This was the day chosen for the whole of Whitstable Town Football Club to come together to show their support for under 14 player Miles Stockwell, who is undergoing chemotherapy for bone cancer, and to raise money for the family and the Teenage Cancer Trust charity at this difficult time. Opponents Sittingbourne also played their part and the game was attended by over seven hundred people. The game itself was not a great spectacle on a windy afternoon and neither team offered much in the first half. Kane Rowland and Toby Bancroft scored the goals that ensured Sittingbourne left with the three points their improved second half performance merited. Whitstable failed to test Harry Brooks in the visitors’ goal despite showing a little more ambition in the latter stages of the game.

Sittingbourne are enjoying a relatively successful season and sit comfortably in the top half of the table. They won the reverse fixture 3-2 thanks to a last minute Rowland goal, although Whitstable could consider themselves a little unfortunate having been the better team in the second half. Former Oystermen Rowland, Harry Stannard, Harry Brooks and Taylor Fisher were in the visitors’ team. Whitstable once again made changes, as Jack Miles made a welcome return after a lengthy injury break, Stephen Okoh came into the starting eleven and there was a debut for Dulwich Hamlet midfielder Alpha Diallo. There was a minute’s applause prior to the kick off for former player Alfie Nunn, who sadly passed away this week in Dubai at the age of 35.

Neither team played well in the first half and the goalkeepers were mostly spectators. Stannard pulled a shot wide in the 22nd minute after Sittingbourne had managed to string a few passes together, then Ibrahim Bamba missed the target after a promising run. The only efforts of note from the home team were a long range Danny Walder free kick that was caught by Brooks and a left footed curler from the edge of the box by Alex Gaggin that went over the bar. Just before the interval, a George Monger corner was nodded into the hands of Dan Eason by Lex Allan. With no sign of a breakthrough, the referee mercifully blew for half time to leave the large crowd dreaming of better things to come.

Whitstable made an early change when play resumed, with George McIlroy replacing Will Thomas who was on a yellow card following a first half challenge. Monger and Johan Caney-Bryan both shot wide as Sittingbourne tried to gain the ascendancy. The hard working Harry Goodger got his head to a corner, but the ball looped off a defender to be caught by Brooks. The breakthrough came from a long throw in the 63rd minute. Emmanuel Dasho hurled the ball into the box and it was initially headed away, but Bancroft won an aerial challenge to send it back into the goal area where it eventually fell to Stannard whose shot was well saved by Eason, only for Rowland to react quickest and score from close range. Two further substitutions were quickly made by Keith McMahon and on came Montrell Deslandes and joint top scorer Kemo Darboe. Caney-Bryan and Allan both rose to meet a corner and the ball hit the top of the bar as Sittingbourne looked for a second, but Whitstable almost found an equaliser from a corner at the other end when it was flicked on, but cleared off the line at the back post.

The visitors doubled their lead in the 76th minute when a free kick out on the left was taken by Bancroft and it went past everyone in the box and straight into the net. Whitstable’s fourth corner of the half was diverted towards goal by Tom Mills, but cleared away. Stannard drew a routine save from Eason before Sittingbourne made a couple of changes. Whitstable showed a bit more attacking intent as time ticked away and Goodger headed in a Walder free kick, but was denied by an offside flag. Another Walder free kick in added time led to the ball bouncing around in the box before being nodded over by Miles and Sittingbourne were able to celebrate a deserved 2-0 win.

Whitstable now face away trips to Cray Valley and Phoenix Sports, needing to recover some form after slipping back into the bottom three,

Whitstable	Data	Sittingbourne
2	Shots on target	5
3	Shots off target	5
2	Shots blocked	4
5	Corners	2
17	Fouls conceded	10
1	Offside	4
0	Penalties	0

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Will Thomas (George McIlroy 49), Samuel Itauma, Danny Walder, Jack Miles, Tom Mills (c), Alex Gaggin (Montrell Deslandes 64), Jake Mackenzie, Harry Goodger, Alpha Diallo (Kemo Darboe 64), Stephen Okoh.
Subs (unused): Callum Watts, Zack Jobe.
Yellow cards: Will Thomas 25, Jack Miles 51.

Sittingbourne
Harry Brooks, Neville Rivelino Nza, Taylor Fisher, George Monger, Emmanuel Dasho, Lex Allan, Harry Stannard (Danny Taylor 86), Ibrahim Bamba, Kane Rowland (c), Johan Caney-Bryan (Alex Flisher 80), Toby Bancroft (Jedd Smith 86).
Subs (unused): Sam Flisher, Jamal Abubakari.
Goals: Kane Rowland 63, Toby Bancroft 76.

Attendance: 703
Referee: Fabio Roque
Assistants: Jack Ridge & Andrew Simmonds