Whitstable travelled to play fellow play-off hopefuls Rusthall on Saturday for what looked like a challenging fixture between two in-form teams, but the game certainly did not work out that way. Once a couple of defensive mistakes led to Connor Wilkins opening the scoring in the 35th minute, there only ever looked like being one winner and Albie O'Mara-Knapp made it two before the break. Things got worse for Rusthall in the second half and two Dean Grant goals, a Jake McIntyre free kick and another from Bradley Schafer gave Whitstable a very comfortable 6-0 win, which might well have been more. A red card for Yassin Fares completed the misery for the home team.

This was the fourth game in seven days for Whitstable and once again they shuffled their team around and there were five changes to the team that had beaten Lordswood two days before. Prior to losing their previous game to VCD Athletic, Rusthall had been unbeaten in the league since early November and had been transformed from relegation candidates to genuine contenders at the other end of the table. Their very poor set of results in the early weeks of the season did however include one notable win, 3-1 at Whitstable! The recent great run of the Oystermen had moved them ahead of their hosts, although both were occupying place places at kick-off. There was a good crowd of 410 in attendance to watch events unfold.

There was no hint of things to come in the opening exchanges, as both teams created a couple of half chances. Connor Wilkins had a shot saved and a low Jack Kirby shot from 20 yards went just wide at the other end. A Wilkins header from Mikey Dalton's free kick was caught under the bar by Serine Sanneh just after the half hour mark before Whitstable did take the lead. An attempted clearance was sliced into the middle by a Rusthall defender where Ashdon Day set the ball down for Wilkins whose shot somehow found its way past the former England youth international goalkeeper Sanneh into the net.

Rusthall tried to respond and won a corner that was put wide at the back post by Nodirbek Bobomuradov. Whitstable made it 2-0 in the 41st minute when Dalton sent the ball into the box, Dean Grant got the better of Robbie Bissett and crossed for Albie O'Mara-Knapp to finish well for his first Whitstable goal. Just before half time, a long range shot by Dalton was spilt by Sanneh, who then recovered quickly to deny Bradley Schafer and Rusthall escaped to remain two behind when the teams left the pitch.

Any chance that Rusthall had of getting back into the game was probably ended in the 47th minute when Whitstable scored again. The referee allowed play to continue following a Rusthall foul and Wilkins managed to slip the ball through for Grant who finished well across goal into the bottom right corner. Finn O'Mara headed a free kick wide before Schafer was brought down just outside the box, earning a yellow card for Frankie Griffin. McIntyre stepped up to power a great free kick into the top left corner giving Sanneh no chance and it was 4-0 in the 54th minute. The game was over and both managers started to make changes. Poor defending by Rusthall almost let Day in, but his shot went wide. Whitstable did score again in the 66th minute when a long ball over the top by McIntyre was dropped by the goalkeeper, who had an afternoon to forget, and Grant rolled the ball into the empty net.

Things got worse for the home side when a high tackle by Yassin Fares on Ricardo Thompson resulted in a red card for the Rusthall number 99 in the 74th minute. The sixth Whitstable goal was scored by Schafer in the 82nd minute when he collected O'Mara-Knapp's cross from the right and managed to step past the covering defender and find the net. The winning margin could have been greater as the chances continued and Robbie Rees had a shot saved, although Dan Colmer was belatedly called into action in the 86th minute when Rusthall managed their only shot on target. Thompson Adeyemi sent fellow substitute Louie Clarke through on goal, only for the Whitstable goalkeeper to make a good save low to his left. Whitstable went very close to a seventh goal in added time when Louis Anderson's header back to Sanneh fell short and O'Mara-Knapp knocked the ball past the stranded goalkeeper, but it rolled just wide of the unguarded net. It mattered little as the comprehensive 6-0 win secured a play-off spot for Whitstable and put them in a great position to finish in third place for a home semi-final.

The action keeps coming for Whitstable, with three more league games to play in the last week of the season, starting with a home fixture against Fisher, another team in the play-off chase, on Easter Monday.

Rusthall	Data	Whitstable
1	Shots on target	11
2	Shots off target	9
3	Shots blocked	3
2	Corners	4
13	Fouls conceded	15
0	Offside	0
0	Penalties	0

Rusthall
Serine Sanneh, Louis Anderson, Jack Lyons (Mustafa Hashemi 76), Frank Griffin (Tommy Lawrence 76), Robbie Bissett (c), Daniel Blunn, Yassin Fares, Nodirbek Bobomuradov (Thompson Adeyemi 57), Charlie Clover (Louie Clarke 71), Jack Kirby (Steadman Callender 71), Kalani Barton.
Subs (unused): none
Yellow cards: Nodirbek Bobomuradov 42, Frank Griffin 53.
Red card: Yassin Fares 74

Whitstable Town
Dan Colmer, Ricardo Thompson, Adedapo Olugbodi (Will Thomas 85), Mikey Dalton, Finn O’Mara, Jake McIntyre (c), Albie O’Mara-Knapp, Connor Wilkins (Robbie Rees 56), Dean Grant (Ronald Sithole 76), Bradley Schafer (Jerald Aboagye 83), Ashdon Day (Harvey Smith 68).
Subs (unused): none
Goals: Connor Wilkins 35, Albie O’Mara-Knapp 41, Dean Grant 47, 66, Jake McIntyre 54, Bradley Schafer 82.
Yellow cards: Connor Wilkins 55, Dean Grant 73.

Attendance: 410
Referee: Mark Fitzpatrick
Assistants: Chris Skilton & Maxim Solovyev