Whitstable made the short trip to Faversham for this Bank Holiday derby, but were left to rue failing to take several good opportunities and ultimately it was two good finishes from distance by Sam Hasler, either side of a well-taken goal by Josh Williams, which decided the outcome. Whitstable enjoyed plenty of good possession and created the better chances, but home goalkeeper Bailey Vose and captain Connor Essam denied them on several occasions in the first half and Hasler’s set piece strike separated the teams at the break. Williams equalised late in the second half to give the large contingent of visiting fans hope, only for Hasler to restore Faversham’s lead a few minutes later to claim maximum points.

This was the first league fixture on the new 3G pitch at Faversham, who have invested heavily in the ground and team, aiming to make a swift return to the Isthmian League after suffering relegation last season. Whitstable, now in their second season back in the SCEFL, made four changes to their starting eleven for this second game of the holiday weekend, with Ben Cheklit, Tyler Anderson, Harry Gamble and Josh Oliver all returning. The Faversham squad contained several former Oystermen, as Jefferson Aibangbee and Kieron Campbell started, with Ollie Gray on the bench. A significant number of Whitstable supporters were among the 655 crowd on a pleasant late August afternoon.

Whitstable started promisingly and should have opened the scoring in the 13th minute when Anderson raced past his marker on the left before pulling the ball back for Gamble near the penalty spot and with the goalkeeper beaten, he tried to steer the ball home, but former Dartford defender Connor Essam got back well to clear off the line. Oliver then gave Williams the chance to shoot following a sequence of passes, but his shot was deflected wide for a corner. It was the home side that took the lead though in the 23rd minute when the referee adjudged Tom Mills had fouled Aibangbee about 28 yards out and Sam Hasler collected a short pass before drilling the ball past Dan Eason into the bottom right corner. Whitstable had chances to reply shortly afterwards, as Gamble received the ball from Cheklit and laid it off for Oliver whose shot was saved by Bailey Vose. Then, another swift break down the left by Anderson led to a cross for Liam Gillies, but it was Essam again who managed to block his firm shot from the edge of the box. At the other end. Matt Parsons saw his shot deflected behind, then a good run by Aibangbee looked threatening, but he curled his shot just past the far post. Eason comfortably collected another Parsons shot before Whitstable again had a great opportunity to equalise when Cheklit sent Oliver racing through with just Vose to beat, but the goalkeeper managed to deflect the ball wide with his legs. Whitstable then failed to make the most of a free kick just outside the area when a couple of touches gave the defence time to block the shot from Williams. Oliver had one more sight of goal just before half time, but was again denied by Vose.

The second half began as the first ended, with Vose saving another Oliver shot, then Williams made good progress down the right before cutting back and shooting across goal, but just wide. Whitstable continued to search for an equaliser with another effort by Oliver blocked and a good sequence of quick passes halted by an offside flag, before Faversham made a couple of changes. Gillies had a shot saved by Vose following a one-two with Oliver, then an Anderson cross was sliced towards his own goal by Essam, but Vose was able to catch the ball safely. Whitstable introduced Steadman Callender just prior to deservedly equalising in the 72nd minute. Gillies sent the ball forward to Williams and he made room to send a right footed shot into the bottom left corner, beating the diving Vose. Faversham were back in front in the 82nd minute when Hasler collected the ball in space around 30 yards out and fired a terrific left footed shot past Eason into the net. Whitstable made further changes as Faversham tried to manage the closing stages of the game, collecting a couple of bookings and making some late substitutions in the eight added minutes. There was only really one more chance of note and that went to Faversham when Gray headed a corner off the top of the bar with his first touch after coming on, so Faversham held on for a 2-1 win.

The FA Cup returns on Saturday, with both Whitstable and Faversham hosting Isthmian Premier Division opponents, Wingate & Finchley and Lewes, respectively.

Faversham	Data	Whitstable
4	Shots on target	8
4	Shots off target	1
3	Shots blocked	4
8	Corners	3
19	Fouls conceded	13
4	Offside	5
0	Penalties	0

Faversham Town
Bailey Vose, Matt Parsons, Jake McIntyre, Connor Essam (c), Jacques Kpohomouh, Sam Hasler, Jefferson Aibangbee (Gary Lockyer 65), Mo Kamara (Kieron McCann 64), Warren Mfula, Billy Bennett (Ollie Gray 90+3), Kieron Campbell (Josh Vincent 90+8).
Sub (unused): Eban Gurung
Goals: Sam Hasler 25, 82.
Yellow cards: Sam Hasler 45+1, Jake McIntyre 51, Gary Lockyer 90+6, Kieron McCann 90+6.

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Jake Mackenzie, George Sheminant, Ben Cheklit, Will Thomas, Tom Mills (c), Tyler Anderson (Steadman Callender 75), Liam Gillies, Josh Oliver (Eri Akintimehin 84), Harry Gamble (Jack Palmby 84), Josh Williams (Ed May 90).
Sub (unused): Josh Robson
Goal: Josh Williams 76
Yellow card: Harry Gamble 32

Attendance: 655
Referee: Nick Bone
Assistants: Byron Beard & Thomas Sansom