A six game winning run came to an end with a disappointing home performance against a hard working Welling Town team on a wet afternoon at the Belmont. Marcus Elliott gave the visitors an early lead in a poor first half of football during which Whitstable failed to register a single effort on target. The second half was a little more entertaining, but after Josh Williams had levelled it up from the penalty spot, Jack Rankin made several good saves to deny Whitstable and the points looked likely to be shared. Nearly eleven minutes were added at the end however and Harvey Smith volleyed Whitstable ahead, only for an Andrew Mott free kick from distance to find its way into the net shortly afterwards. Substitute Perez Goumou was then given the time and space to pick his spot and score a very late winner for Welling when the home defence went completely missing.

Welling Town were the first team to play against Whitstable on the new 3G pitch at the Belmont in September 2022 and spoilt the party with a 3-1 away win. This season they have had a difficult start in the league and arrived having won only once in their first thirteen matches. Whitstable were hoping to extend their recent winning run to seven games. Liam Gillies and Harvey Smith returned to the Whitstable team, while former Whitstable strikers Marcus Elliott and Seb Rowland were in the Welling eleven. There was a presentation before the kick off to Jake Mackenzie for passing 250 Whitstable appearances in midweek. The below average 271 attendance was unsurprising on a very wet day in east Kent.

There were two early corners for Welling in an otherwise quiet beginning to the game, but they took the lead on 9 minutes. The ball was worked forward from a throw in on the left and Frankie White pulled the ball across for Elliott to steer past Dan Eason into the net. The remainder of the first half passed with few moments of quality from either team, as Whitstable struggled to create any real openings, but the pace of Josh Williams on the right led to the best opportunities for an equaliser. In the 19th minute, he cut in before trying a shot that struck Dominic Vincent before the ball rebounded off the defender to Emmanuel Oloyede then onto the far post, but it wouldn’t have counted as the assistant had flagged Oloyede offside. Williams later shot just wide from the edge of the area and, at the other end, Tom Mills blocked a Chandler Kasai shot, then Eason safely caught a header by Rowland from the resulting corner as half time approached, but it was all pretty dull and Whitstable went into the break still trailing by the single goal.

Andrew Mott shot wide from distance and Kasai picked out Eason when in a good position on the left, but Whitstable then drew level in the 54th minute when Smith played Williams through and as he raced into the area, he was brought down by the diving Rankin and referee Chris Cannon awarded a penalty that was converted by Williams himself. Whitstable began to create further chances and Smith collected a pass from Oloyede before hitting a good shot that was well saved. The next few minutes saw several attempts by Williams and Smith blocked or go wide of the goal. There was a chance for Welling when an Elliott cross was headed wide by the diving Rowland. Tyler Anderson had a shot deflected for a corner before Rankin tipped another Smith shot over the bar from an Oloyede cross. In the 75th minute, Williams put Smith through again and once more Rankin saved. After both managers had made changes, a low Williams cross was missed by everyone in the box. With a few minutes of the ninety remaining, Perez Goumou shot past the far post and a couple of dangerous balls went across the Whitstable box before being cleared, then a Smith header was claimed by Rankin just before the referee signalled a minimum of six added minutes would be played.

Then the late drama began. Josh Oliver ran onto a Liam Gillies pass before sending over a cross from the right corner that was powerfully volleyed towards goal by Smith and this time Rankin was unable to keep the ball out of the net and it appeared that Whitstable had won the game in the 91st minute. From the restart, Whitstable conceded a soft free kick just inside their own half on the left, which Mott curled towards the near post. Elliott tried to get a touch, but the ball appeared to bounce straight into the roof of the net past Eason and the scores were level again in the 94th minute. There was still time for a booking for Rowland, a substitution and a Whitstable corner before Welling snatched a winner in the 99th minute. A goal kick by Rankin was met by the head of Eri Akintimehin on the halfway line, but the ball fell kindly for Elliott who took it forward on the right and with half of the Whitstable team all on that side of the pitch, his low cross arrived at the feet of Goumou, completely free on the 18 yard line and he took his time before curling the ball over Eason into the top right corner. There were still a couple more minutes to be played, but no way back for Whitstable and Welling were able to celebrate a valuable 3-2 win.

Next Saturday, Whitstable travel to Rusthall for another SCEFL Premier Division game on Remembrance weekend and they will need to get back on track after a disappointing result.

Whitstable	Data	Welling Town
5	Shots on target	4
7	Shots off target	3
4	Shots blocked	3
4	Corners	3
6	Fouls conceded	14
5	Offside	1
1	Penalties	0

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Jake Mackenzie, George Sheminant, Mikey Dalton, Will Thomas (Eri Akintimehin 85), Tom Mills (c), Tyler Anderson (Josh Oliver 78), Liam Gillies, Emmanuel Oloyede (Reece Gillies 90+3), Harvey Smith, Josh Williams.
Subs (unused): Ed May, Jack Palmby.
Goals: Josh Williams (pen) 54, Harvey Smith 90+1.

Welling Town
Jack Rankin, Luke Hearn, Dominic Vincent (Harrison Bacon 90+3), Andrew Mott, Daniel Awokere, Joe Smith (c), Chandler Kasai (Perez Goumou 78), Frankie White (Lucky Adesina 90+6), Marcus Elliott, Seb Rowland, Jordan Samuel.
Subs (unused): none
Goals: Marcus Elliott 9, Andrew Mott 90+4, Perez Goumou 90+9.
Yellow cards: Dominic Vincent 76, Seb Rowland 90+5.

Attendance: 271
Referee: Chris Cannon
Assistants: Ismail Isik & Will Sanderson