On a pristine playing surface the Oystermen took on the Lobsters in this first friendly of the season. Seags had the unprecedented luxury of being able to field two entirely different teams for the two halves whereas Redhill looked distinctly short on the bench. They only had 14 or 15 players.

In an uneventful first half, Liam Quinn stood out for Whitstable, as did the Redhill captain. Neither side seemed able to penetrate fairly solid back fours. Quinn and Ainsworth partnered eachother well at centre back with Quinny doing the marshalling to good effect. With GS on the bench for the first half, debutant Eastwood looked pretty assured at right back although he has a tendency to cut inside - probably too early at times. At left back, it took Danny Tipple a bit of time to warm up, but his threatening runs forward have not lost their potency over the summer. He combined well on a couple of occasions with Suter (trialling on the left wing) and there was one nice triangular move between them and Monday (trailling in the middle with Marcos Perona).

It was a good 20 minutes before Whitstable threatened anything after a good cross-field pass from Eastwood to Pulman who put in a cross cum shot which went for a corner which came to nothing. Soon thereafter, Ainsworth misread the bounce on a ball which allowed Redhill's most threatening player - the pacey No.11, Marcel Dennis - to break through towards goal only to be thwarted by Tipple who matched his pace. Liam Quinn remained live to subsequent threats with Monday blocking a strong shot from the edge of the area.

It was 25 minutes before Whitstable's short passing and possession became evident which in turn allowed Tipple to start his darting runs down the left. But attempts to release Pullie were frustrated by tight man-marking, sometimes by up to three Redhill players. Although Pullie also looked a little off the pace, he clearly missed his playing partner, Dave Cory, who did not appear until the second half. His strike partner, Bertie Braidwood, was also closely marked and was often muscled off the ball by the big and strong Redhill defence. He was also guilty of a couple of wayward passes.

10 minutes before the end of the half, Pulman pulled one back for Jack Tanner who shot from about 25 yards. The Redhill keeper parried but Pullie could not convert the rebound as the Redhill defence surrounded him like flies.

A minute later, Redhill broke on Whitstable's goal forcing a good save from Kevin Fewell. The ball continued to yo-yo between the two sides. The tall Monday flicked a nice ball towards Braidwood, but it went too long and then Tipple was uncharacteristically wasteful with a couple of passes. So too was Suter. In injury time Monday gave the ball away cheaply but Wonderfewell made another good save.

As the lack of pictures show, there wasn't in fact much action in the first half and to say that the two sides cancelled eachother out is probably on the generous side. The ball spent too much time in the air. Both Marcos Perona and Jack Tanner worked very hard, with the latter beating himself up a little when he lost the ball. But at the end of the day, the main problem with the first half team was probably the fact that they haven't played together much so far. Monday in the middle did the simple things well.

The second half was a different proposition. Despite also containing some new faces (Crawford between the sticks, Campbell at centre back and Baines in the middle with Wisker), this side looked like a side who have played together. From the off, Campbell looked very assured at the back - very similar to Quinny in fact - and he played alongside the welcome return of Rob Thomas. Bagley was up front with Cory. Cory looked sharp and hungry whilst Bagley provided some really good creative play from the front picking out some nice cross-field passes.

The greatest threat came from the head of Jake Gess and initially from some well-weighted long balls from Tommy Martin on the right.

As the Lobsters tired, Whitstable became increasingly creative and attacking. Martin, Baines and Bagley sprayed the ball around having found some new vision over the summer, whilst Cory provided some much needed pace. In goal, Crawford had a couple of dodgy moments, but showed he has good potential. He probably needs to use his voice more. But much of Whitstable's attacking play came from the back with GS and particularly Campbell starting the moves. Bagley took the ball down beautifully a couple of times and evidenced a willingness to take on the Redhill defence with some fantastic dribbling. Cory was set free down the right and crossed in perfectly for Gess who executed the miss of the season. He asked for his picture to be taken off the match programme! At the back both GS and Tom Parker shepherded balls out behind the goal line time and again.

25 minutes into the second half Campbell started a move from centre back which passed through Tom Parker to Wisker who ran into the penalty area from the left only to be brought down for a clear penalty.

Cory stepped up to the spot but struck the upright. The rebound fell to Gess, who missed another sitter. But the attacking play did not stop. Tommy Martin dribbled towards goal then seemed to become shot-shy. He should have let one fly but instead looked for a team-mate, only to be dispossessed. Cory did not give up the fight and three minutes later unleashed a shot which went wide.

The Oystermen continued to press with both Wisker and Bagley penetrating the area, the latter despite colliding comically with Gess after a fine hurdle of a Redhill player's attempted tackle.

There was some handbags (I think involving Baines, or it could have been Campbell) but Whitstable returned to the task in hand. Jake Gess set up Bagley after some forraging in the penalty area, but Bagley missed another sitter.

Whitstable finally broke the deadlock in injury time from a corner. The ball just grazed Campbell's head and fell to Rob Thomas who converted a somewhat scrambled goal. I am delighted for Rob who made his debut in 1992 and he doesn't get many. It's a shame I did not capture it - sorry, out of focus!

The win was a little fortuitous and one is left to wonder whether Whitstable would have secured the win if Redhill had had more players who they could have turned to, but there was plenty of good things on view here. Perona looked like he was up for it. Jack Tanner looked hungry. The creativity on show in the second half shows what Whitstable are capable of. There is cover in every position apart from up front although Bagley certainly showed he can do the job. Of the strikers, Cory had the best game despite his penalty miss. Seags has a luxury problem at centre back. It is difficult on yesterday's performance to say that any of them is untouchable as they all put in fine performances. Liam Quinn probabaly just edged it. For me, the revelation in the middle of the park was Baines. He was all over the place and rarely gave the ball away. On the day, I was slightly disappointed with Pullie, Suter and Braidwood. Despite the misses, I thought Jake Gess was the best player.

Things are looking good for the forthcoming season and it is to be hoped that the players will keep their shirts on merit. Margate on Tuesday night may well be a different proposition... You Reds!