Squad:

 
Lawrence
Jim
Colin
Rob
Chris
Kevin
George
Rich
Toony
Paul

Scorers:

 
Rob
Kevin 3
Colin

Our first ever away trip to Whitstable was to see us return with all three points for our fourth victory in a row. Despite all the space on offer we were met with slightly unusual pitch dimensions, very narrow but at least as long as Baypoint, stark contrast to Ham Street, long and thin compared to short and wide (sounds like our old midfield), having said that it was a very good surface.

With the strong wind at our back we made an excellent start, quickly adapting to the conditions we pinned the home team back. Rob was having quite a personal battle with his rather lively and aggressive counterpart, however,  Rob stayed disciplined in his position out of possession his opponent lacked the same application as our midfield anchor strode through the defence to give us the lead. It was soon two nil as some good pressure led to a stray defensive clearance finding Kev who duly inflicted the punishment. At this point we were in total command and Kevin scored his second of the night. From a defensive point of view we were rarely troubled, as for an attacking force the home team seemed to be having a competition amongst themselves of who could shoot from the furthest distance out, none of which were to trouble Lawrence. Three nil up at half time.

In to the second half and with George doing a great job holding up we went searching for more goals, unfortunately our lead was reduced as an under strength back pass was latched on to by the Whitstable centre forward who kept his composure to pull a goal back. No problem though as we were never to really let them back in to the contest, this was about the point when the longest shot winner was awarded as an effort from the half way line sailed over our cross bar. Our fourth goal was a peach from Colin, he was found in space and finished in to the corner of the goal for his second in two games. Again the deficit was back to two as a good finish was conceded. Again no panic as we were never really threatened comfortably playing out the remaining minutes. The final goal of the game was to see Kevin complete his first ever hat-trick with the last kick of the game.

Overall this was a very good all round performance, we are playing much better as a team rather than at the start of the season; a big improvement from our first match. We are keeping our shape much better with good communication and covering for each other which is paying dividends. Although the temptation to try a different lineup / formation was there we persevered with the game plan which was so successful last season. Next up is last year’s champions which is a challenge we can meet head on with the confidence of our recent good form.

Thanks to Whitstable for their hospitality and to the referee, we have not encountered him before but although he was very lenient he was very consistent.

Also a big thank you to Gordon, Tony, Simon and Nick who supported the team from the sidelines.