This could be described as a game of two halves, as Ashford threatened to overpower Whitstable with their direct style of football in the first 45 minutes, but thanks to several good saves by Dan Eason and some wayward finishing, only a Tommie Fagg header separated the teams at the interval. Whitstable turned things around in the second half, playing some of their best football of the season to date, but were unable to score, as the home “man of the match” Tyler McCarthy made some crucial saves and the post was struck twice. The game was in the balance until the last minute of added time when Whitstable were pushing for the equaliser before two Ashford substitutes combined to score a second goal, with Johan Ter Horst rounding Eason to move his team up to third in the table.

Following a frustrating last minute defeat at Sittingbourne in midweek, Whitstable travelled to this challenging fixture at promotion chasing Ashford looking for some points to move away from the lower reaches of the table. Ollie Gray made his first start of the season, as manager Keith McMahon tried to add some more height to the team against a big home side. Nico Cotton completed a move to Ramsgate the previous day after just seven appearances for Whitstable. Ashford were captained by experienced central defender Liam Friend. A crowd of 385 were in attendance to watch the action unfold on the 3G pitch at Homelands.

Whitstable began quite brightly with Tom Carlton delivering a low cross from the right that was grabbed by McCarthy, then the home team enjoyed a couple of sights of goal without troubling Eason. Muhammed Cham got past his marker before hitting a low shot that was comfortably saved. Gray seemed unfortunate to pick up an early yellow card for a challenge on Fagg in the 12th minute. Danny Walder, who scored twice at Sittingbourne, tried his luck with a hooked shot, but again McCarthy was able to save easily. Ashford then began to take control and Tariq Ossai won the ball on the right and drove forward into the box, but shot wide. A cross by Tashi-Jay Kwayie from the right was headed just the wrong side of the post by Josh Wisson, then Gray made a great tackle to deny the dangerous Fagg. Eason made two excellent stops in the 23rd minute, first beating away a firm Wisson shot from 12 yards then tipping a Fagg header over the bar. Ashford were doing most of the attacking, but Jack Steventon was cautioned for pulling back Cham on 36 minutes, although Walder was unable to beat McCarthy from the free kick. The pressure eventually told in the 41st minute when Fagg rose unchallenged to head in a corner by Ossai. Whitstable would have been relieved to get to half time trailing just 1-0.

The second half was very different, as Whitstable kept the ball much better, frustrating Ashford for lengthy periods and protecting Eason. In the 52nd minute, Carlton carried the ball forward before releasing Cham who was denied by McCarthy. The lively Gus Barnes then got around the defence before hitting the far post from a tight angle. Next, it was McCarthy to the rescue again when Cham had another shot saved following a short corner. The foul count was mounting for the home team and Fagg went into the book for a poor challenge on Gray. Ashford still posed a threat and Kwayie forced a good save from Eason, before Fagg headed the resulting corner wide. Whitstable introduced George McIlroy in the 64th minute and the impressive 17 year old helped give his team even more control in midfield. When Carlton was brought down outside the box, Walder had his free kick deflected behind off the wall that was allowed to stand much closer than the required 10 yards and Gray headed the corner over the top. Jake Mackenzie was enjoying a good half and won a corner from which Tom Mills had a header blocked before Walder’s shot was turned onto the post by McCarthy. A flurry of late substitutions took place, as Ashford held firm. There was a warning for Whitstable when Fagg broke clear, but fluffed his shot, and in the 93rd minute the result was confirmed when Ter Horst played a one-two with Luke Burdon before rounding Eason to make the final score 2-0.

It was an encouraging effort from Whitstable, who were lacking a target man up front with Harry Goodger completing his suspension, but it will be necessary to start turning promising performances into points over the coming weeks. Three Bridges will be the next opponents at the Belmont on Saturday.

Ashford Utd	Data	Whitstable
6	Shots on target	6
8	Shots off target	3
3	Shots blocked	3
7	Corners	4
18	Fouls conceded	10
4	Offside	1
0	Penalties	0

Ashford United
Tyler McCarthy, Tariq Ossai (Johan Ter Horst 78), Bradley Simms, Jack Steventon, Liam Friend (c), Daniel Hull (Mamadou Diallo 71), Josh Wisson, Tommie Fagg, Roberto Ratti (Luke Burdon 86), Tashi-Jay Kwayie.
Subs (unused): Ellis Cormack, Jay May.
Goals: Tommie Fagg 41, Johan Ter Horst 90+3.
Yellow cards: Jack Steventon 36, Tommie Fagg 56, Rhyle Ovenden 89.

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Jake Mackenzie, James Brown (Simon Kabamba 90), Danny Walder, Will Thomas, Tom Mills (c), Gus Barnes, Luke Griffiths (George McIlroy 64), Ollie Gray (Harry Stannard 85), Tom Carlton, Muhammed Cham.
Subs (unused): none
Yellow card: Ollie Gray 12

Attendance: 385
Referee: Peter Conn
Assistants: Luke Scottow & Piotr Zachwieja