Whitstable Town 2-1 Sittingbourne - Lane praise for rookie keeper Shaun Smith

“Second half we got a bit wayward, but in the end it came good.  We’ve had it happen to us a few times this season, where we’ve been in the driving seat and got beat in the last minute, so it’s nice to get one.”

Even Gary Abbott, the beaten Brickies manager, who was also speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk, was quick to praise the Oystermen saying “If you look at the game we didn’t deserve anything out of it.  We’ve come here, didn’t start and thought we could have gone in 3-0 down.

“For us to go 1-0 up, perhaps we could have held on and nicked it, but we’ve been sloppy; one ball through the middle and they’ve scored.  Then for the free kick to go straight in, it’s just one of those things. But, be fair to Whitstable, they deserved it.”

This was a typical Kent Derby, keenly contested, with chances at a premium after a frantic opening half hour; not the type of game you would want to throw a rookie goalkeeper into. 

But with Kevin Fewell unavailable, Lane turned to 19-year-old Smith, who pulled off three good saves in the opening 10 minutes, holding mid-range efforts from Joe Horlock and Hicham Akhazzan, before catching a Paul Semakula effort that was falling into the top corner.

After Dave Cory hit a 30-yard effort past Matt Reed’s right hand post, Smith was alert to deny Semakula again, this time smothering the ball on the edge of his area, after Horlock’s pass had split the defence.

Cory possibly should have done better on 17 minutes; unable to keep his shot down after Ian Pulman’s mazy run along the dead-ball line had created the opening. 

Cory then saw a snap-volley parried by Reed and Ross Morley had to slide in to deny Michael Yianni a goal on his home debut from the rebound, when the goal was beckoning.

Whitstable thought they had taken the lead on 26 minutes, when Pulman bundled the ball in from close range after Reed had parried a Yianni effort, but as the forward’s celebrations were curtailed by Mr Dodd’s flag.

With both defences on top, it was a mistake in the home defence that led to the first chance of the 2nd half; Tom Bradbrook capitalising on a sliced clearance, but Smith got both hands to an angled drive to turn the ball behind. 

This gave Sittingbourne heart and shortly after, on 67 minutes, Morley broke into the box, squared the ball to Ryan Golding, who drilled the ball under the advancing keeper to give the visitors the lead.

In response, Lane threw on Stuart Vahid and Jon Neal, and admitted afterwards: “We started with 3-5-2 tonight, changed it to 4-4-2 in the middle and ended up with four forwards on the pitch at the end.  We just had to have a go and I’ve got four forwards desperate to play and I had to get them on.”

The change had immediate impact on 76 minutes, as the space created by the four forwards gave Clint Gooding space to slide a ball down the side of the Brickies defence, where Cory ran on to cut the ball back across Reed into the bottom right corner.

After another Smith save, this time to deny Bradbrook’s late header, it looked as though the game would end level, but deep in stoppage time, Cornhill drove a 45 yard free kick into the heart of the Sittingbourne area. 

Both Neal and Steven Lloyd missed headers in the scramble and Reed could only watch on helplessly as the ball bounced into the far corner for the winner.

Speaking afterwards, Abbott said: “I was disappointed with the performance.  The last four games, we’ve started so well, getting on top of the game straight away, getting at them, and being positive in every part of our game.  But we just weren’t at it tonight. 

“We knew they were going to have a go.  They’re not expected to be up there at the end of the season, but if they play like that every week, you never know. 

“I thought for the first 10 minutes we were all over them, but they changed their shape, going four at the back, and the game’s changed. 

“We’ve been on a great run, which could always come to an end, but I didn’t want it to come to an end here.”

But the last words should go to Lane, who was full of praise for his team in general, but particularly his goalkeeper.

“Shaun was fantastic today.  He rang me in the summer and we got him down.  He knew he would be understudy to Kevin (Fewell), but he’s been given a chance tonight and knows he’ll be in on Saturday against Ilford.  It’s up to him at the end of the day.  He’s done everything right, his kicking and distribution was fantastic, his handling was good and he’s going to make it hard for me."

Whitstable Town: Shaun Smith, Adam Douglas, Gareth Cornhill, Steven Lloyd, Michael Yianni, Dave Soutan, Dan Wisker (Wayne Fittall 80), Clint Gooding, Dave Cory, Ian Pulman (Jon Neal 73), Tom Parker (Stuart Vahid 69).
Subs: Louis Smith, Dylan McVicar.

Goals: Dave Cory 76, Gareth Cornhill 90

Booked: Ian Pulman 23, Dave Soutan 84

Sittingbourne: Matt Reed, Joe Horlock, Jack Hooper, Nick Reeves, Laurence Harvey, Paul Semakula, Ross Morley, Sam Collins (Billy Manners 54), Tom Bradbrook, Ryan Golding, Hicham Akhazzan (Jaie Nuttall 58).
Subs: Joe Foster, Dion Monaghue, Richard Brady.

Goal: Ryan Golding 67

Booked: Ross Morley 50, Paul Semakula 84, Nick Reeves 90, Jack Hooper.

Attendance: 212
Referee: Mr Darren Blunden (Dartford)
Assistants: Mr Minkuk Choi and Mr Chris Dodd