Faversham Town 1-0 Hythe Town - Our first win under our belt has given us a little bit of a boost, says Faversham joint-boss Phil Miles

Faversham Town 1 – 0 Hythe Town
Location	Salters Lane, Faversham, Kent ME13 8ND
Kickoff	27/08/2019 19:45

FAVERSHAM TOWN  1-0 HYTHE TOWN
Isthmian League South East Division
Tuesday 27 August 2019
Stephen McCartney reports from Salters Lane

FAVERSHAM TOWN joint-manager Phil Miles says his side need to kick on from their win over Hythe Town at Salters Lane.

The Lilywhites grabbed their first win of the season thanks to a last-gasp strike from winger Makhosini Khayne to climb up to 12^th place in the Isthmian League South East Division table with four points from three games.

Danny Chapman and Miles’ side have begun the campaign with a 3-3 home draw against Guernsey, before losing on the road to Hastings United (0-2) and they crashed out of The FA Cup in the Preliminary Round by losing 1-0 at Tooting & Mitcham United at the weekend.

Sam Denly’s Cannons, meanwhile, are in fifteenth-place in the table with three points, having lost 7-2 at Burgess Hill Town on the opening day of the season, before bouncing back with a 2-0 home win over Whitstable Town, before crashing out of The FA Cup by losing 5-0 at Cray Wanderers on Sunday.

None of Hythe’s management team made themselves available for interview post-match despite Denly saying before the game that he was going to send out his coach Lee Browning for post-match media duties.

Miles did have the courtesy to face the questions and said: “I thought we deserved it in the end. We created a few chances. A little bit of a cool head in front of goal and I think we could’ve won the game by a little more. Yes, they had a couple of chances as well but I think second half we limited them to not so many chances. I think we kept pushing for the goal and in the end it came.”

When asked what his players’ gave tonight, Miles replied: “I think they gave us everything! What we’ve asked of all the players’ is to work hard as they can, work hard for each other, their supporters, the club and we will get results.

“I think tonight showed that, just give everything that you’ve got and then if we can have a good performance on top of that and everyone plays well, we’re capable of getting some wins.”

Hythe Town were the better side during the first half and started the game on the front foot with the impressive Tom Carlton drilling his right-footed free-kick high over the bar from inches outside the corner of the box after just 70 seconds.

Another Hythe chance went begging with only two minutes and 29 seconds on the clock when Carlton drove in their first corner of the night for centre-half Ben Fitchett to rise inside the box to glance his header across goal and past the far post.

“Tom Carlton started well in the first half and everything went around him and he was involved with most of the good stuff they did,” said Miles.

“But we were patient, we defended really well and we’ve got some old heads at the back there with a few youngsters as well, so we’ve got that little bit of a mixture which is nice.”

Faversham Town weathered the early storm, however, and created headed openings, their first one coming in the eleventh minute.

Michael Freiter swung in their first corner from the left and Mitchell Chapman found a pocket of space at the near post to plant his header across goal and sailing past the far post.

Khayne played a ball in from the left and a poor clearance from Hythe’s holding midfielder Adam Woollcott was half-cleared out to Chapman, who drove a right-footed first time shot straight into Ryan Nicholls’ midriff.

Faversham Town created their third chance with only 12:54 on the clock when Freiter played the ball out to Anthony Adesite, who shifted the ball onto his right-boot before whipping in a deep cross for lone striker Max Morgan to skim his header across goal and past the far post from penalty-spot range.

“Max had a really good header, which was heading towards the top corner but the keeper’s come across,” added Miles.

“I don’t think there were loads of chances in the whole game. I will watch the game again and I do believe that we had the better of the chances.”

Hythe Town’s midfield pair, Woollcott and Carlton often linked up well inside the Faversham half but they were over reliant on balls over and down the left-channel for left-winger Stephen Okoh.

“We know Tom Carlton’s a good player so we was aware that we needed to keep an eye on him and the fella down the wing (Okoh) had a really good game as well,” said Miles.

“But I think we defended well.  Okoh has some joy, I think the majority of the time we defended well. If we rode our luck at times, fair enough because it maybe the first bit of luck we’ve had this season and also you need that going through the whole year.”

An example of this came in the 19^th minute when Carlton hit the channel, Okoh cut the ball back to Carlton, who whipped in a low cross towards the near post for quiet winger Aaron Simpson to nip in front of Faversham centre-half Josh Dorling to poke his shot just past the foot of the near post.

A frenetic opening 20 minutes died down and turned into a stalemate as Faversham Town played direct football with centre-half Matthew Bourne often drilling 60-yard balls up field for Morgan to chase.

Right-winger Adesite threaded a through ball straight down the heart of the pitch for Chapman, who was under pressure as he slipped the ball past the foot of the left-hand post.

Hythe Town winger Simpson exploded into life in the 28^th minute, cutting in from the right into the middle before stroking his left-footed drive past the near post from 22-yards.

Woollcott hit a ball down the left-channel but this time it released Carlton and he cut in from the left, twisted and turned his marker before hitting a right-footed dipping drive just over the crossbar from 25-yards.

Hythe Town rarely attacked from the other side of the pitch and when they did right-back Ryan Cooper floated in a deep cross for Okoh, who smacked his right-footed volley just over the crossbar from a couple of yards inside the box.

Faversham Town keeper Luke Watkins was called into diving action in the 42^nd minute as Hythe Town came close to taking a deserved lead.

Collin drilled a right-footed free-kick towards goal from 28-yards, which would have nestled sweetly into the bottom far corner but the former Ramsgate stopper dived low to his right and used a strong right hand to flick the ball behind for a corner.

“I think Luke saw it late so that was a great save,” hailed Miles.

“Luke’s been fantastic for us since he’s been in.  I know we’ve let in a couple of goals here and there but we were really pleased that we could get Luke in, in such short notice and he’s got his clean-sheet tonight so we’re pleased with Luke and he’s enjoying it here.”

Faversham Town went route-one again when Watkins launched a big kick straight down the heart of the pitch to release Khayne who used his pace before drilling his left-footed drive just past the foot of the left-hand post from 25-yards.

Khayne was a threat with his pace all night and he shrugged past Hythe left-back Elliott Capel before James Miles’ whipped in a deep cross for Adesite to crack a shot on the turn towards the top left-hand corner, only for Nicholls to palm the ball away to safety, high to his right by using a strong raised left-hand.

Miles said:  “I will watch the game again but we had chances.  Sometimes it’s difficult to remember everything that has gone on in the game because you’re making sure that everyone’s doing their jobs right but thinking of the game like 15 minutes after the game’s finished, I believe that we had the better of the chances and we had more chances.”

Hythe Town missed another excellent chance to turn their first half dominance into a lead with the last action of the half.

Carlton drove a free-kick from the half-way line over to Okoh down the left and he floated in a great cross towards the near post for an unmarked Collin, whose header from the edge of the six-yard box sailed over.

“I’m sure they’re going to be disappointed with some of their chances that they didn’t take tonight,” admitted Miles, who was then asked to reveal his half-time thoughts.

“It was a tight game. I felt it was quite an even game. They’re going to be disappointed not taking their chances, as we are maybe. It could’ve been three-all. I’m not sure until I watch it again and read the report.

“We just said to them to stay compact, do your defensive duties first but I think the first 15-20 minutes was quite open. They attacked, we attacked and it felt a little bit like a cup game in that first 15-20 minutes and then it calmed down again.”

Faversham Town started the second half well and should have done better following a sweeping move after only seven minutes.

Morgan and Adesite linked up on the counter-attack straight down the middle of the pitch, they were joined by James Miles, who played a one-two with Adesite and Miles found himself inside the D but he lacked composure and power and scuffed his right-footed shot which rolled into Nicholls’ gloves for a comfortable save.

“That’s my son! I won’t comment to much on that,” added Miles senior.

“He could’ve slipped someone in, nine times out of 10 James would slip someone in before he had a shot but I think he was well in his rights to have the shot!”

Bourne’s attempted clearance ricochet into Collin’s path and he fed Okoh, who drove a shot straight down Watkins’ throat from outside the box.

Carlton continued to pull the strings in midfield for Hythe Town and he played the ball into Simpson, who cut in from the right and stroked his low shot towards the bottom right-hand corner, forcing Watkins to get down low to his left to hold.

Okoh worked the left-channel in the 69^th minute to whip in a deep cross, which was recycled back into the box by Simpson and Carlton saw his left-footed drive dip just over the crossbar from 20-yards.

Faversham right-back Steven Mills hit the ball down the right channel to release Morgan, who got in behind Hythe centre-half Ben Fitchett but the angle was too tight and his attempt on goal was gobbled up by Nicholls at his near post.

Adesite lost the ball inside the final third and this was a signal for Hythe Town to break and Collin pinged a 60-yard long diagonal pass which was sublimely controlled by Okoh, who sped past Mills before flashing his low angled drive across the keeper and past the far post from 25-yards.

“I remember that one! Luke had his angles covered. I think if it was going to go in to the bottom corner, I think Luke was happy he would save it but they didn’t hit the target so we move on,” added Miles.

Faversham Town sensed blood and upped their desire levels and want to snatch the victory inside the final 10 minutes.

The Lilywhites wasted their big moment when Freiter played the ball up to Khayne, who put Adesite in through on goal down the middle but the ball bounced up as soon as he was going to smack it towards goal but he skied his right-footed shot over the crossbar from 16-yards.

Miles said:  “I think we had two really good chances before we actually scored.

“Maybe they were a little bit tired because they played on Sunday, I know they played on the Astroturf and it was hot and they played Cray Wanderers and I know it was a tough game for them. Whether that had anything to do with them being a little bit leggy at the end, I’m not sure.

“We felt tonight was an opportunity for us to win the game and we we’re confident in the players’ that we’ve got.” 

Khayne then broke away down the left and cut into the box before putting the chance on a plate for Adesite at the far post but he tried to cut the ball back onto his left foot when his best option would have been to strike first time with his right-boot and Nicholls stood up for as long as possible before making the block.

“He’s a young lad, he’s come out of local football and he’s floated around a little bit,” said Miles.

“We’ve got hold of him and we believe he’s going to score some goals this year.  He’s took it back onto his left and really he could’ve put it on his right and just have a shot on target or just pass the ball. In those positions we would’ve liked him to have done better, obviously.”

Faversham Town grabbed the victory with 46 minutes and 29 seconds on the clock.

Considering Miles and Chapman brought on Donvieve Jones as a 74^th minute substitute at right-back, Jones went on a run against his managers’ instructions and found himself down the left-wing, which turned out to be a blessing.

Khayne released Jones down the wrong flank and it proved to be a decisive moment as he cut into the box and put it on a plate for Khayne to sweep his first time shot across the keeper and into the bottom far corner from 12-yards.

“We put Donvieve on at right-back because Steve Mills’ legs had gone and all off a sudden he’s found himself in the left-wing position and he’s squared it into Ryan and he’s slotted it away,” said Miles.

“If Donvieve was doing what we told him to do, we probably wouldn’t have scored because he wouldn’t have made the run but he’s picked it up and just kept running with it but once he started running with it I think James (Miles) slotted in at right-back.

“When we started running at them, they couldn’t cope with it for the 90 minutes and just ran out at the end there.  We were fortunate to keep pushing to get that winner and it paid off for us.”

Faversham Town travel to sixth-placed Chichester City on Saturday (15:00).

“Tonight has given us that little bit of a boost.  We’ve got our first win under the belt and another tough one on Saturday when we’re away to Chichester,” said Miles.

“I’ve got a friend of mine down there, he’s involved with the club, so I know a little bit about them but they’ve come up and teams that come up tend to do really well because they’re on the back of winning their leagues so they’ve come up and had a couple of good results.  They’ve had a couple of wins and a defeat so it’s going to be tough down there.  I know that they’re a footballing side but we’re trying to win as many games as possible. 

“We just need time to gel and I think we need to kick on from today. We can’t let tonight, it’s not just about winning against Hythe, it’s about getting as many points as possible and giving a good account of ourselves every game that we play.”

Faversham Town: Luke Watkins, Steven Mills (Donvieve Jones 74), Jamie Maxted, James Miles, Matthew Bourne, Josh Dorling, Anthony Adesite, Mitchell Chapman, Max Morgan, Michael Freiter, Makhosini Khayne.
Subs: Rolando Onu, Jack Sellens, Robert Lawrence, Harry Earls

Goal: Makhosini Khayne 90

Booked: Jamie Maxted 48, Mitchell Chapman 88

Hythe Town: Ryan Nicholls, Ryan Cooper, Elliott Capel, Adam Woollcott, Ben Fitchett, Ollie Rowe, Stephen Okoh, Chris Kinnear, Frannie Collin (Rhys Bartlett 89), Tom Carlton, Aaron Simpson (Luke Blewden 77).
Subs: Alistair Carney, Charlie Webster, Callum Adonis-Taylor

Booked: Stephen Okoh 59

Attendance: 263
Referee: Mr Simon Finnigan (Maidstone)
Assistants: Mr Edward Smith (Hornchurch, Essex) & Mr David Joseph (Hastings, East Sussex)