Following a couple of promising performances, Whitstable experienced a very disappointing afternoon at East Grinstead, losing the match and three players to nasty looking injuries. A slow start by the visitors saw them fall behind to an early goal by Marco Sousa Pina. Whitstable lost Will Thomas to injury and might have slipped further behind before they eventually began to play with more confidence and were rewarded with a fine Harry Stannard goal. Just as the visiting supporters were anticipating a second half push for three points, the team were rocked with two more game ending injuries just before the break, for Ollie Gray and the in-form Stannard. Bobby Dunn put the home side in front after Whitstable conceded possession in their own half and the result was confirmed with a last minute strike by Shea Cascoe Rogers.

Whitstable should have travelled to this game with some belief after putting five goals past Alfold in the FA Cup the previous week, especially as they were the team that had knocked out East Grinstead in the precious round. When last season was halted early due to Covid, East Grinstead were one of the front runners in the league, but had since had a change of manager and most of their playing squad. Whitstable made one change from their cup win, with Reece Gillies replacing the unavailable Aaron Millbank up front.

There were some early signs that Sousa Pina would prove to be a handful as he made a couple of threatening runs forward. Whitstable did win a couple of corners and Reece Gillies had a low shot comfortably saved by Matte Pierson, but it was no surprise when East Grinstead opening the scoring in the 14th minute. Sousa Pina drifted past Thomas in the box before trying a shot that appeared to take a slight deflection and Dan Eason was unable to prevent the ball ending up in the net. Thomas tried a shot on the turn at the other end, but Pierson was able to collect at the second attempt. Eason saved a curling shot by Liam Montague, then Thomas went over on his ankle in his own box and was unable to continue. Ollie Gray came on to replace him and helped reduce the threat on the Whitstable defence with some timely challenges. Both teams then had a few half chances, but Whitstable started to pass the ball around with more purpose and push the home team back. Stannard almost got on the end of a Jake Mackenzie cross, then Liam Gillies won possession and Reece Gillies did well to make space and slip the ball into the path of Stannard on the left and he curled a great shot into the far top corner to bring the scores level on 40 minutes. Whitstable were now on top and a Danny Walder corner led to Jack Miles having a shot blocked then both Gillies had efforts saved by the suddenly busier Pierson. That was about as good as it got for Whitstable however, as Gray went down in the 45th minute with an injury that required a trip to hospital and then in added time, Stannard also got his studs caught and rolled his ankle to make it a trio of unfortunate injuries, all sustained in the Whitstable penalty area.

The second half began with Nico Cotton and Ryan Flack on as substitutes and with a rearranged formation, Whitstable seemed to lose the momentum they were gaining before the enforced changes. There was little goalmouth action however until East Grinstead went 2-1 up in the 62nd minute. There seemed little danger when Eason rolled the ball to Tom Mills, but Whitstable got caught trying to play out from the back and a simple pass put Dunn through on goal and he shot past Eason. Whitstable sent in a few dangerous looking crosses that nobody was able to take advantage of and Tom Carlton and Liam Gillies had shots comfortably saved, but a better chance fell to home substitute Troy Walters who lobbed over the bar with just Eason to beat after being sent clear by Sousa Pina. Cascoe Rogers then ran clear of the Whitstable defence, but failed to beat Eason, who also denied Walters. In the 93rd minute, the game was finally put to bed when James Brown tried to head a long ball back to Eason, but it fell to Cascoe Rogers and bounced invitingly for him to fire it into the back of the net and seal a 3-1 home win.

This was an afternoon when the loss of players due to injury will probably hurt more than the loss of the three points, especially with several players already unavailable and a Bank Holiday derby against Herne Bay just two days away.

East Grinstead	Data	Whitstable
6	Shots on target	7
4	Shots off target	4
6	Shots blocked	2
5	Corners	6
11	Fouls conceded	11
3	Offside	1
0	Penalties	0

East Grinstead Town
Matte Pierson, Carl Brown, Liam Montague, Seidou Sanogo, Adrian Okoro, Glenn Wilson (c), Bobby Dunn (Luca Woodhouse 72), Ujkaj Arsen, Lewis Croal (Troy Walters 62), Marco Sousa Pina, Dylan Cascoe (Shea Cascoe Rogers 68).
Subs (unused): Kie Douglas, Callum Edwards.
Goals: Marco Sousa Pina 14, Bobby Dunn 62, Shea Cascoe Rogers 90+3.
Yellow cards: Bobby Dunn 26, Shea Cascoe Rogers 72.

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason (c), Jake Mackenzie, James Brown, Will Thomas (Ollie Gray 22, Nico Cotton 45+4), Jack Miles, Tom Mills, Danny Walder, Liam Gillies, Reece Gillies, Tom Carlton, Harry Stannard (Ryan Flack 46).
Subs (unused): George McIlroy, Ben Harding.
Goal: Harry Stannard 40
Yellow card: Nico Cotton 75

Attendance: 122
Referee: Farai Hallam
Assistants: Scott Orchard & Christopher Britton