Whitstable successfully negotiated a tricky tie away to South Central Division opposition to book a home tie against Ware in the next round. The early stages saw Whitstable largely in control, until Sean Giordmaina had two great chances in two minutes to give the home team the lead, but he failed to hit the target with either and the game remained goalless at the break. John Ufuah scored the decisive goal early in the second half with a great strike into the top corner. Whitstable threatened a second goal, but it failed to arrive and Dan Eason ensured there was to be no way back for the hosts, saving well on three occasions, including a stoppage time effort from the Chalfont goalkeeper who was in the box for a late corner.

Last season, Whitstable had a perfect record against South Central Division opponents, having beaten both Bedfont Sports and Cheshunt in cup competitions. Chalfont St Peter are currently fourth in the early league table following a good start to the season under a new young manager, Finlay Johnson, who had a successful season managing Hendon U23s in 2018-19. Whitstable travelled to Buckinghamshire without Aaron Millbank, Marcus Evans, John Walker, TJ Jadama and Harry Stannard, who were all unable to play, but Teddy Nelson re-joined the squad for the first time this season. Marshall Wratten was able to play in this competition under the terms of his loan from Dover Athletic.

It was Whitstable that made the better start, on a surface that was uneven in places, in front of a small crowd containing a number of dedicated away supporters who had made the near 200 mile round trip by coach or car. A long throw by Connor Sanders found its way to Wratten at the back post, but his shot was blocked. Then a Wratten cross, following the first Whitstable corner, was cleared as far as Luke Girt who shot over from outside the area. Liam Dickson was the next to threaten when he headed a Wratten free kick wide in the 7th minute. Whitstable continued to apply pressure without creating any clear chances, whilst the home team had offered little going forward, so it was a bit of a surprise when Giordmaina found himself with just Eason to beat in the 21st minute after Luke Illsley picked him out through a crowded box, but he shot past the right hand post. The same player had another great opportunity a couple of minutes later when Ash Abdollahi played the ball through to him, but once again he shot past Eason and wide of the same post.

At the other end, Ufuah cut in from wide and beat his marker, but lifted his shot way over the bar. Liam Gillies picked up a booking for a mistimed challenge on the touchline, but there was a lack of further goal attempts for the remainder of the half, until Whitstable almost took the lead in the 44th minute. A good move involving several players eventually led to a Wratten cross being met by the head of Marcus Elliott, but Ricky Brennan just got in front of Girt to prevent him applying the finishing touch. The resulting corner, like several other set pieces, was not delivered accurately enough for the waiting heads in the box and the teams went in with the score 0-0 at half time.

The first significant action after the restart came in the 52nd minute, when Whitstable opened the scoring. James Brown received the ball on the left from a throw in and sent over a cross that was collected by Ufuah on the far side and he did well to make himself some space before hitting an unstoppable shot into the top right corner. Chalfont had a chance to hit back immediately, when a mistake in the Whitstable defence gave Kofi Quartey a sight of goal, but his lobbed effort was too high. In the 60th minute, a Danny Wickenden corner was met at the near post by Abdollahi, whose flick went past the far post. Wratten was having some success down the left hand side, with Whitstable seemingly playing with more width than in recent games, and he delivered another cross to the near post for Elliott who put his effort just wide.

Home substitute Kahlil Francis raced clear down the right and crossed for Quartey to hit the ball first time from close range, but Eason did well to make the save. With Millbank unavailable, Elliott had a good game up front, winning a lot of headers and working hard for the team and he did well on the left before playing the ball to the near post for Ufuah to stab towards goal and goalkeeper Dan Purdue failed to complete the save at the first attempt, but was just able to gather the ball as it was crossing the line, with the assistant well placed to refuse the appeals for a goal. The game was becoming quite open and Francis lashed a shot well over from distance, then Gillies hit a firm shot from the edge of the box straight at Purdue. Leo Mazzone replaced the injured Sanders with about 20 minutes remaining. On 81 minutes, Abdollahi received a through ball and struck a good low shot, but Eason saved and then gathered quickly at the second attempt. Whitstable conceded a few too many free kicks as the clock ticked down, but generally managed to defend them effectively. In the time added on, Chalfont won a corner and their goalkeeper went up into the packed area before rising to meet the cross and diverting the ball towards goal. Eason appeared to get a hand to the ball to tip it over, although a goal kick was awarded and Whitstable were through with a narrow 1-0 victory.

Whitstable collect £1,500 in prize money and Hertfordshire based Ware, from the same division as Chalfont St Peter, will now visit the Belmont in the next round. They remain unbeaten so far this season and before coming to the Kent coast, will play Potters Bar in the FA Cup Third Qualifying Round. Whitstable now travel to play Cray Valley PM on Tuesday in the Kent Senior Cup.

Chalfont	Data	Whitstable
3	Shots on target	4
6	Shots off target	4
1	Shots blocked	1
4	Corners	7
15	Fouls conceded	16
1	Offside	5
0	Penalties	0

Chalfont St Peter
Dan Purdue, Callum Doyle (Zayd Ait-Fahim 76), Luke Elliott (c), Danny Wickenden (Kahlil Francis 60), Ash Rixon-Nicholls, Ricky Brennan, Sean Giordmaina, Luke Illsley, Kofi Quartey, Andre Odetola, Ash Abdollahi.
Subs (unused): Ben Gray, Michael Anguzu, Jordan Payne.
Yellow card: Kahlil Francis 90+1

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Jake Mackenzie, James Brown, Connor Sanders (Leo Mazzone 71), Liam Dickson, Tom Bryant (c), Liam Gillies, Luke Girt, Marcus Elliott, Marshall Wratten, John Ufuah (Taylor Fisher 89).
Subs (unused): Teddy Nelson, Josh Spencer.
Goal: John Ufuah 52
Yellow card: Liam Gillies 30

Attendance: 84
Referee: Alex Mathieson
Assistants: James Keirs & Chimango Gondwe