Whitstable paid the price for a poor first half an hour to slip to a 2-1 defeat at Glebe. Both teams had already missed great chances before the Whitstable defence went missing for a corner kick, giving Marcus Travers the chance to give the hosts an early lead. This was soon doubled when a low right wing cross found its way to the far post where Reggie Rye arrived to make it 2-0. Whitstable eventually began to threaten more regularly and a couple of great saves by Justin Lee kept them out until Josh Oliver scored an impressive solo goal just before the break. After an early chance for Glebe, the second half was almost one way traffic, but Whitstable were unable to find a way through, as one effort was ruled out for offside and two more fine saves by the goalkeeper ensured his team survived mounting late pressure to hang on for the win.

After a slow start to the season, Glebe came into this game in good form, having not lost a league game for over two months. Former Oystermen Rob Gillman and Caoilte Deakin were in their squad for this game. Injury hit Whitstable were forced into some changes with several players unavailable and Mike West, Will Thomas and Reece Gillies were among the absentees, but defender Peter Ojemen was signed from Lewes as cover and made his debut at the back.

Glebe had an excellent opportunity to score in the opening minute when a long ball forward by Marcus Travers eluded the Whitstable defence, leaving the usually clinical Jamie Philpot with just Dan Colmer to beat, but he shot over. There was an even better chance for Dean Grant at the other end when goalkeeper Justin Lee came out of his area to clear Jake McIntyre’s long ball, only to slip, leaving the Whitstable striker through on goal, but his early shot from an angle went into the side netting to the left of the unguarded goal. Glebe then won a corner on the right that Reggie Rye swung over to the back post for an unmarked Gillman to head back across goal where Travers rose to nod in from close range to score in the 10th minute. The defending wasn’t much better when Glebe added a second in the 16th minute. Philpot was allowed to find Fred Obasa on the right and as Kelvin Bakare tried to reach his low cross, he ended up on the floor as did two Whitstable defenders, which left a grateful Rye free to find the net at the back post.

In the 34th minute, Whitstable nearly pulled a goal back when a Jayden Silcott-Brown pass found Grant whose shot was blocked, diverting the ball across goal where a sliced attempted clearance by Travers was somehow kept out by the combination of Justin Lee and the crossbar. Shortly afterwards, Josh Oliver robbed Paul Lee and unleashed a powerful shot from 25 yards that was destined for the top corner before being acrobatically tipped over by Justin Lee. There were several lengthy injury delays in the first half and plenty of drama in the time added on. Silcott-Brown was eased over in the box bringing a few unsuccessful penalty appeals, then a great strike from just outside the box by Philpot cannoned off the bar before Whitstable scored. Grant did well under pressure to find Oliver on the halfway line and he advanced past several defenders down the left and into the box before shooting into the top corner from around the penalty spot to send the teams in with the score 2-1.

Glebe nearly repeated their corner success at the start of the second half, but this time Gillman’s header back across goal was lifted over the bar by Philpot. That was really the last threat of the afternoon to Whitstable’s goal and it was just a question of whether a way could be found through the home defence. A Mikey Dalton corner was headed over by Smith, Liam Gillies was unable to steer his shot through the crowd just after coming on for Silcott-Brown and a McIntyre lob from distance landed just on top of the net. In the 75th minute, a long throw by Ronald Sithole reached Gillies whose shot appeared to be heading towards the corner of the goal, but Oliver applied the final touch only to be flagged offside as the ball rolled into the net.

The chances continued and a Jayden Boulton cross was deflected to Smith who steered the ball towards goal, but the off-balance goalkeeper just managed to divert it around the post with an outstretched boot and when the resulting corner reached Gillies, he shot wide. An injury to Ojemen near the end led to a second appearance for Kai Jeffrey. Glebe were hanging on and their goalkeeper was cautioned for time wasting before Whitstable maintained the pressure in the five added minutes. The Glebe defence managed to get in the way of several shots, but had their goalkeeper to thank for sealing the three points when a long throw was helped on by Smith and then Oliver to Jerald Aboagye who looked certain to equalise from six yards but Lee threw himself across to keep the ball out. It was a tale of what might have been for Whitstable, but ultimately the slow start proved costly.

Whitstable are back in cup action again on Saturday, this time in the Kent Senior Trophy with an away game at VCD Athletic.

Glebe	Data	Whitstable
2	Shots on target	5
5	Shots off target	8
0	Shots blocked	6
4	Corners	8
6	Fouls conceded	12
1	Offside	4
0	Penalties	0

Glebe
Justin Lee, Paul Lee, Sam Wood (c) (Caoilte Deakin 20), Femi Ogunbiyi, Marcus Travers, Rob Gillman, Fred Obasa (Zak Loveridge 66), Red Jenkins (Joshua Jackson 41), Jamie Philpot, Reggie Rye, Kelvin Bakare.
Subs (unused): Daniel Vaughan, James Fitchett.
Goals: Marcus Travers 10, Reggie Rye 16.
Yellow cards: Zak Loveridge 74, Justin Lee 90+1.

Whitstable Town
Dan Colmer, Jerald Aboagye, Jayden Boulton, Mikey Dalton, Jake McIntyre (c), Peter Ojemen (Kai Jeffrey 85), Josh Oliver, Fin Cotton (Ronald Sithole 66), Harvey Smith, Dean Grant, Jayden Silcott-Brown (Liam Gillies 58).
Subs (unused): Jamie Coyle, Dan Eason.
Goal: Josh Oliver 45+3
Yellow cards: Josh Oliver 15, Harvey Smith 31.

Attendance: 127
Referee: Richard Myers
Assistants: Thomas Sansom & Martin Quinn