Disappointing performance at Hartsdown Park.

A perfect day for football on a fantastic pitch should have been enough encouragement for Whitstable to continue the form shown last week but it wasn’t to be. It may have been the early start (10am) which affected the Oysters, although Margate didn’t have the same problem. The Reds were unable to keep possession of the ball for any significant time and poor decision-making made the task harder.
The start couldn’t have been much worse for Whitstable. A long clearance by the Margate keeper was misjudged by the away team’s centre backs and the forward burst through to score after five minutes. The game was quite disjointed but the Gate had the better of midfield possession and created a few chances, one of which brought about a fantastic reaction save from Whitstable’s Emile Haratbar. There were shouts for handball in Margate’s box following an attempt by Darius Ogodon but they were waved away by the excellent Jo Park. Toby Newman struck a shot from outside the box but that was saved at full length by the keeper. A second error by the Reds’ centre backs let Margate in for another goal after 35 minutes.
In the second half Whitstable started to play better with the ball and there were some half chances but not too much to worry the Margate keeper. As with the first half, much of the game was played in the middle third of the pitch but, unlike in the first period, this time Margate rarely found themselves in Whitstable’s final third. Unfortunately Whitstable were unable to stage a comeback and the game petered out.
A home match against Canterbury next week will give the team a chance to end 2021 on a positive note.