U16s win again in the cup

The Oyster Boys once again proved stern opposition as they beat Chatham Town comfortably in the cup to progress to the next round. Two superb first half goals, an own goal in the second half and another clean sheet showed the strength in depth of the U16s squad with several players being asked to play in different positions due to injury and absence.

Whitstable started the game brightly and went ahead as early as only the third minute. Alfie Mantle, who was leading the line up front, played a lovely through ball for winger Sonnie Hemmings who collected the pass and placed it superbly into the back of the net evading the on rushing Chatham keeper.

But rather than the early goal settling the team, the U16s found it hard to find their feet and their usual free flowing football. They seemed to rush their passes at times such was their eagerness to get forward and get another goal.

However, the first period of the game was all Whitstable with Chatham limited to a couple of free kicks and crosses that goalkeeper Stanley Allom dealt with comfortably. Alongside him at the back Ollie Bunn, the increasingly impressive Harrison Wade, right back Leo Cornhill and left back Callum Groom made short work of any Chatham Town attacks. Once again, the U16s back line was proving a formidable force.

But despite their dominance the U16s didn’t create too many chances of their own. A corner or two and a couple of free kicks from Cornhill either side of another Hemmings shot was all they had to show for the first 20 minutes after going in front. Jamie Lartice was starting to be a menace on the right wing however and played Mantle in with several clever passes.

As the half wore on, the Oyster boys started to collect themselves and connected more and more passes throughout the team. In midfield Alfie Hill, Will Derby and captain Archie Rumball tamed the opposition and won the ball back a number of times to break up the Chatham play. One particularly impressive period of passing between Hill, Derby and Rumball ended up at the feet of Mantle who was unlucky to shoot over from outside the box. Wade lofted in a dangerous free kick minutes later but the Chatham centre back headed it calmly away.

Chatham were starting to get frustrated and a couple of bad tackles went in with one of them, on Cornhill, resulting in a booking.

With 10 minutes of the half remaining, a couple of changes were made. Alex Brownett came on in midfield for Derby and Hemmings and Lartice swapped wings. Brownett had a shot just a minute or so after coming on and Rumball started to pull the strings in midfield.

With 33 minutes on the clock, the U16s had their second goal of the afternoon. Rumball played a wonderful pass to Mantle who - in similar fashion to Hemmings’ opening strike - tucked it away superbly as the goalkeeper came out to close him down.

Although Chatham were limited in their chances, Groom had to be on the alert to clear from a free kick and there was a scare before the half was out as a dangerous cross came into the Whitstable box. Luckily the Chatham striker couldn’t quite reach it. Whitstable had a chance to further extend their lead before the end of the first period with a Wade free kick after Mantle had been up-ended just outside of the Chatham box, but his shot sailed over the cross bar.

Half time 2-0

There were no changes at the interval for the U16s but in stark contrast to how the first half had begun it was the visitors who were the brightest, determined to get back into the game as quickly as possible.

And they showed plenty of endeavour despite lacking the end product needed to produce a goal. Allom was called into action much more in the second half but he still wasn’t tested enough as Chatham’s shots went wide or over the bar when they did get through on goal. In fact, the second half proved quite a scrappy affair all round as the U16s found it hard to get a foothold in the game in the face of the pressure from their opponents.

Whitstable showed good character and strength however to get through a difficult period in the game before starting to create chances of their own.

Hemmings had played in a lovely cross and then thought he had earned a penalty as he weaved his way past several players before ending up on the deck on the box. The referee had his whistle to his lips but then decided against blowing. There were also further free kicks from Cornhill - one of which resulted in a scramble in the Chatham box but when Hill got his foot to the ball he could only put it tantalisingly wide. But Whitstable could sense that another goal was coming.

It was from a Lartice corner that Whitstable’s third goal arrived. In the 49th minute he played a dangerous ball into the Chatham box which, despite evading the Whitstable town players, connected with an unlucky Chatham player who put it into his own net.

Changes then followed for the U16s who now looked even more comfortable as defender Will Knoupe came on for Groom and Dylan Richards continued his return from injury by replacing Mantle. Soon afterwards, Joshua Thomas-Wright came on for Lartice.

Hemmings continued to cause havoc among the Chatham back line whenever he had the ball and he quickly struck up a good partnership with Thomas Wright and Knoupe on the left as the U16s continued to press and look for a fourth goal.

But it was Chatham who nearly got the next goal. Whitstable were guilty of giving the ball away needlessly and would have been punished were it not for the lack of prowess from the visitor’s strikers and a stunning near post save from Allom.

Wade, Bunn, Cornhill and even winger Richards had to perform their fair share of defensive heroics to keep the team’s clean sheet intact as Chatham enjoyed the better chances in the last phase of the match.

Derby came back on in place of Hill - who had seen a header just go over the bar - but Whitstable were still limited in their chances as Chatham continued to threaten. However, just as the visitors were thinking they could see a way back into the game their frustrations boiled over and one of their players was booked for something he said to the referee and was subsequently sin binned reducing his team to 10 men.

Whitstable stood strong to see the game out and it was another excellent defensive performance as the team collected a fourth clean sheet of the season.

Full time 3-0

Team:
Allom
Bunn
Wade
Cornhill
Groom
Hill
Derby
Rumball (c)
Lartice
Hemmings
Mantle

Subs:
Knoupe
Thomas-Wright
Brownett
Richards