After a run of seven home games in various competitions, Whitstable were finally back on the road as the season entered its last two months. The trip to Ashford to play Kennington brought another three points to strengthen their position at the top of the table, where they are now 18 points clear. An unspectacular first half looked likely to remain goalless, with a great Bradley Schafer shot that hit the bar the closest anyone came to breaking the deadlock, until Whitstable were gifted a goal just before the interval when Jack Nelson was left with the simple task of putting the ball into the empty net after a mix up in the home defence. Whitstable were much better in a one sided second half and Will Thomas added a second goal, but some good goalkeeping by Joe Mant kept the score down. Whitstable gave their supporters a brief moment of anxiety when they conceded an unnecessary penalty in the 90th minute that was converted by Ryan Philpott, but they could soon relax again when Dean Grant immediately replied to make the final score 3-1.

This was the first away game for Whitstable since their FA Vase win at Harpenden Town in mid-January and they were looking to extend their incredible run of away wins in a strong league campaign. Their first two away fixtures brought just one point from a possible six, but since then all eleven games had been won. Their last league defeat was by Snodland Town at home, back in September. Whitstable had beaten 13th placed Kennington 2-1 in the reverse fixture. Sinnkaye Christie, an experienced defender who signed for the Oystermen in the week, was included in the team, which was without a number of players, with Ricardo Thompson the latest addition to the injury list. Brad Walledge, who made 12 appearances for Whitstable earlier in the season was in the Kennington team.

There were few opportunities in the early part of the game, with a couple of wayward attempts the only action of note until Whitstable almost opened the scoring in the 19th minute when Bradley Schafer received the ball from Finn O'Mara and unleashed a shot from 20 yards that beat goalkeeper Joe Mant, but cannoned off the bar before being hacked clear. A Lewis Chambers throw was partially cleared to O'Mara who volleyed the ball towards goal, but it struck a defender and was scrambled away. The best football of the half opened up the Kennington defence in the 30th minute when some quick passing through midfield released Theo Osinfolarin on the right and he pulled the ball across for Javaun Splatt whose first time shot was kept out by a combination of Elliott Moore and Mant on the line.

The referee missed an obvious foul on Christie that led to a Kennington corner, from which they created an opportunity for Joe Fisher to try a shot from 18 yards, but it was blocked in a crowded box. In the 44th minute, some miscommunication on the 18 yard line between Mant and Adam Phillips, who both failed to cut out a ball forward by Jayden Boulton, left Jack Nelson with an empty goal ahead of him and he was able to give Whitstable a 1-0 half time lead after a largely frustrating first 45 minutes.

Nelson had a chance to add a second early in the second half when a good Boulton cross picked him out, but his header down from about eight yards was comfortably saved. A nasty collision between Dan Colmer and Christie resulted in the new Whitstable defender suffering a blow to the head that meant a premature end to his first game for the club and he was replaced by Jack Peters in the 53rd minute. A long clearance by Mant following a Whitstable corner found Walledge who brought the ball down, but his shot from the edge of the area was saved. When Schafer was fouled, his free kick to the back post was headed back into the middle by Chambers to Will Thomas whose first effort was blocked, but he was able to steer the rebound into the net to give Whitstable a 2-0 lead in the 63rd minute.

Another goal could have quickly followed when Boulton won the ball, drove forward and found Nelson on the edge of the box, but Mant saved and when the ball eventually came back to Nelson, Mant was there to deny him again. Tom Scorer headed a left wing cross high over the bar before Ronald Sithole was introduced for Whitstable who will be wondering how they failed to add further goals in a seven minute spell during which they had six corners and Mant made a series of saves from Sithole, Schafer and Peters, who twice saw fierce shots pushed away by the busy goalkeeper, while a couple of other good opportunities were put wide. There was a brief moment of action at the other end when Fisher tried a shot from 25 yards that Colmer turned around the post and from the resulting corner a dummy by Philpott gave Charlie Owen a chance, but he shot over from the edge of the area.

As the clock ticked down, Whitstable appeared to lose some concentration and Thomas blocked one shot, but when they dwelt on the ball too long in their own penalty area, a tangle of legs led to Joe Healy bringing down Philpott who got up to score from the spot in the 90th minute. A game that Whitstable should have won comfortably with the chances created in the second half was suddenly back to 2-1 with a few minutes of added time to play. Any hopes Kennington might have had were soon killed off though as Dean Grant played the ball out to Sithole on the left and was on hand to put the ball into the net from close range when the cross came over. Whitstable had the three points they wanted to maintain their advantage in the title race.

There is no midweek fixture for Whitstable, so their next game is at home to Erith & Belvedere on Saturday when they will be hoping to collect some more points towards the 14 they now require from their remaining nine games to be certain of becoming champions after this weekend's results.

Kennington	Data	Whitstable
3	Shots on target	12
4	Shots off target	8
3	Shots blocked	4
2	Corners	9
8	Fouls conceded	11
1	Offside	6
1	Penalties	0

Kennington
Joe Mant, Elliott Moore (Euan Biggleston 78), Lucas Mvongo (Ziyad Ghali 78), Adam Phillips, Alfee Wincott, Charlie Owen, Joe Fisher, Tom Scorer (c), Ryan Philpott, Bradley Walledge (Jireh George 66), Kundai Munyama (Rajan Sahni 66).
Sub (unused): Ardian Sulovari
Goal: Ryan Philpott (pen) 90
Yellow card: Adam Phillips 82

Whitstable Town
Dan Colmer, Sinnkaye Christie (Jack Peters 53), Jayden Boulton, Isaac Currie, Finn O’Mara, Will Thomas (c), Jack Nelson (Dean Grant 80), Lewis Chambers (Joe Healy 83), Javaun Splatt (Ronald Sithole 70), Bradley Schafer, Theo Osinfolarin.
Sub (unused): Dan Eason
Goals: Jack Nelson 44, Will Thomas 63, Dean Grant 90+1.
Yellow card: Lewis Chambers 59

Attendance: 223
Referee: Mark Roberts
Assistants: Christopher Payne & Dean Reynolds