The desperate run continues for Whitstable as they conceded two second half goals from set pieces. George Crimmen headed the first and substitute Jordan Sarfo forced home the second following another free kick. Whitstable went close a couple of times in the first half, but created hardly anything after the interval. Tom Mills was sent off in the 74th minute to complete a miserable afternoon for the home fans whose team remain bottom after their eighth loss in nine games.

This was a game between two teams still fighting to avoid relegation and neither in great form. Whitstable returned from Burgess Hill with a 0-0 draw in their previous outing, which ended a depressing run of seven straight losses. Hythe had lost their previous three games, but held a seven point advantage having played a game more. Whitstable had won 3-0 at Hythe in November, in one of their better performances of the season. Ollie Gray, Luca Woodhouse and Nico Cotton had all featured for Whitstable earlier in the campaign, but all started for Hythe in this game. Keith McMahon named the same team that drew in Sussex, but Tobi Olusanya replaced an unwell Harry Goodger on the bench.

A sunny, but windy afternoon saw 402 attend the Belmont for this Kent derby. Before the game, a minute’s silence was held in memory of George Gifford, the club’s long serving committee member and president who sadly passed away recently. Hythe did win an early corner that was overhit, which was a common theme from both sides who seemed to struggle in the conditions. There was little further meaningful action until the 29th minute when George Monger and Charlie Heatley combined to release Stephen Okoh on the left and he managed to work the space for a shot that was saved by Henry Newcombe at the near post. Tyler Sterling had an effort deflected for a corner at the other end, but that was again wasted, then Heatley received the ball from Monger and went past two defenders before his shot was saved by Newcombe. There was almost a crazy moment when Mohammed Kamara hit a back pass that went straight past Dan Eason on the edge of the penalty area, but the Whitstable goalkeeper raced back to clear off the line. In the 38th minute, a Monger corner was met by Mills, but Newcombe was able to save his close range volley. Just before half time, a Hythe corner was punched out from under the bar by Eason and a brief scramble followed that ended with Crimmen putting a shot wide. Whitstable had just about shaded a poor half, with the biggest threat to Eason’s goal being the back pass.

Could the second half be any worse? Well, yes! Okoh, Monger and Jake Mackenzie had efforts blocked, but Whitstable failed to give Newcombe anything further to do. In the 57th minute, Kamara was caught in possession and the ball fed through to Cotton, but Mills made a timely interception. Hythe scored in the 67th minute when Whitstable conceded a free kick on the left, which Sterling delivered to the back post where Crimmen escaped the attention of Kamara to head past Eason. Things went from bad to worse for the home team when Tom Walmsley got the better of Kamara and Mills came across to cover, only to catch the Hythe forward and the referee decided it was worthy of a straight red card. From the resulting Liam Smith free kick, Crimmen again found space at the back post to head the ball back across goal where Riley Alford’s shot was blocked on the line by George Whitelock, only for fellow substitute Sarfo to put the loose ball into the net in the 76th minute. Hythe had done enough to secure the points and Whitstable never threatened a response, leaving them in deep trouble at the foot of the table.

Whitstable now find themselves ten points behind Hythe and eight from safety, with seven games remaining, starting at Haywards Heath on Saturday.

Whitstable	Data	Hythe
3	Shots on target	3
0	Shots off target	2
3	Shots blocked	1
5	Corners	4
12	Fouls conceded	13
3	Offside	1
0	Penalties	0

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Jake Mackenzie, George Whitelock (Junior Baker 80), Danny Walder, Mohammed Kamara, Tom Mills (c), George McIlroy (Gus Barnes 58), Will Thomas, Stephen Okoh, Charlie Heatley, George Monger.
Subs (unused): Tobi Olusanya, Zak Bryon, Callum Watts.
Red card: Tom Mills 74

Hythe Town
Henry Newcombe, Liam Smith, Jack Mayhew, James Rogers, Ollie Gray, George Crimmen, Luca Woodhouse (George Sibley 89), Jacob Gilbert, Tom Walmsley, Tyler Sterling (Jordan Sarfo 70), Nico Cotton (Riley Alford 62).
Subs (unused): Connor Cheek, Ben Hermitage.
Goals: George Crimmen 67, Jordan Sarfo 76.
Yellow card: Jacob Gilbert 90+5

Attendance: 402
Referee: Craig Barnett
Assistants: Leigh Ballinger & Samuel Everitt