, shooting wide after running on to Jeffrey’s ball over the top, then hooking a shot at Molloy following a throw in.

The six scheduled minutes of stoppage time brought plenty of action and the Deres looked to have won the game when a corner from the left found its way to Lear on the right and his cross was headed in by a stooping Strachan. Whitstable then sent on Gyedu for his debut, but it was Cham who became the hero when he volleyed in a great right wing cross from Carnegie with just seconds remaining, to a great cheer from the crowd. The final whistle soon followed and 2-2 was probably a fair result in the end, with the 507 in attendance having witnessed a memorable afternoon of SCEFL football.

Whitstable are at home again next Saturday when Punjab United are the visitors.

Whitstable	Data	E&B
4	Shots on target	4
3	Shots off target	6
1	Shots blocked	0
3	Corners	7
15	Fouls conceded	13
3	Offside	3
0	Penalties	0

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Jake Mackenzie, George Sheminant, Joe Nelder (James Jeffrey 78), Will Thomas (Atta Gyedu 90+4), Tom Mills (c), Stephen Okoh (Muhammed Cham 73), Helge Orome, Dean Grant, Kyron Lightfoot (Jeffrey Oredein 46, Josh Oliver 64), Harrison Carnegie.
Subs (unused): none
Goals: Harrison Carnegie 26, Muhammed Cham 90+7.
Yellow cards: Kyron Lightfoot 34, Dean Grant 41, Jeffrey Oredein 49, Will Thomas 60, Tom Mills 72.

Erith and Belvedere
Adam Molloy, Ryan Palmer, Anthony Morrison, Ryan Johnson (c), Jack Miles (George Monger 46), Rob Strachan, Tyrell Richardson-Brown, Jerome Wade, Danny Lear, Nathan Palmer, Bradley Ryan.
Subs (unused): Rory Ward, George Purcell, Ben Wilson, Tunde Aderonmu.
Goals: Tyrell Richardson-Brown 65, Rob Strachan 90+3.
Yellow cards: George Monger 49, Ryan Johnson 53, Bradley Ryan 62.

Attendance: 507
Referee: Benjamin Marshall
Assistants: Darren Wilson & Thomas Marshall