Home points continue to be in short supply for Whitstable as Punjab United were the latest visitors to enjoy their away trip to the north Kent coast. Whitstable did take an early lead when Dean Grant successfully lobbed the ball over goalkeeper Owen Bushell after a well-timed run left him in the clear. Punjab were then immediately reduced to ten men when Ryan Hayes was sin binned for ten minutes after claiming, incorrectly, that the goal should have been flagged offside. It mattered little as Punjab soon turned things around with two goals from corner kicks, Jack Barry heading in after an effort had rebounded off the bar and then Cruis Nyadzayo firing a loose ball into the net as Whitstable struggled to clear. Trailing at the break, Whitstable were the better team in the second half, but rarely looked likely to find a way through the Punjab defence. Grant shot wide from close range and Jerald Aboagye was denied by the goalkeeper late on as the visitors held on.

After two defeats, Whitstable were hoping to turn things around, but this certainly looked a tricky fixture in which to do so against a second placed Punjab United team that had yet to lose a league game this season and they are also a team that Whitstable had failed to beat in four previous attempts. Mike West was suspended for this game, but there was a welcome return for midfielder Mikey Dalton who had been out of action since suffering an injury during pre-season and also a homecoming for two other familiar faces, Dean Grant and Liam Gillies who have both recently re-joined from Hollands and Blair. Another former Blair player, Chris Edwards, who twice played against Whitstable in recent weeks, was in the opposition again after making a return to Punjab. On a sunny afternoon with some charity fund raising activities also taking place around the ground in memory of Matt Milne, 477 people were recorded through the gate.

The game began positively for Whitstable as they pushed forward and Grant won possession, giving Archie Hatcher a chance to shoot, but his effort from outside the box went over the bar. Grant then volleyed wide before Wayne Bushell met a right wing cross at the other end, but was unable to hit the target. Dalton and Harvey Smith worked an opening with the latter’s shot blocked, then a Whitstable free kick in the right corner was crossed to the back post where a downward header by Will Thomas was saved by Owen Bushell. Whitstable were rewarded for their early endeavour in the 13th minute when a clearance by Dan Colmer was helped on by Smith just inside his own half into the path of Grant whose run took him clear of the defence and he calmly lobbed the ball over the advancing goalkeeper into the net from 20 yards. Punjab were convinced Grant was offside and after continuing with the complaints, Ryan Hayes was sent to the sin bin. A review of the video footage later showed it to be a very good decision by the assistant.

A goal up and with a temporary numerical advantage on the pitch, home supporters would have been forgiven for thinking this might be their day, but Punjab had other ideas. An Edwards free kick was glanced wide by the head of Stephen Ratcliff, but the scores were level in the 20th minute. A corner was swung over by Edwards and Wayne Bushell made space for himself to volley the ball into the ground where it bounced up and appeared to deflect off a defender before striking the bar and rebounding perfectly for Jack Barry to head in from six yards. Apart from two lengthy injury delays, little happened until Punjab scored again from another corner in the 31st minute. This time a low delivery by Edwards caused more problems for Whitstable who struggled to clear and the ball eventually rolled to Cruis Nyadzayo who fired it into the net from a few yards out. Whitstable might have levelled again in the 40th minute when a Hatcher free kick found Smith beyond the far post, but he was unable to apply the finish, so the two set pieces left Whitstable trailing 2-1 at the break.

Whitstable had plenty of possession in the second half and worked hard without being able to create many clear cut chances. In the 54th minute, Archie Johnson sent Josh Oliver away down the left and his cross picked out Grant in the box, but after getting the ball under control he shot just wide of the left post. There followed plenty of effort, without sufficient quality for either goalkeeper to be tested, some substitutions, yellow cards for Smith and Dalton and the referee eventually lost patience with the constant advice for the officials coming from the visitors’ bench and showed a card to one of its occupants. Whitstable did go close on several occasions in the closing stages, but the Punjab defence stood firm until the 90th minute when goalkeeper Owen Bushell made a vital save with his legs from Jerald Aboagye after a blocked Smith shot rebounded to him a few yards from goal. A couple of crosses in added time failed to bring Whitstable any reward and Punjab were able to celebrate a hard earned three points to continue their promising start to the campaign.

Whitstable now have a break from league action with two cup matches. They travel to Margate on Friday evening to play Canterbury City in the Kent Senior Trophy, then the following Saturday there is a home FA Vase tie against Virginia Water.

Whitstable	Data	Punjab United
3	Shots on target	2
4	Shots off target	5
7	Shots blocked	1
5	Corners	4
9	Fouls conceded	4
3	Offside	0
0	Penalties	0

Whitstable Town
Dan Colmer, Jerald Aboagye, Archie Johnson, Mikey Dalton, Finn O’Mara, Will Thomas (c), Josh Oliver (Fin Dent 61), Archie Hatcher (Fin Cotton 70), Harvey Smith, Dean Grant, Liam Gillies.
Subs (unused): Reece Gillies, Dan Eason, Jake McIntyre.
Goal: Dean Grant 13
Yellow cards: Harvey Smith 84, Mikey Dalton 88.

Punjab United
Owen Bushell, Chris Edwards, Kyden Thomas, Jack Barry, Stephen Ratcliff (c), Jack Hopkins, Ryan Hayes, Wayne Bushell, Cruis Nyadzayo, Bradley Ryan (Jordan Campbell 64), Hudson Scudder (Jayden Hussain 83).
Subs (unused): Ashley Probets, Malachi Hudson, Reece Deakin.
Goals: Jack Barry 20, Cruis Nyadzayo 31.
Yellow card: Ryan Hayes (sin bin) 14

Attendance: 477
Referee: Matthew Pollington
Assistants: Tyler Diminieux & Jeff Davis