After the entertaining match against South Park we will now play against
The Kent side are currently on a mid table position : place 12 with 22 games played and they got 29 points.
Last Saturday they lost away to Walton & Hersham with 2-0. Top scorer with 10 goals ( including 5 pen. ) is Ian Pulman.
Last season we played against them away on 25-03-2014 and got a 1-1 draw( goal Mc Creadie ) and at home on 19-04-2014 we won 3-1 ( goals Sawyer 2x and Adams )
They plat their home matches at : The Belmont Ground, Belmont Road,Whitstable, Kent CT5 1QP
After the game against South Park which we should have won we have another chance of getting away from the bottom places. Mind the 2 bottom clubs Horsham have only played 17 and Walton Casuals 19 games.
Good to see again the return of Tom Vickers in the squad. After his injury he played some games for Ringmer to become fit again and it was good to see that he played 15 minutes last Monday. Another big game for Dom's team. Main thing is that we will keep on creating chances which we did against South Park but also that our defense will be too strong.
Probably best to get the pitch out of the way first. When we arrived it looked very good considering the terrible weather they have had there, but within 20 minutes it was quite obvious that underneath that lush grass surface lurked a bog and by half time the pitch was cutting up all over the place. Both sides struggled to get any momentum going, but well done to the ground staff for getting it playable.
We started reasonably well and i felt dominated most of the early exchanges and created a few good chances - then came the sending off. I think the ref had no choice as both were feisty challenges and a bit misdirected. Strangely enough we played even better after that and took the game to Whitstable and limited them to a couple of chances. Once again, we couldnt convert anything and itwas frustrating as I suspected that as the game wore on that our hosts would come into the game more and they certainly did second half.
Second half was a poor affair from both sides as the pitch just strangled any chance of a "beautiful" game. Whitstable put a lot of pressure on us and their goal came from one of their better chances on 55 with a simple header in. Again though, we didnt buckle. We rode our luck as you do when you are chasing the game with ten men but again the final third just couldnt deliver. If I were a Whitstable board member i think i would be embarrassed at how many times their players fell to the ground in the game. Ok it was slippy but this was excessive and the ref bought it completely.
Dont think we deserved to lose - we had enough chances but it just didnt work out. We will play worse than that and win. Final note - thought the Whitstable fans did their team proud. Sang from start to finish. I loved the " No one knows us and we dont care". Made me chuckle.
We seriously need to start putting chances away - that was the only concern for me. The rest I thought was a reasonably good performance considering we were handicapped for 70 minutes.
-- Edited by Pat on Saturday 29th of November 2014 08:45:55 PM
agree with that think we was better team, more posesion but did not take chances on a bog of pitch where ball did not bounce at time. think we gave up on game when ade came off and formation then all over place with keeny wide right ,arron in middle and woodley left of 3 attacking. Pullan look very slow today on heavy pitch, razor did well not sure why farmer in ahead of crutwell when in paper crutwell is only left foot player.
lot of noise from whitstable supporters who really get behind there team, first ever visit there quite a nice ground compare to sum
I thought we deserved more from that game today, pitch was terrible and bobbled like it was the surface of the moon. No arguments with the sending off I don't think the ref had any choice unless you could see it as maybe a bit harsh not to have a word rather than going straight for the yellow on the first booking? However we certainly played the better of the two sides during the first half and should really of gone into the break a couple of goals to the good. Apart from them scoring I and a save shortly after they never looked like scoring until the final few minutes when they put a bit of pressure on us as we tired. We really need to take those chances we are creating as it's now costing us points we deserve.
Great to see Tom back in the squad I think we need him to start on Monday night, I expect a few will be rested so a great opportunity to get a win and hopefully a few goals.
Hastings United’s footballers were narrowly beaten this afternoon (Saturday) after playing most of the match with 10 men.
The U’s were edged out 1-0 away to Whitstable Town in Ryman Football League Division One South following the dismissal of full-back Adam Hunt midway through the first half.
United made the better start on a sunny afternoon in north Kent. Taser Hassan was denied by the feet of home goalkeeper Luke Watkins and Arron Hopkinson shot just wide from the edge of the box.
Hunt then picked up two yellow cards in quick succession to leave United with a big task on their hands, but they responded very well. Ade Olorunda cleared the crossbar from close range and headed wide before teeing up Sam Adams for a shot which was saved by Watkins.
Away goalkeeper Josh Pelling did well to thwart Scott Heard from close range in a rare Whitstable chance, while at the other end, Joe Shelley fired narrowly wide and an Adams corner was headed over by Charlie Farmer at the end of a pretty decent half for the U’s.
Pelling produced a super stop from Heard as Whitstable started the second half strongly and the home side grabbed what proved to be the winner in the 55th minute, Conner Coyne scoring with a free header from a well-delivered cross.
Whitstable skipper Ian Pulman spurned a great chance to double his team’s lead by shooting wide after surging clear. Pelling then turned a Heard shot wide of the upright and produced another good save from Nick Treadwell’s firm header.
Hopkinson’s volley was kept out by a diving Watkins, while Pelling again did well to repel a close range effort from substitute Matt Martin, who shortly afterwards shot wide after rounding the United goalkeeper.
United: Pelling, Hunt, Farmer, T. Olorunda (Vickers), Ray, Pullan, Shelley, Adams, A. Olorunda (Woodley), Hassan (Pogue), Hopkinson. Subs not used: Cruttwell, Keehan.
Standings (played-points): 1 Faversham Town 22-46, 2 Merstham 22-43, 3 Burgess Hill Town 17-41, 4 Folkestone Invicta 20-39, 5 Whyteleafe 21-37, 6 Herne Bay 23-36, 7 Tooting & Mitcham United 22-35, 8 South Park 20-32, 9 Sittingbourne 23-32, 10 Whitstable Town 23-32, 11 Corinthian-Casuals 23-31, 12 Chipstead 21-30, 13 Worthing 20-29, 14 Walton & Hersham 21-29, 15 Three Bridges 21-26, 16 Hythe Town 23-25, 17 Carshalton Athletic 22-25, 18 HASTINGS UNITED 22-24, 19 Guernsey 22-24, 20 Ramsgate 21-24, 21 Redhill 19-21, 22 East Grinstead Town 22-18, 23 Horsham 17-13, 24 Walton Casuals 19-10.
![4_Ian_Pulman[1]](http://www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/4_Ian_Pulman1-150x150.jpg)
After his injury he played some games for Ringmer to become fit again and it was good to see that he played 15 minutes last Monday. Another big game for Dom's team. Main thing is that we will keep on creating chances which we did against South Park but also that our defense will be too strong.