Whitstable edged past SCEFL Premier Division rivals Lydd Town to reach the Third Round of the Isuzu FA Vase, but left it late to secure their place in the draw. A tight first half brought no goals, although both teams might have broken the deadlock as Matt Astle shot wide after a mistake in the home defence and Mike West’s lob over the goalkeeper also cleared the bar. Harvey Smith did nod Whitstable in front after the break, only for Astle to equalise with a clever finish. Penalties loomed, but late Whitstable pressure led to a header being cleared off the line moments before Smith’s cross rebounded into the net off a Lydd defender to decide the tie deep into added time.

Lydd Town had already made history by progressing to this stage of the FA Vase, while Whitstable were hoping to reach the Third Round for the first time since 2016-17. Both clubs had players missing for various reasons. Whitstable were without the suspended Jake McIntyre, the cup tied Dean Grant and Liam Gillies, and left back Archie Johnson who signed for Isthmian Premier Division Bowers & Pitsea in the week. The home team therefore contained a number of young players, with Jayden Boulton and Kai Jeffrey making their full debuts in defence, with Jayden Silcott-Brown, Ronald Sithole, Tommy Ansell and Harry Baptiste also in the match day squad. Lydd had to do without recent signing Stefan Payne and experienced midfielder Sam Adams was also unavailable. Whitstable had won a league match 3-1 at Lydd on a sunny August evening, but there was no sign of any brightness for the 401 crowd on a dry, but cloudy afternoon that began with a minute’s silence for Remembrance Weekend.

Whitstable made a positive start, winning five corners in the opening quarter of an hour, but failed to make anything of them. There were also several good chances at the other end in that period, as Charlie Dickens swung the ball in from the left for Matt Astle whose shot was saved by Dan Colmer low to his right, next Whitstable lost possession to Ryan Philpott in their own penalty area and were relieved to see Astle prod the ball past the far post under pressure from Jerald Aboagye and then a Philpott shot was deflected wide. A long ball by Will Thomas found Silcott-Brown who ran forward before his shot was blocked on the 18 yard line. A Josh Oliver cross from the left reached Mike West who turned and shot just wide.

Philpott had two attempts just after the half hour mark, one shot easily held by Colmer and the other lobbed over the top. Whitstable had their best opportunity of the half on 36 minutes when West’s run into the box was found by Smith and with the ball bouncing kindly, he chipped the advancing Sam Freeman, but the ball went just over the bar. Lydd finished the half quite strongly, creating a few promising situations, the best of which was a 43rd minute cross from the right by Philpott that was headed over the bar by Will Dempsey, so the score remained 0-0 at half time.

A spell of Lydd pressure early in the second half saw two efforts blocked in quick succession as Whitstable defended well, then in the 58th minute the breakthrough came following a good Whitstable move. West fed Silcott-Brown on the right who spotted the run of Aboagye and his cross was helped on by Oliver to the back post where Smith arrived to head in. Lydd lost Dickens to injury, but were back on terms in the 68th minute when some interplay on the right released Astle who was allowed the space to run to the 18 yard line before bending the ball into the far corner with the outside of his right foot. Both teams made changes and the Whitstable substitute Sithole set the ball back for Fin Cotton who shot just over from 20 yards. Astle shot wide at the other end before Billy Horley’s game was ended by an injury just eight minutes after his introduction.

Whitstable looked the more likely to find a late winner as the prospect of a penalty shootout drew closer. Smith had a couple of efforts, then after the referee had signalled a minimum of seven added minutes, Sithole was fouled by Ryan Smith and Oliver’s long range free kick sailed just wide. Another Oliver shot was deflected for a corner and Mikey Dalton’s delivery was met by Thomas whose header was somehow kept out by Freeman on the line. Whitstable managed to keep the pressure on and the ball went out to Smith on the right whose cross appeared to rebound off Ryan Smith and, with several bodies on the ground, the ball rolled across the line for what proved to be the winner in the fifth added minute. There followed a bit of a melee in the net amidst the celebrations, but when play restarted, Whitstable were able to see out the remaining minutes to reach the last 64.

Whitstable have another cup game on Wednesday when they travel to play Staplehurst Monarchs in the SCEFL Challenge Cup.

Whitstable	Data	Lydd
3	Shots on target	3
6	Shots off target	6
3	Shots blocked	6
10	Corners	2
8	Fouls conceded	9
1	Offside	2
0	Penalties	0

Whitstable Town
Dan Colmer, Jerald Aboagye, Jayden Boulton, Mikey Dalton, Kai Jeffrey, Will Thomas, Josh Oliver (Reece Gillies 90+7), Mike West (c) (Ronald Sithole 69), Harvey Smith, Fin Cotton, Jayden Silcott-Brown.
Subs (unused): Dan Eason, Harry Baptiste, Tommy Ansell.
Goals: Harvey Smith 58, Ryan Smith o.g. 90+5.
Yellow cards: Will Thomas 82, Josh Oliver 90+6.

Lydd Town
Sam Freeman, Elliott Moore, Robbie Dolan, Ryan Smith, Calvin Sedenu, James Rogers, Will Dempsey (Billy Horley 71, Tom Wynter 79), Ronnie Dolan (c), Ryan Philpott (Kenny Pogue 69), Charlie Dickens (Luke Burdon 61), Matt Astle.
Sub (unused): Tyler Sterling
Goal: Matt Astle 68
Yellow cards: Matt Astle 88, Ryan Smith 90+2.

Attendance: 401
Referee: Jacob Miller
Assistants: Gordon Hebdon & Harrison Clark