Despite the freezing conditions, or perhaps because of them, this was on the whole a good game of football. The impartial observer would also probably agree that Whitstable were unlucky not to get anything out of the game after Worthing scored from the spot in the dying minutes of injury time. But had Jake Gess scored from the spot in the 10th minute on his 100th appearance for the club, the final result may have gone the other way completely. It has been suggested elsewhere that the penalty was weak. He placed it well but the keeper was equal to it and made a good save. Jake will no doubt bounce back and on another positive note, it was good to see Pullie get a penalty decision for once (even if this time, it probably was not a penalty!).

It was a game which had almost everything: fluid attacking play from both sides; crunching tackles; accurate passing and some stunning balls over the top - one from Tom Parker in the first half and one cross-field pass from Jake Gess in the second, both to Jack Tanner who took the ball down expertly, must be close to contenders for passes of the season. Also in the mix was a very determined game from Danny Tipple whose soaring runs forward caused havoc particularly in the middle of the park when he cut inside. One such run produced a Ronaldoesque back-flick with the left foot to generate an immediate change of direction that left the Worthing defence and fans awe-struck.

Danny Tipple in action...

Up front, Pullie chased most things and Dan Wisker had a much better game than of late especially with some of his neat footwork and willingness to take on the keeper.

But Worthing still seemed to have far more time (and confidence) on the ball as exemplified by the Worthing No.5 who had got past GS (who slipped) and then took his time to see what was available before passing to the impressive No.8 (scorer of both goals I think) who shot just wide from distance. At the other end, but Jake Gess and Marcos Perona played with hunger and impressed with some incisive runs into the box. Fewelly also put in some impressive saves, one instinctive one from a Worthing volley being the pick of the bunch (and which Denly cleaned up with some calm defending at the back).

In the second half, Pullie attempted a spectacular over-head kick after some good work by Wisker and Tanner but he did not connect properly.  

Apart from a couple of loose passes, the only major error occurred when Marcos Perona almost scored an own-goal practically from the half-way line which Fewell somehow managed to chest over the bar.

Liam Quinn then forrayed forward on a couple of occasion displaying some really nifty dribbling skills for a centre back. Obviously, his drive forward then exposed Whitstable at the back (and someone should have blocked the hole left by him), but the ever-reliable Denly managed to clean up the counter almost on his own. Tom Parker also had a very good game give his recent form and many have him down as the man of the match for his precise passing. I thought he still dropped out of position a little too often and did not have the hunger for getting stuck in enough, but on the whole a very good display given the amount of time he has spent on the bench in recent weeks.

With half an hour on the clock Worthing fired from distance - a tactic they had employed most of the game with limited success. Fewell left the shot which skimmed the cross-bar. The game was now massively open. Gess's cross-field pass to Tanner was a particular highlight but unfortunately Tanner's subsequent cross was weak by comparison and did not replicate Gess' majestic work. 

Worthing scored first but Whitstable replied immediately with a fantastic shot from Dan Wisker who took his time from some way out and fired perfectly into the top left hand corner: the only spot the keeper could not cover.

Dan Wisker scores from distance

Whitstable quite rightly felt that they had a point which they deserved but in the last minute or so they conceded a penalty. I did not see the incident and so cannot comment. The spot kick was dispatched well to Fewell's left sending him the wrong way and there was no coming back from that sucker-punch.

There are more pictures in the gallery.

In successive seasons, Whitstable have now left Walton & Hersham's ground feeling that they should have go something out of the game. Surely? The home side looked distinctly ordinary in the first half and their game was beset by internal strife and arguments. The classic line of the game came from the returning No.11 who, referring to the Oystermen, shouted at his team mates: "there are two of them everywhere!" One would have thought this was a good sign - something that the players in yellow would gain some confidence from. And they did. In many ways they were in complete control in the first half. And had Danny Tipple's goal stood, I suspect that Whitstable would have killed the game off soon thereafter.

Tipple's goal was chalked off by the ref as he deemed Wisker to have been in an offside position when he jumped over the ball bobbling into to the net. It seemed unfair, but given that the keeper was massive and quite good (!) the only explanation for him missing the save must have been that he was unsighted by Wisker. It was probably a technically correct decision even if it hurt the travelling support.

Initially, the set-back did not seem to affect Whitstable much as they continued to press. But when Ian Pulman was denied yet another penalty shout (how many times have I said that this season?), the feeling that it was not going to be our day began to take root. But because Walton & Hersham seemed fairly uninterested in the game, Whitstable continued to make them look ordinary. There was evidence of some good closing down, good composure at the back from all the back four, and some intelligent attacking football despite the long grass.

But in injury time - and it has to be said very much against the run of play - Walton broke free and from where I was standing it looked as if GS and Kevin Fewell got in each other's way, GS headed it straight to an incoming Hersham player who slotted it comfortably past Fewelly.The Swans' heads immedialy rose, but I for one felt that we would still get something out of the game given the number of chances that had already been created.

Alas, the second half did not deliver on its promise. I still can't quite work out why this was although much had to do with the fact that Pullie was doing all the running on his own. Wisker had a relatively poor game by some of his recent standards and I still don't understand why Cory did not get a few minutes out there to see whether he could replicate some of his recent form. Perhaps he is still injured, but if so, why not blood someone from the free-scoring reserves?

When Gess came on for Dolton, he injected some immediate urgency which had been lacking by Dolton even if he also had had a pretty solid game. Dolton did not do anything spectacular, but he did not play with the same hunger as Gess displayed in the few minutes that he spent on the pitch. Perhaps he is still working on his understanding with Tipple who, I am glad to say, has rediscovered his penchant for dribbling forward.

That said Whitstable did create one or two chances in the second half as well, the closest being a Pullie effort from some distance whilst being closed down which produced a good save from the Hersham keeper. Quite how he got his shot away still remains a bit of a mystery and he should be commended for keeping running until the end despite his obvious and understandable frustration.

Things got even weirder when Parker replaced Tipple. Nothing to do with Parker, more to do with the formation: a christmas-tree apparently with Pullie up front, Gess and Tanner (who also had a solid game for the most) at attacking midfield with Wisker at right wing. I have no idea what was going on elsewhere in the middle of the park. What is certain was that any idea of shape quickly disintegrated. Perhaps the tactic was "all-out-attack" as Seags motioned to Quinn to join Pullie up front. Unfortunately, it all smacked somewhat of desperation and the end result became an inevitability.

The shame is that on the whole the vast majority of the team played reasonably well, but no-one really stood out except for Pullie's willingness to chase every ball. If a few more players had put in that extra 10% then we might well have been looking at a different score-line and it speaks volumes that the small crowd and Walton players alike gave a big cheer at the final whistle because they clearly felt that they had achieved an undeserved result.

Absolutely atrocious conditions and I think I'm right in saying that most of us were a little surprised the game was not called off at some point. But fair play to the referee who let it continue despite the puddles. It was bad enough walking from one end to the other, so credit to the players who stuck to the task in hand.

Whitstable's goal was a carbon copy of the goal scored against Crowborough with Liam Quinn powering a great header from a free kick. If we can reproduce a few more of these this season, that would go down very nicely with the travelling support (the picture is not the best in the world).

Ian Pulman came close with an acrobatic overhead kick not long thereafter. The referee then decided to hand out a couple of yellows: one for a fairly innocuos tackle by Sam Denly (his "second" of the game) and then one to Munday for pulling a player's shirt. Pretty petty stuff all round, especially given the conditions. It was absolutely chucking it down - but as the old adage goes: we always play better in the rain! And so it proved for much of the first half. Merstham certainly did not look like a team sitting pretty in the play-off places at the start of the afternoon.

Whitstable pressed and actually put together some nice passing moves, many orchestrated by a rejuvinated Marcos Perona. Not only was he picking just the right passes, but he looked like someone unafraid to put in the odd tackle - an aspect to his game that has been missing of late.He was ably assisted by a calm back four whose recent tendency to panic in possession had all but completely disappeared from their game. Finally!

And despite the weather, Pullie continued to be a willing runner. Perhaps it was the only way to keep warm? Late in th first half he was yet again denied a clear penalty when he was clearly tripped in the penalty area. Maybe because he seemed to be wanting to run out of the area the ref decided against him, but it was not a good call by the young ref. I might be biased, but check out the picture!

Ok, so maybe it looks like Pullie was falling before contact was made, but contact there is, no doubt about it.

At the start of the second half and for the second time in three games, Munday made a very loose back pass that almost gifted a goal to a fairly ineffectual Merstham. Fortunately, Liam Quinn was yet again a rock at centre half and cut out the attack with a hard a clean tackle. But within a few minutes Dan Wisker gave away a free kick around the centre circle. The Merstham taker kicked it from right to left and the looping header was a good goal past Fewell who probably rightly did not expect this outcome.

Whitstable responded with a good mve courtesy of Denly and Tipple setting Pullie free who did not quite beat the keeper. And a couple of minutes later Wisker got a shot off producing a comfortable save from the Merstham reserve stopper.

A quarter of an hour into the game saw Merstham's first good counterattack down the right hand side after Perona's good work came to nothing. Luckily the hard shot went just wide. The puddled pitch then caused alternate counterattacks as the defending side took advantage of the sudden stops of the ball.

Ten minutes later, Perona again put in some good work in the box setting up Wisker - but his shot went way over the bar. And a couple of minutes later, Marcos showed his defensive abilities by putting in some good tackles. Although he did not manage to stop Merstham on his own, he had the ever dependable Quinn and Denly to tidy up at the back. Denly put in one of the tackles of the season some 5 minutes from the end having read the game perfectly to work out where the likely danger would come from. And in the dying minutes he quite literally put his body on the line to prevent a certain goal.

This was a decent performance given the conditions and I for one think the manager may have been a little harsh when he accused his players of not adapting to the conditions. Some did, others did not. The majority did pretty well considering. I know where I would rather have been!

Sam Denly got the Oystergong polling the most votes.

There are more pictures inthe photo gallery.