Seager's heroes secure Ryman League status

TEN-MAN Whitstable Town secured their Ryman League Division One South status yesterday - with a hard-fought 1-0 win at play-off chasing Fleet Town, writes Stephen McCartney.

Despite having Clint Gooding sent-off, the Oystermen sealed the points that mathematically secured safety, courtesy of a last-gasp Dave Cory winner.

The striker latched onto a great through ball from Danny Tipple, after the lively Tom Parkere had won the ball in midfield, and Cory dented the Hampshire side’s title-winning chances.

Marc Seager’s men, who welcome local rivals Sittingbourne to the KRBS Belmont on Easter Monday, put in a gutsy performance and were rewarded for their hard work with a victory over Andy Sinton’s side.

“I was just grateful to go in nil-nil at half-time,” admitted Seager, when speaking to www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk afterwards.

“Clint (Gooding) will be mad at himself and he should be. The sending off was a lack of discipline and it made for a very tough second half.

“I told the lads these guys are not going to settle for a point, the three would have kept them in the race for the title outright and I knew that they would throw everything at us.

“We were strong all over the pitch, defensively they were all heroes every one; there were many corners coming in the second half, the set pieces are their speciality but do you know that keeper Kevin Fewell never had one outright save to make.

“That was down to his positional play and the other nine guys on the pitch, who threw their bodies in front of every ball and won the tackles when it mattered.”

Quotes courtesy of www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk

Whitstable Town v Sittingbourne
Ryman League Division One South
Easter Monday, 13^th April 2009
Kick Off 3:00pm
At KRBS Belmont, Belmont Road, Whitstable, Kent CT5 1QP