With both sides suffering from a lack of first team players, this game was unlikely to become a spectacle. Neither was it much of a pre-season 'friendly' as both sides put in their fair share of crunching tackles. 

Bay looked the sharper of the two sides for most of the first half: first to the ball and more intelligent in their build-up play. Former Whitstable player Dan Lawrence was the stand-out performer with the Turner twins showing willing and guile. Former Bay and ex-Whitstable, Steven Lloyd, donning the red jersey for the second time in his career gave away a soft penalty on 6 minutes which was easily converted by the Herne Bay player. 

Steven Lloyd challenges 

In the absence of Jack Tanner, Cornhill deputised at right midfield 

Wisker looked the most threatening for Whitstable and forced a good stop from the Herne Bay keeper on the quarter hour mark and this was soon followed by a penalty shout as Vahid was brought down in the box. It was unclear why the referee - who had a pretty decent game - denied it.

Wisker

Dan Lawrence shot low but wide on 37 minutes and that was pretty much that for the first half. Whitstable had little to be proud of as they returned to the changing room.

Batten is second-best to the ball 

The Oystermen came out for the second half with more purpose about them. Dan Tanner and Jake Gess in particular stood out.

Dan Tanner drives forward from the left back position 

Within minutes, Batten fired a low cross across the area, but Vahid failed to connect. Ten minutes later, however, Vahid did find the net with his head, but he was adjudged fairly to have been offside.

Vahid heads home but is offside

On the hour mark, Jake Gess finally levelled the scores as he shot through a crowd of players from distance and kissed the badge in celebration. It was a deserved goal on his performance in the middle of the park.

Jake Gess scores

and is slowly becoming a Whitstable legend! 

With a minute of normal time to go, Herne Bay won a free kick just outside the area. The kick was well-taken, swerving around the wall, but McVicker - on for Fewell - saved it well low to his left.

McVicker saves a well-taken free-kick 

Elmes is second best to the ball

Dan Tanner keeps the ball in play 

But soon thereafter, McVicker spilled the ball, injuring himself in the process. The referee allowed the game to proceed and Lloyd made two goal-line clearances in quick succession.

The game went to penalties: McVicker saved the first, GS scored a very nice one, but ultimately, the Bay triumphed to retain the Bruce Smith shield for the second season in succession. On balance, they deserved it even if it hurts to say so! 

Whitstable score

But Herne Bay celebrate!

And retain the Shield...

Until next year! 

The visit of Thamesmead saw the return of AC, Marcos Perona and James Campbell. It was perhaps inevitable that Thamesmead would score courtesy of ex-Whitstable players: so AC netted from a Perona assist twenty minutes from the end. It was a fairly decent game although for long periods, especially in the second half, the ball spent too much time in the air. Thee was also a tendency in the second half for the team to lose shape as players seemed to swap positions at regular intervals.

         

Whitstable had most of the first five minutes, practically camping in the Thamesmead final third. But Thamesmead soon exploited their right wing, perhaps detecting that GS didn’t have the best of games at left back. As GS pushed forward (and far too frequently and uncharacteristically gave possession away) he left acres of space behind him – time and again, Thamesmead just lofted it over for their runners. Fortunately, most of their ensuing shots went over. Smith, at right back, had a bad day at the office as well, so Whitstable were always going to be vulnerable to wing-play.

Ten minutes later, AC flicked the ball onto their No.9 who was clean through and only denied by a quick-thinking Fewell rushing off his line.

Whitstable’s best move came shortly before the end of the first half as Vahid back-heeled to Gooding who failed to capitalise from just outside the area.

Parker blasted over four minutes before the end of the half, and three minutes later, he missed a 50/50 but Fewell again came to the rescue.

There were wholesale changes at half time and Whitstable’s play became quite disjointed. Marco played up front with Wisker. Wisker had a pretty decent run-out, but Marco didn’t really get enough service to show what he is capable of.

Andy Constable should have scored within three minutes of the re-start after the stand-in keeper (whose name I did not catch) inexplicably dropped a ball, but the keeper redeemed himself by blocking AC’s tame effort against a seemingly open goal.

There then followed ten minutes of scrappy football and Thamesmead continued to threaten down their right. Thamesmead scored a well-taken goal some twenty minutes from the end as Perona’s weighted pass found an unmarked AC who blasted it past a stationary keeper. On the second half performance, it was a deserved goal as Whitstable only made it into the Thamesmead final third about twice in 45 minutes. On one of those occasions, Marco hurdled the keeper and from an acute angle should have scored – but he took a bit too long, enough time for two Thamesmead defenders to block the incoming ball. On the second occasion, Gess started the move from well inside the Whitstable half, passing to Wisker who passed to Nick Bagley. His shot was blocked and the rebound fell to Gess who shot wildly wide.

That former Whitstable strikers Stuart King and Dan Lawrence should score Herne Bay's goals had a feeling of inevitability about it, but they did more than that. They wanted the ball all the time, dropped into deep spaces, and played for their team.Will Graham at the back and their busy No.8 also kept the defensive line and midfield in good shape. This is more than can be said for Whitstable's shape. Shape, what shape? It looked like Tom Parker was playing a holding midfield role and to be fair to him, he actually had a pretty decent first half. He saw some good long passes, but he did not always connect with the intended recipient. I have no idea where Jake Gess was supposed to be playing, somewhere on the left possibly, at times at the back and other times in the hole. Marcos Perona was all over the middle, which is fine if all is going well, but not if the shape in the middle is being out-thought and out-manoeuvred at every opportunity.

There were two wing-backs, Eastwood and Tipple. They had quite decent games and on one level it was good to see Eastwood being more threatening than Tipple. Good for the competition at right back.

Up front, Ian Pulman looked like he is regaining some of his sharpness of last season and his poacher's goal from Eastwood's darting run, dribble and cross from the right was just what the doctor ordered on the stroke of half time after Dan Lawrence had put Bay in the lead with a nice lob over Kevin Fewell earlier in the half. His strike partner Dave Cory looked up for it and his pace caused a couple of problems for the Herne Bay back line, but he was clearly frustrated by the lack of service. But ultimately, it would have needed some very clever play indeed to break through a very solid Bay back four and such play was not going to occur with the striker's back to the goal.

In stark contrast was Stuart King's threatening play. He looked stronger and faster than he did for Whitstable two seasons ago and it was incredible to see how much time he seemed to have on the ball compared with almost anyone else on the pitch. This was not because he was given more space than anyone else (although the players in red had a tendency to back off him when he attacked). Rather, he simply refused to be intimidated by any incoming Oysterman and just took his time, picking out players at will. He had almost an intuitive sense of where his teammates happened to be (maybe because they stuck to their positions?). He gave a masterclass not only in that regard, but also with his unfazed dribbling into the Whistable penalty area. His volleyed goal for Herne Bay's second was also perfectly executed giving Fewell no chance. And he didn't stop there almost adding another two or three with shots from the acutest of angles as the game progressed. If anyone is going to get Herne Bay promoted, he is the man, and despite any potential dressing-room issues, it seems to me that Whitstable have missed a trick there! Good luck both to him and Dan Lawrence who played with a freedom and determination that was rarely on display during his time with The Oystermen. Maybe it was his hairstyle?

Whitstable played better in the second half especially after reverting to their standard 4-4-2. Tommy Martin in particular put his all into the game. Bagley also looked threatening at times adopting Kingy's attitude of refusing to be hustled off the ball and showing off some trickery. And although Whitstable played some fairly neat attacking football in the last 15-20 minutes, arguably over-reliant on the ball over the top, they never really looked like they were the better team. James Campbell came very close with a header that hit the bar from a set piece (and set pieces improved considerably after Tom Parker was relieved of those duties) and Clint Gooding sent a ball just wide when one-on-one with the Herne Bay keeper.

But in the end, Herne Bay were just too strong for Whitstable and this does not bode well unless they get their act together sooner rather than later. And although it hurts, well done to Herne Bay. Deserved winners.

Oysterman of the match: Ian Pulman

There was another poor performance of note and that was the absence of a vocal group of Oysterboys. My guess is that there were more Herne Bay fans at The Belmont yesterday than Whitstable fans. Not only that, but not one song was sung. Perhaps this has something to do with he new notice outside the ground; perhaps there are other reasons? But in any event, it was quite apparent that the missing singing contingent made for a poor atmosphere and I have no doubt that their absence would have been noticed by management and players alike. It could even have affected their performance.

For some reason, the site won't allow me to upload pictures at the moment but they are available to see at http://www.kentphotography.uk.com

Maidstone looked the more organised from the off and within 3 minutes of the start, Whitstable gave away the ball from a throw-in forcing a good save from Fewell. The warning shot jolted The Oystermen into action and a minute later Adcock, filling in at right back, crossed a nice ball into the Maidstone penalty area which the keeper spilled. He was perhaps unsighted by the low sun, but their tidy full back cleared up the spillage. Tom Parker started more brightly than he has over the past few games, but unfortunately his game deteriorated over time although he did put in a couple of nice tackles.

On 21 minutes, Ian Pulman put Dave Cory through. Cory, who was behind two Maidstone defenders, burst through and was clear on goal only to be struck in the face in the penalty area. He fell to the ground (possibly a little theatrically) and the referee saw nothing wrong. The incident wound him up and his game positively took off. He wisely decided against taking retribution!

For the next ten minutes, Whitstable reverted to unproductive use of the long ball which invariably resulted in the ball returning to Maidstone's possession. On the half hour mark, the tricky Maidstone forward, Tiesse, shot just wide of goal and a minute later, Adock misjudged a floated cross from the right which was headed back across goal, but a waiting Pinnock headed straight into Fewell's grateful arms.

In the middle of the park Perona hustled and his distribution was the only real inventiveness on show from the players in red. It was from this point of the game that Parker started lofting balls harmlessly into Walker's arms.

On 39 minutes, Whitstable won a free kick which was flighted nicely to Campbell, up from the back. His header across goal was too high for Cory, and Gess behind him was probably unsighted. But like Liam Quinn (who was not in the team today having played yesterday), Campbell shows that he can be just as threatening in the air from set-pieces. I was impressed by his calm approach to the game and on performances thus far he seems an ideal partner for Quinn.

Not to be completely outdone, Whitstable won a free kick almost immediately after the restart, but the free-kick whizzed over the bar. Apart from Addie missing an almost identical cross-box header (showing a lack of positioning), that was that for the first half and Maidstone looked in complete control of the game.

From the kick-off in the second half, Tiesse took advantage of a team that seemed still to be in the dressing room, but his shot from the right went just wide. Perhaps realizing that the back line wasn't all there, it took Jake Gess to track back a minute later to put in a last ditch tackle and a minute after that he was at the other end taking advantage of Nathan Paul's failure to deal with a Jack Tanner cross, but his shot-cum-cross whizzed out.

On 55 minutes, the speedy Tiesse broke free again, this time from the left and forced yet another good save from Fewell. But a mere minute thereafter, he got his reward as he scored their second of the game. I didn't see it as I was looking at my pictures...

The goal led to a change of personnel as Rob Thomas came on for Adcock and Michael Holliday (the No.17 from the Deal report) for Clint Gooding. The latter had been fairly anonymous up to this point in time - maybe the boot he received in his face towards the beginning of the game had affected his confidence? What Holliday did, he did with the minimum of fuss and he was involved in Whitstable's goal which came only 4 minutes later courtesy of Dave Cory and some good work by Jack Tanner on the right.

It only took 5 minutes for Maidstone to pull two clear again with a well-taken goal by Wilfort from the right hand side and edge of the area. Maidstone then forced Whitstable to chase the game and Whitstable really struggled to regain possession and had to endure wave after wave of Maidstone attacking play. Fewell was yet again called on to make a number of good saves including an excellent double save.

On 70 minutes, Pullie sliced his shot, but it looped in such a way that the keeper had to make an acrobatic save of what would have been a freak goal. To me it looked like it was going well out, so I didn't get a picture. Apologies!

With Kevin Fewell continuing to keep the visitors out, Whitstable took heart and on 78 minutes Jack Tanner found himself in space on the right and superbly lobbed the on-rushing Walker with the outside of his right foot.

In the final minute Tanner took over free-kick duties and floated a good one onto Campbell's head who despite being squeezed between two Maidstone players managed to head home for another decent Whitstable goal.

Perhaps with half an eye on tomorrow night's game against Maidstone, Seags fielded a team predominantly of new, fringe and reserve players shored up by Liam Quinn and Rob Thomas at the back. I'm afraid I don't know all their names and I apologise. The reserve keeper (Dylan) was in goal and he did ok. Nathan Eastwood and Duffy at full back. Whisker and Baines in the middle with Bagley and Suter on the wings. Up front, Braidwod led the line with Ben Brown (not of Herne Bay). There were a number of substitutes including Joe Smith. The sub who caught the eye in brief spells wore the No.17.

In the first half. most of Whitstable's creative play came down the right with Eastwood and Bagley combining well but the end product looked distinctly average.

The only real threat came from corners where Liam Quinn, as ever, looked dangerous both with his head and his feet. On 18 minutes, Whitstable got another corner which was flighted in beautifully. The Deal keeper found himself in no-man's land as one of his own players headed into his own goal.

A minute before half time, Whitstable conceded a penalty. It looked dubious from where I was standing, but the taker slotted it cooly past the outstretched reserve keeper who, to be fair, went the right way.

In the second half, Suter came to life on the left wing. It's unclear to me why it takes him 45 minutes to get going. Two attempts at putting Brown through failed, however, with slightly over-weight balls. The experienced Munday (who according to the Deal website is set to sign for Whitstable) was sorely missed. Brown went off on 55 minutes having worked quite hard, but failing to make much of an impact. He was mixture of AC and Jon Neal.

On 60 minutes Suter chased back from his left wing position to intercept a ball destined for the net. But the ball broke for a Deal player who shot from distance only for Dylan to save. A minute later, he saved well again from distance. Two minutes later, Bagley took the ball down expertly on the right wing, continued his run and centered well, but the ensuing shot was saved. Duffy then broke down the left, but his cross produced another good save from the Deal stopper.

On 76 minutes Suter was brought down in the box, but the referee didn't see it as such. Maybe it was because the foul happened in an area of the pitch that had no floodlighting? Three minutes later, Bagley was pushed in almost exactly the same spot, and again, the referee failed to see anything untoward. It was very dark there after all ... Apart from keeping the yellows in his pocked throughout the game, he didn't have a very good one from Whitstable's perspective. A minute later, Whisker was brought down about 30 yards out. The Whitstable No. 17 took the free kick which the keeper palmed over. Ten minutes before time Whisker again dribbled out of midfield but his hard work was left unrewarded. More or less the final action of the game was a Whitstable corner which came close to a goal, but the Deal keeper saved bravely.

On the whole, not a bad performance given the team, but Whitstable is still guilty of giving the ball away too much... But with Maidstone visiting the Belmont tomorrow, Whitstable are to face another proposition altogether!

Oysterman of the match, by a country mile, Liam Quinn. 

In last season's friendly against Margate, Whitstable were outplayed and outclassed. This time, Whitstable gave as good as they got. Although Margate came out pumping on all cylinders, with voices to match, there was a calm determination about the Oystermen, particularly in the first half. But if every other word from the players' mouths is going to be a swear word (as was the case with Margate), then there seems to be little point in trying to be more vocal. That said, Whitstable could have done with talking to eachother a little more than they did.

Ten minutes into the game, both Jack Tanner and Clint Gooding made bad backward passes. Liam Quinn managed to sweep up the potential trouble, Margate failing to capitalise. GS also made a nice interception. Apart from a Perona shot from an offside position, there was no shot on goal from either side until 20 minutes into game when a Margate player miscued weakly into the arms of Kevin Fewell. After that point in time, Ian Pulman was subject to a couple of bad decisions including a clear penalty shout. A few minutes later he was back defending for Town.

Half an hour on the clock and Margate got their first real chance on goal but the dread-locked player pulled his shot wide. Very little was going to get past the Quinn and Campbell partnership at centre back anyway. Four minutes into injury time of the first half, Margate's creative No.8 dribbled through the Whitstable midfield and shot from distance. But it was just wide. Six minutes into injury time, Ian Pulman was deemed to have been brought down in the area. It was a clean tackle and the defender got the ball, but it was perhaps justice after the other fouls that the referee had let pass. Pullie stepped up to take the penalty but his effort was well saved. That's the second penalty miss in as many games.

In the second half, Seags changed the sides completely for the second game in succession apart from giving Fewell another 20 minutes in goal. It was a quick turnaround and it was now Whitstable's turn to take the game to Margate who had controlled the latter part of the first half. Monday showed some good vision and was adept at dummying with his eyes. Pity those around him couldn't read him! Despite his advancing years, he looked good. He would make a good addition to the squad with his experience. At the back, there was some last ditch tackling from Eastwood as he was forced to tidy up a Tom Parker mis-distribution (something that happened far too often in this game). But within a few minutes, Whitstable counterattacked through Eastwood, Cory and Tommy Martin who whipped one in, but there was no-one on the end of it.

Eight minutes into the second half, Kevin Fewell was forced into another god save after yet another bad back pass. This time from Dan Whsiker whose frustration then boiled over into some handbags with the Margate players.

There was then a five minute spell where Tom Parker was guilty of 4 incompleted passes followed by the Margate No.8 scoring a scorcher from distance into the bottom right hand corner. There was nothing Jack Crawford who had replaced Fewell could have done about it. 73 minutes in and Margate were looking good value.

Whitstable did not lie down. Tommy Martin took on the attack, heeding the crowd's shouts of "shoot" as he found himself in a similar position as on Saturday (when he elected to pass, but his shot went wide), he shot. He was injured in the tackle coming in on him and he looked in pain. Hopefully he will be back soon. Jack Tanner came back on as Tommy's replacement.

As I wandered over to try to get a shot of the Margate manager, Whitstable mounted another attack. Cory took down a high ball, lobbed it back across the goal mouth and Whisker converted a well-taken goal.

With both managers driving on their teams from the side line, it seemed that Whisker's goal put Whitstable back in the ascendancy, but time was against them.

Eastwood and Tanner put in some good work down the right hand side, but the final minutes were marred by a bad tackle on Eastwood who needed an ice-pack on his knee after the game.

Seags showed his displeasure at the tackle by asking the ref whether he had ever played football after the ref asked if Eastwood was ok.

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!