Both teams had chances to win this match, but the crossbar, goal line clearances and good goalkeeping meant that Chichester and Whitstable had to settle for a point each on a windy afternoon in Sussex. The home team generally had the better of the first half, but only managed to score once, when a missed clearance allowed Lloyd Rowlatt to find the net. Hard-working Whitstable looked more of a threat after the break and Aaron Millbank equalised when his shot looped over the goalkeeper. James Brown made two goal line clearances to deny Chichester and Steve Mowthorpe made crucial saves from Connor Sanders and Marcus Elliott, the latter right at the death after the home team had been reduced to ten men in added time when Ryan Davidson was sent off.

Chichester won promotion to the Isthmian League in 2019 and have started well. They came into this game just one point below Whitstable, but with five games in hand and having to catch up with their league fixtures following a memorable run to the FA Cup Second Round. They won six matches in the competition and then famously received a bye in the First Round, before finally losing 5-1 at Tranmere Rovers in December. During the two years that Whitstable spent in the SCEFL Premier Division, they met Chichester in the FA Vase in both seasons, losing after a replay in 2016 and then going down 0-2 at the Belmont in 2017 with a place in the last 32 at stake. Dan Eason and Tom Bryant were the only current Whitstable players to feature, but lining up again for Chichester again were five survivors from those FA Vase games – Jamie Horncastle, Ben Pashley, Josh Clack, Scott Jones and Kaleem Haitham. Marshall Wratten failed to recover from the injury picked up in the closing moments after scoring the two goals that knocked Welling United out of the Kent Senior Cup on Tuesday evening.

The opening minutes saw several chances for Chichester, as an early free kick was headed wide by Davidson and then the ball was threaded through to Clack, but Eason was quickly out to save. Clack broke through again before going down in the penalty area, but the referee was unmoved and in the 10th minute Davidson laid the ball off for Gicu Iordache, but his shot went over the top. The first opportunity for Whitstable arrived in the 17th minute when a long throw by Sanders was headed just wide by Bryant. Chichester continued to pass the ball around confidently and Iordache curled another attempt over, then a long range effort from Connor Cody took a slight deflection before being safely collected by Eason. The Whitstable goalkeeper reacted smartly to tip a Davidson header on to the bar following a Rowlatt corner on 25 minutes.

Millbank found Harry Stannard, who made himself a little space about 22 yards out, but his shot was straightforward for Mowthorpe to gather. Eason was soon back in action, turning another Iordache shot past the left post for a corner that he was able to claw away from under the bar. The ball was then thrown in from the right touchline to Iordache and Whitstable missed the chance to clear his low cross which found its way to Rowlatt by the penalty spot and his low shot crept inside the left post just out of the reach of Eason, giving Chichester the lead in the 37th minute. A few minutes later, another Sanders throw was headed against the bar and over by Bryant and the home side went into the break leading 1-0.

Chichester started the second half brightly and a cross by Iordache landed on top of the net, then Cody touched a free kick just wide. Rowlatt cut in after winning the ball, but his deflected shot was easily dealt with by Eason. Davidson was booked for a foul on Charles Etumnu and then both Whitstable centre backs were shown yellow cards in the space of a couple of minutes, before Liam Gillies replaced Etumnu and he was soon into the action, shooting over from 20 yards. The game was livening up and a Whitstable corner in the 72nd minute was initially cleared, but when John Ufuah sent the ball back into the box, it was collected by Sanders and he found himself with just the goalkeeper to beat from 8 yards, but Mowthorpe got his right hand down to push the ball behind for another corner. Gillies was next to test Mowthorpe, but the big goalkeeper got down to save again.

Chichester brought on Jones, who had scored twice in the last FA Vase meeting between the sides, and Elliott was introduced by Whitstable. A long ball was sent across the field to Haitham, who shot wide from a good position and as the play went from end to end, Elliott and Tijan Jadama combined to set up Millbank for a shot that was well blocked. Whitstable were seeing a lot more of the ball, but almost conceded a second from a disputed corner as a Jones header was cleared off the line by Brown. The equaliser came in the 82nd minute when Jadama made a great run from his own half before playing the ball to Millbank on the right and his shot appeared to take a deflection off Ryan Peake before flying over the stranded Mowthorpe into the net.

The goal seemed to bring some added urgency to the home team and Haitham had one shot blocked and then tried another from the edge of the area that again found Brown in the right place on the line to clear. The goal scorer Rowlatt was the next to be cautioned for a foul, but worse was to follow for Chichester in the 93rd minute when Davidson lunged in on Bryant near the halfway line and was shown a straight red card. In the final minute, another run by Jadama saw his deflected pass fall perfectly for Elliott, leaving him one on one with Mowthorpe just inside the area, but the goalkeeper again did well to deflect the ball for a corner. To the disappointment of the Whitstable bench, the corner was hit straight behind, followed immediately by the final whistle confirming a 1-1 draw.

At the end, Whitstable can be quite pleased with a point, particularly after trailing at the break to a good Chichester team, but will think about the great chance to steal all three in the last minute. The next game for Whitstable is at the Belmont on Saturday against bottom club East Grinstead, who have been busy signing new players as they still look for their first league win of the season.

Chichester	Data	Whitstable
8	Shots on target	5
8	Shots off target	3
2	Shots blocked	1
5	Corners	3
8	Fouls conceded	13
6	Offside	3
0	Penalties	0

Chichester City
Steve Mowthorpe, Ryan Davidson, Ben Pashley, Matt Axell, Connor Cody (c), Ryan Peake, Gicu Iordache (Scott Jones 72), Jamie Horncastle, Josh Clack, Lloyd Rowlatt, Kaleem Haitham.
Subs (unused): Theo Bennetts, George Cody, Corey Heath.
Goal: Lloyd Rowlatt 37
Yellow cards: Ryan Davidson 58, Lloyd Rowlatt 87.
Red card: Ryan Davidson 90+3

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Jake Mackenzie, James Brown, Luke Girt, , Connor Sanders, Tom Bryant (c), John Ufuah, Tijan Jadama, Aaron Millbank, Charles Etumnu (Liam Gillies 62), Harry Stannard (Marcus Elliott 73).
Subs (unused): Josh Spencer, Leo Mazzone.
Goal: Aaron Millbank 82
Yellow cards: Connor Sanders 58, Tom Bryant 60, Luke Girt 84.

Attendance: 178
Referee: Harry Scott
Assistants: Garry Hodgkinson & Derrick Laing