Chatham Town 1-1 Kingstonian

Chatham welcomed back John Whitehouse in goal and gave debuts to new signings Gavin Schulz and Shane Suter, both signed from Ramsgate -  and Luke Mortimore and Bradley King came in to the defence against Kingstonian at Maidstone Road yesterday, writes Neil Sanders.

Sam Phillips had the first clear chance, but his attempted lob was stopped by Kingstonian keeper Luke Garrard.

However, Chatham opened the scoring after 14 minutes thanks to a well worked move.

Rob Denness picked the ball up on the halfway line and played it out to Schulz on the right. His low cross was met by Denness with a neat first time finish at the near post.

Another good build nearly led to a second goal seven minutes later. This time Shane Suter and Tom Binks combined well on the left, with the cross being headed back by Denness for Schulz to head just wide while under pressure.

Kingstonian nearly equalised after 27 minutes, when Chris Sharpling's shot bounced awkwardly on the sand in front of John Whitehouse. The Chats keeper had to react quickly to make a great save from Simon Huckle's rebound shot.

The visitors had more possession in the second half and always looked capable of grabbing an equaliser.

Wes Goggin battled through three challenges to get in a shot and David Shin was just wide with a 20 yard volley.

The chance eventually came from the penalty spot in the 80th minute. Mortimore appeared to slip in the goalmouth mud and bring down K’s Bobby Traynor, and he converted the spot kick himself.

Both sides pushed forward for a winner and Chats came closest in stoppage time when Denness had a shot saved and Sutter was inches away from sliding the ball in at the far post. Overall a fair result.

Chatham Town: Whitehouse, King, Binks, Groombridge, Mortimore, Best, Smith, Suter, Schulz, Denness, Phillips (McKenna 75). Subs: Govey, James, Oravec.