Hythe Town 3-1 Lancing - I wouldn't want to be at a club that's just battling to stay in the league, we are a very ambitious group but no one gives us credit, no one thinks we're a threat to anyone, says Hythe Town boss Steven Watt

Hythe Town 3 – 1 Lancing
Location	Reachfields Stadium, off Fort Road, Hythe, Kent CT21 6JS
Kickoff	19/11/2022 14:00

HYTHE TOWN  3-1  LANCING
Isthmian League South East Division
Saturday 19 November 2022
Stephen McCartney reports from Reachfields Stadium

HYTHE TOWN manager Steven Watt says he wants people to write off his side’s chances of grabbing a play-off place at the end of the season after comfortably beating Lancing at Reachfields Stadium.

The Cannons climbed up a couple of places into fourteenth in the Isthmian League South East Division table with 16 points on the board from their 12 league outings, only seven points adrift of fifth-placed side Cray Valley and eight points clear of second-from-bottom side Corinthian.

Jointly-managed by Alex Walsh and Dale Hurley, Lancing arrived on the Kent coast one place above Hythe Town, having picked up 15 points from their 13 games.

After three straight wins over Faversham Town (3-1), VCD Athletic (2-1) and Corinthian (1-0), Lancing lost to Sevenoaks Town (0-3) and Burgess Hill Town (2-3), before beating East Grinstead Town 1-0 in the Sussex Senior Cup in midweek.

Hythe Town, meanwhile, extended their unbeaten home league record to six but came into this game on a run of just one win in nine in all competitions (one win in seven in the league) and were without a home win at home on a Saturday for exactly nine months.

However, right-wing-back Liam Smith ensured Hythe Town dismissed that record by opening the scoring after only 77 seconds, before Frannie Collin notched his third goal of the season, from the penalty spot, to give the home side a commanding two-goal lead inside 25 minutes.

Former Sittingbourne striker Johan Caney-Bryan headed in his ninth goal of the season in the second half before Lancing pulled a goal back through a penalty from midfielder Darius Goldsmith.

“Comfortable, would be the best way to describe it, I think, baring obviously their penalty.  I think they’ve had one shot on target in 90 minutes, which was a breakaway in the first half, so in terms of comfortable, we restricted the chances they had,” said Watt.

“I think we should’ve had a couple more.  We needed the three points. We’ve played really well in recent weeks but we’ve not got the return and points from our performances.  We may have played better in those performances and not got points so it’s all about, like we said to the boys, start winning ugly.

“The amount of teams we’ve played and we’ve come off and we’ve been told ‘we’re one of the best sides we’ve faced this year’, but we haven’t got maximum points. It doesn’t mean anything to me. I want to get points over that so it was an important three points and a good win from the boys.”

Home wins and good performances (as was the first half today) on Saturday games will ensure crowds will increase from the 200 that were here today and when asked about this being Hythe Town’s first home Saturday win since 19 February 2022, Watt replied: “Mick Putman (kitman) told me that before the game started, so that’s not my fault because I weren’t here at the time!

“No, look, we’re unbeaten here this season and that’s one thing we spoke about.  We want to make this place a really hard place to come and I think we are starting to make this place a difficult place to come which is really important if we want to be successful.”

Hythe Town set the tone by taking the lead after only 77 seconds, courtesy of a sweeping move.

Marvin Hamilton and Jason Fregene linked up inside the Lancing half before Caney-Bryan fed the ball to outstanding midfielder Ethan Smith, who played a first-time diagonal over to his older brother, Liam Smith, who took a touch before hitting a right-footed angled drive underneath goalkeeper Alieu Secka to find the bottom far corner from 15-yards.

“It was a great start,” said Watt.

“The goal is really lucky and fortuitous but as we’ve said in recent weeks, we’ve not been having that rub of the green in front of goal.  We’ve not had that luck you need sometimes to win games and today we’ve got the rub of it for the first goal.

“The build-up play was really good and Liam’s cross-come-shot, obviously I think it takes a bobble and it goes in. I’ll have to see it again but yes it was a fortuitous goal but I think it’s something that we deserved and we’ve not had it in recent weeks.”

Hythe Town missed a glorious opportunity to double their lead with four minutes and 16 seconds on the clock, following a spell of intense pressure.

Hamilton floated a cross into the box from within the right channel and put it on a plate for an unmarked Caney-Bryan, who swept his first-time shot straight at the Lancing keeper from a central position just eight-yards out.

“Johan was in the box at the right time, he gets good contact on it but the ball was slightly behind him. It was on target, unlucky not to be two-up,” added Watt.

Lancing were a threat on the counter-attack with striker Ashley Mutongerwa often getting in behind Hythe Town’s left-wing-back Shad Ngandu and Fregene, who played on the left hand-side of a three-man defence alongside Jack Steventon and Liam Smith.

Goldsmith’s 20-yard through ball beat the offside trap and released Mutongerwa down the right and he cut into the penalty area but goalkeeper Steven Phillips narrowed the angle and used his leg to make a vital save at his near post in a one-on-one dual.

“Steve’s had a really quiet, comfortable day. It’s something we addressed and the counter-attacking in the second half seemed to stop, baring a silly mistake that we made in possession but we knew they were dangerous on the counter but I thought, in general play, we restricted them to very, very little,” said Watt.

This was Phillips’ 11^th appearance for the Cannons, having plucked him up from Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division side Phoenix Sports.

“Massive, he’s been a massive signing for us,” hailed Watt.

“We made a change, Aaron Lee-Wharton did well for us but we wanted a bit more of an experienced head behind a younger back line and Steve’s come in and he just breeds confidence to the team.

“He talks and he commands his box and in key moments, when he is needed and he’ll be the first to say he’s not needed very often but when he is needed, he's more than capable to make saves, which he did.  He’s been a big signing for us and I’m delighted to have him.”

A poor header from inside the Lancing half from Liam Smith allowed Lancing to break again and Goldsmith released Mutongerwa down the right again and he easily cut inside the versatile Ethan Smith before dragging his low left-footed shot past the right-hand post from 20-yards.

Watt was full of praise for former Gillingham midfielder Ethan Smith, 18, who worked hard in both halves of the pitch.

Watt said: “He was outstanding today. He’s been out for a while. In pre-season he was absolutely unplayable which was unbelievable but I think when you fall out of full-time football, for these younger players sometimes they have adjustment periods to part-time and it takes a bit of time juggling a full-time job. He admitted it himself he struggled a little bit but I pulled him a couple of weeks ago and I said, ‘I will take you out just feed you back and your time will come again.’  I said to him today ‘this is your time’, and I thought he was outstanding!”

Collin pounced on a loose ball in the 14^th minute but dragged his right-footed drive across the keeper and past the far post from 25-yards.

“We spoke about getting the ball forward early and second balls was key today,” said Watt.

“Frannie is always in the right place at the right time to pick up those balls and you fancy him from that sort of range to hit the target but on this occasion he unfortunately dragged it wide.”

Dominant Hythe Town deserved their two-goal lead when it came from Collin’s right-boot with 24 minutes and 8 seconds on the clock.

Jack Mahoney showed desire to win the ball despite being heavily pressed and poked the ball through to Ethan Smith – Lancing centre-half Thomas Butler opened the door – and Ethan Smith was pulled down by goalkeeper Secka in a one-v-one situation.

Secka went to his right but Collin clinically stroked his penalty into the back of the net, just right of centre.

“In that situation on a penalty you want Frannie Collin taking it but again it comes from Ethan’s endeavour, Ethan’s work-rate to cause problems and he gets in the right position and picks it up and years’ gone past they would’ve been down to 10 men.  It you want to relax and somebody to take a penalty, it’s Frannie Collin.”

Lancing left-winger Tyrone Madhani played the ball in to an unmarked Goldsmith, whose 30-yarder was easily plucked out of the air by the former Phoenix Sports goalkeeper.

Hythe Town then had chances past the half-hour mark to kill the game off going into the interval.

A deep Collin switched the play from right-to-left to Ngandu, who easily cut inside Lancing’s right-back Mohamed Joumaa Zabadne before hitting a right-footed drive towards goal from 25-yards, which Secka dropped down to his knees to hold in his midriff at his near-post.

Ngandu then pointed towards the left-channel before slipping a 20-yard pass into Ethan Smith, who cut inside a struggling Zabadne and into the box before pulling his shot past the foot of the near post.

“The only disappointment I can take from today is it should’ve been four or five really, perhaps on the reflection of the chances we had throughout the game and you’ve got to take those chances,” added Watt.

A poor defensive clearance from Lancing’s left-back Jake Legrange was sublimely brought under his spell by Ngandu outside the penalty area before hitting a right-footed drive narrowly over the Lancing crossbar in the 36^th minute.

Lancing went close to grabbing a goal following Goldsmith’s floated free-kick, which was cleared out towards Finn Daniels-Yeomans but the central midfielder hit his left-footed half-volley screaming past the right-hand post from 16-yards but Watt was delighted with his side’s first-half performance.

“When we went in at half-time, we said chances are going to come, we need to take it, as soon as you take it and you make it three, then the game’s done and we should’ve done that straight after half-time,” added the Cannons boss.

“I said to the boys it was a pleasing half.  The only disappointing thing was we’re not three or four up at that point, which I thought we should’ve been but you can only do what you can do and we’ve taken two chances.

“We spoke about little things tactically but the main point of focus at half-time was we must take chances.”

Watt was amazed that his side didn’t score their third goal of the game just 132 seconds into the second half.

Collin floated a free-kick in from the left, the ball was flicked on at the near-post by Fregene but his defensive partner Steventon (who launched six long throws into the Lancing box) steered his free header across goal and past the far post.

Watt said: “How did he miss?! He tried to guide it in the corner rather than just hit the target.  I told him, in that situation, don’t guide it, just hit the target being that close to goal.  I’m not quite sure how he quite missed that!

“After a miss like that you’re thinking ‘is it going to be one of those days?’ Are they going to get one on the counter-attack and it makes it a really difficult afternoon but fortunately for us we got the third.”

The second half was a scrappy affair with both sides cancelling each other out but Hythe Town duly notched their third goal of the game with 21 minutes and 29 seconds on the clock.

Hamilton rolled the ball out to Ngandu on the left, who easily beat Goldsmith on the edge of the Lancing penalty area down the left before hanging over a cross towards the far post where the unmarked Caney-Bryan buried his header in off the underside of the crossbar and dropping down and in beside the left-hand post.

“Fantastic!  Shad’s been brilliant again. He’s been in and out of the team and you like to try to get him out on the pitch as much as you can because he gives you so much quality,” said Watt.

“Johan, I’m delighted for him.  We’ve taken him across from Sittingbourne.  I think he got 14 goals for Sittingbourne last year and it takes him up to nine now, so he’s one of the top goalscorers in the league, so it’s good to have him. He’d like to have scored a couple more today but he took that chance very, very well.”

Lancing pulled a goal back with 32:38 on the clock, courtesy of a penalty, following another counter-attack.

Mutongerwa broke down the middle of the pitch before slipping the ball through to the impressive winger Madhani, who was sent crashing to the ground by Lex Allan’s last-man sliding tackle inside the box.

Referee Kane Dempster pointed to the spot for a second time. Allen was booked and Goldsmith clinically sent Phillips the wrong way, stroking his right-footed penalty nestling inside the bottom left-hand corner.

“I’ve spoken to Lex, there’s no need for Lex to make any sort of challenge, there’s absolutely no need to do it but he knows that,” said fellow, now retired centre-half Watt.

“There’s times in there when we were panicking a little bit when they broke and if you’re a little bit more panicked than usual you do things you shouldn’t do and it's a tackle you shouldn’t make.

“I’m just disappointed, I thought the boys deserved a clean-sheet today.”

The Cannons almost scored a fourth goal when another free-kick from the left by Collin was hit deep towards the back post where Liam Smith’s diving header from close range was planted just past the foot of the near post.

“You’d like to get it on target but I think if it goes in it’s an unbelievable header because he’s at full-stretch. It’s something we spoke about. We need to score more goals from set-pieces and it’s something that we’ve been working on,” revealed Watt.

Lancing kept plugging away, however, and they went close to scoring again inside the final five minutes when Ethan Smith slid in to bring down four-goal Madhani, earning the man-of-the-match Hythe’s third yellow card of the game.

Mutongerwa stroked his right-footed free-kick sailing just over the crossbar from 30-yards to ensure the last knockings were not to become a nervous affair for the home faithful.

Watt takes his side to Haywards Heath Town last Saturday, a side that suffered a 4-0 defeat at Ashford United today and despite losing to Herne Bay on penalties in the play-off semi-finals last season, find themselves in the bottom three with 13 points from 14 games.

Corinthian (eight points from 14 games) and Faversham Town (seven from 15) remain in the drop zone.

Ramsgate (29 points from 14 games) play Ashford United (28 points from 14) in a top-of-the-table clash next Saturday – but Watt hasn’t ruled out grabbing a play-off place.

“I don’t think we’ve got the return that we deserve but ultimately in games you get what you deserve and the league table does not lie,” said Watt.

“If you put a run together in this league – Sevenoaks won a couple of games who were second-from-bottom and ended up fifth.  The league’s crazy, how tight it is.

“We targeted this bunch of games we’ve got now, it’s no disrespect to teams we’ve played because these teams are very, very good. Lancing are in really good form but the games at home, in particular, we should be winning these games, so we’ve got a good run of games now where we should stack up a few wins and see us climb the table.”

Chatham Town (27 points from 13), Whitehawk (26 from 13) and Cray Valley (23 from 14) are the other sides currently in the play-off zone tonight.

“I wouldn’t want to be at a club that’s just battling to stay in the league. We are a very ambitious group,” insisted Watt.

“No one gives us credit, no one thinks we’re a good side or we’re a threat to anyone. We had it last week at Whitehawk, saying they were surprised how difficult they found the game against us, which is all we need to know because no one rates us, which is fine, we’re ok with that, so we’ll turn up and do what we can on a Saturday and see what happens.

“Like I said to the boys from when the season started, there’s no pressure on this group. There’s pressure on other teams, not us.  No one expects us, we were fourth-from-bottom in the predicted table or something like that, so the boys took that a little bit disrespectful, rightly so, when you look at that group of players and what some of these players have achieved, so let’s go and prove people wrong every week.  It’s not a problem, so that’s what we try and do.”

Watt added: “Haywards Heath will be a tough game, it’s always a hard place to go. They’re a well-organised side.  They’re not having the best of starts to this season but it doesn’t mean it will be an easy game by any stretch.

“I know from recent years, I always found going to Haywards Heath a very, very tough place to go, so we’ll go there on Saturday and try to pick up three points and se if we can climb the league.”

Watt, meanwhile, revealed that Harry Miller is ruled out for another four to six weeks with a hairline fracture to his foot, while Marcus Goldsmith’s thigh strain is expected to rule him out for another two or three weeks.

Hythe Town: Steven Phillips, Liam Smith, Shad Ngandu (Sam Itauma 70), Jack Steventon, Jason Fregene, Lex Allan, Jack Mahoney (Joshua Stirman 71), Marvin Hamilton, Johan Caney-Bryan, Frannie Collin, Ethan Smith (Veron Miege 90).
Subs: Morgan Williamson, Michael Phillips

Goals: Liam Smith 2, Frannie Collin 28 (penalty), Johan Caney-Bryan 67

Booked: Jason Fregene 60, Lex Allan 76, Ethan Smith 84

Lancing: Alieu Secka, Mohamed Joumaa Zabadne (Sean Stephenson 70), Jake Legrange, Finn Daniels-Yeomans, Tom Butler, Owen Spicer, Tyrone Madhani, Reece Hallard (Faris Khallouqi 77), Ashley Mutongerwa, Fraser Middleton-Tozer (Tommy Boyle 46), Darius Goldsmith.
Subs: Josh Gould, Kane Louis

Goal: Darius Goldsmith 77 (penalty)

Booked: Alieu Secka 24

Attendance: 200
Referee: Mr Kane Dempster
Assistants: Mr David Spain & Mr Matt Goldsmith