In a game in which neither side had much to play for and after a gruelling Cup Final against Welling United on Thursday, a fairly low tempo opening was perhaps not that unexpected. But it was also heartening to see that Seags decided against fielding a team made up exclusively of fringe-players. Many who started against Welling also played on Saturday, and surprisingly played with an unexpected level of energy for which they should be commended.

There was an interesting lesson t...

 What a cracking game of football! Whitstable had not really expected to get this far in the competition and they should be credited for this acheievement: the first outing in this Final in their history. Although the score-line suggests a rout, as has been said elsewhere, that score-line may be a little deceiving because The Oystermen kept playing until the end - and had they put their chances away, this game could have looked more like a rugby score. The players were clearly disappointed ...

The game was far from being a spectacle. In fact, most of this performance was pretty poor. It was just as well that Sittingbourne seemed to have forgotten their shooting boots as well or else this could have been a very different story. It wasn't even a game of two halves: rather it was a game of 80 minutes rubbish followed by 10 minutes of some really attractive play by Whitstable - when they could almost have picked up an unlikely three points. But a point is not to be sniffed at, so...

I went to The Belmont on a one-man protest: by not taking my camera and deciding instead to make use of my season ticket from the stands. Maybe this is the way forward because Whitstable played really well for the first time this season. I gather some words were had after the Eastbourne game, and whatver was said seemed to have had the desired result!

There is very little to add to what has already been said about the game. In the first half, Whistable was in complete control against a team...

Somewhere between jimmygreaves, steveparsons and myself, there lies a jinx: I’m pretty sure none of us have witnessed many if any wins this season (come to think of it, I saw the win against Croydon towards the beginning of term). On the other hand, such talk is pure superstition and detracts from the real causes of yet another average performance (if only I had seen the apparent brilliance against Chipstead). Some of those causes have already been identified: some very odd selections, hurr...

One of last season's fellow promotees, Chipstead, still play in green. But Whitstable's new strip (tight shorts apart) made them look more imposing on the pitch and for the first half hour or so, they also looked the more threatening. In fact, there was a general air of confidence about the team in red. Liam Quinn's excellent pre-season appears to have been rewarded with the captaincy. Perona found himself on a strong bench with Seags reverting to a 3-5-2 formation which, if my memory serves ...

Where is it all going wrong? 

There was a strange sense of optimism before the game, but as has been noted elsewhere, it was short-lived. After Eastbourne scored their first, Whitstable disintegrated and this has to go down as the worst performance I have seen in some time: and that is saying something after some of the recent games! The cause wasn't helped by probably the worst referee I have ever seen, whose crowning glory was to give Eastbourne a free kick after James Campbell tried to h...

One of last season's fellow promotees, Chipstead, still play in green. But Whitstable's new strip (tight shorts apart) made them look more imposing on the pitch and for the first half hour or so, they also looked the more threatening. In fact, there was a general air of confidence about the team in red. Liam Quinn's excellent pre-season appears to have been rewarded with the captaincy. Perona found himself on a strong bench with Seags reverting to a 3-5-2 formation which, if my memory serves ...

After the four-nil pasting by the excellent Tooting on Saturday, tonight's game should have been a comfortable win against bottom of the league Chipstead. A member of Tooting management had suggested to the Oysterboys that although Chipstead were a physical side, we should beat them even playing as poorly as we had against Tooting. This six-pointer did not go to plan - if indeed there was one.

In the first half, Whitstable were plain awful. No other word will do. There was not a single shot ...

With the football season drawing to an unwelcomely swift conclusion I thought I would check out the most likely title challenger for next season by visiting Hayes Lane for this play-off final between Cray and Met. As both teams had progressed to the final via 1-0 wins, a similar score-line looked the most likely. And omens proved correct in a slightly nervy game between two physical and well-organised teams which was punctuated by some moments of brilliance.

The first half was evenly balanced....

It was a beautiful day at the Met Police ground which, as steveparsons has already noted, is probably the best ground in our division. And for the first 5-6 minutes looked like we might cause an upset. Apart from a recent win in a cup, Met Police really had failed to flatter in recent games, and during the opening exchanges, they looked all over the place. Whitstable looked in control. But a disallowed goal in the fourth minute from the Met was an inauspicious sign. The goa...

The game kicked off 18 minutes late because one of the linesmen was late. This was an unwelcome start to proceedings because it was bloody cold out there. But at least the game went on – there being some doubt about that until the referee gave the go-ahead shortly before kick-off.

As has been noted elsewhere, this really was a game of two-halves. The first belonged to the Oystermen whereas the second was just about Whyteleafe’s. The end result was a fair one.

Dave Cory had the ea...

Despite the freezing conditions, or perhaps because of them, this was on the whole a good game of football. The impartial observer would also probably agree that Whitstable were unlucky not to get anything out of the game after Worthing scored from the spot in the dying minutes of injury time. But had Jake Gess scored from the spot in the 10th minute on his 100th appearance for the club, the final result may have gone the other way completely. It has been suggested elsewhere that the penalt...

Whether by accident or design, Rob Thomas was the only change to this Whitstable  side which ultimately out-played a fancied Whyteleafe side visiting The Belmont hot on the heels of a good victory against Welling in the FA cup. Despite some gloom around the stands before kick-off, The Oystermen started brightly. On 8 minutes, Wisker put Pullie through with a neat reverse pass and Pullie showed great composure by placing the ball beyond the keeper.

Having now not only beaten last Saturd...

The Kingstonian forum was a abuzz prior to kick-off predicting a mauling of The Oystermen, and the omens did not look good after Whitstable gave away the ball with the first kick of the game. That allowed high-flying Kingstonian to launch a swift attack forcing Kevin Fewell to make a fingertip save within 30 seconds of the start. Fortunately, the shock seemed to remind the Red Men (playing in yellow) that the game had started and they quickly composed themselves.

Ten minutes into the game saw ...

Whitstable did manage a shot at goal in the first ten after Danny Tipple hurdled a couple of Cray player, crossed for Clint Gooding who shot ...

The Oystermen put in a good shift against Brackley Town last Saturday in the FA Trophy. Having taken the lead early in the first half, they gave a team of well-paid players a good game until Brackley took the lead with a soft goal some twenty minutes from the end. At that stage, it was obvious (and understandably so) that no-one really had the appetite for a replay somewhere near Northampton. But at least Whitstable had started scoring goals and they played some excellent counter-attacking fo...

As I write this, somewhere in Switzerland they are turning on the particle accelerator that may create a black hole into which the whole world will be sucked as they recreate the first few milliseconds of the Big Bang. I ask myself therefore, is this the way I want to spend my last few hours on this Earth? Writing up a match report from last night's game; having driven to Cray and back, having watched yet another poor display of football. The short answer is 'yes' (obviously, I am doing it). ...

Pre-match, there was some talk on the terraces about whether Tom Parker was cutting the mustard in the middle of the park and the consensus seemed to be a lack of consistency and goals on his part. He must have overheard the conversation as he not only played well but also scored his first goal of the season, and for as long as I remember. It is also obvious why the manager likes him, because his voice is always heard on the pitch, irrespective of how well he is playing.

But things did...

I don’t think anyone saw that result coming, but there was an element of karma at work here: not only had the Bromley management and administration apparently treated our management and team with a certain degree of disdain and lack of respect (suggesting they would use the game as a training session), but I was also kept outside the ground for a good ten minutes as my “name wasn’t on the list”. In three years of following local football and taking photos for the local press, I�...