Whitstable and Cray Valley fought out an exciting contest on an extremely wet and increasingly windy afternoon on the north Kent coast. Harry Stannard gave Whitstable the perfect start with an early strike from distance and Tom Mills doubled the lead by heading in a free kick. Rory Hill pulled one back, only for Stannard to restore the two goal advantage, but an untimely slip on the wet surface by Jack Miles allowed Denzel Gayle to make it 3-2 at the break. The second half was no less eventful, with each team having a player sent off and Dan Eason pulling off a string of fine saves, but the Millers eventually found the goals they needed to claim maximum points with a thunderous strike by Nathan Green and substitute Francis Babalola, aided by a couple of deflections, as conditions deteriorated rapidly.

Coach Ben Harding took charge of the team for the second time, as several players returned after missing the FA Trophy tie at Chichester. Harry Goodger, who had a brief spell as an Oysterman in 2017, started up front after re-signing in the week. It was little surprise that the game attracted the lowest league attendance at the Belmont for almost two years, given the terrible weather and ongoing fuel problems, but the 167 hardy people who braved the elements were rewarded with plenty of action as Whitstable took on their promotion chasing opponents from south east London.

Managerless Whitstable could hardly have wished for a better start, scoring with just 75 seconds on the clock, when a poor touch by the otherwise impressive Jack Sammoutis allowed the ball to break to Stannard who hit a dipping shot from around 30 yards which skidded past Chris Lewington and into the net. Left back Green brought the first save of the afternoon from Eason, but the lead became 2-0 in the 12th minute when Danny Walder swung over a free kick from the left corner that was glanced in by the head of Tom Mills. The goals kept coming and a corner routine at the other end led to an unmarked Hill heading in a cross by Sammoutis in the 17th minute. It was 3-1 just a couple of minutes later as the end to end action continued. A great ball down the left by James Brown sent Stannard away and he cut back before curling the ball towards the far post where a combination of the goalkeeper and defender David Ompreon could only help it over the line. Hill might have scored again, but sent a free header over the top from a Sammoutis cross. Tom Carlton played a one-two with Stannard and almost had an opportunity to add a fourth for Whitstable, but the defence snuffed out the danger. The Millers were next to score though in the 33rd minute, but had the conditions to thank, when the ball was chipped forward from the right and Miles slipped over as he was about to clear, leaving Gayle free to lob the ball over Eason into the net. Whitstable felt hard done by when Carlton appeared to be brought down just outside the box by Ompreon as he ran on to a through ball, then Jake Mackenzie was also caught in a similar position as play continued. The bigger threat was building at the other end though and Eason did well to keep out long, low shots by Hassan Ibrahiym and Sammoutis, then pushed a deflected Gayle effort over the bar. The teams headed for the shelter of the dressing rooms with Whitstable holding on to their 3-2 advantage.

A good run and shot by Ibrahiym that was well saved by Eason got the second half underway. In the 52nd minute, Goodger’s return to Whitstable came to an unfortunate, premature end when the referee adjudged a strong challenge for a loose ball to be worthy of a red card. The ten men in red battled on, helped by an inspired goalkeeping display from Eason. After both teams made changes, Green brought the scores level on 67 minutes, rocketing a shot past Eason from the left edge of the box after receiving a pass from Matt Warren. Shortly afterwards, referee Paul Stratton evened up the numbers on the pitch by showing a second yellow, and red, card to Ompreon for pulling back Mackenzie as he looked to break clear. Eason made a great double save from Gayle and Ibrahiym, then the Millers thought they may have won a penalty as Walder clumsily slid into Ibrahiym; the initial contact may have been just outside the box, although that was irrelevant as the referee did not see it as a foul. Eason continued his notable display, denying Barrington and Babalola, but was finally beaten in the 80th minute. An attempted shot by Ibrahiym deflected off Walder high into the box where a jumping Mills could only clear as far as Babalola and his shot was diverted past Eason with the help of a slight deflection off Brown. With the pitch becoming very wet, there were a couple of late cautions and just time for one more save by Eason, who prevented a clever Sammoutis shot bending into the bottom corner, but the Millers had done enough to leave Whitstable without a point to show for their efforts.

This game brought back memories of another dramatic 4-3 defeat at Cray Valley in February 2020. There is now a break for Whitstable until they travel to Hastings on Tuesday week, with a new manager expected to be in place before then.

Whitstable	Data	Cray Valley
4	Shots on target	16
0	Shots off target	5
1	Shots blocked	1
3	Corners	8
9	Fouls conceded	8
1	Offside	2
0	Penalties	0

Whitstable Town
Dan Eason, Jake Mackenzie, James Brown, Danny Walder, Jack Miles, Tom Mills (c), Ryan Flack, Liam Gillies (Luke Girt 65), Harry Goodger, Tom Carlton (Will Thomas 75), Harry Stannard (Gus Barnes 64).
Subs (unused): Ollie Gray, Ben Harding.
Goals: Harry Stannard 2, 19, Tom Mills 12.
Red card: Harry Goodger 52
Yellow card: Jake Mackenzie 83

Cray Valley (PM)
Chris Lewington, Connor Dymond (c), Nathan Green, Matthew Attenborough-Warren, David Ompreon, Cem Tumkaya, Denzel Gayle (Francis Babalola 75), Jack Sammoutis, Marcel Barrington, Rory Hill (Gavin Tomlin 65), Hassan Ibrahiym.
Subs (unused): Nat Blanks, Jude Salmon
Goals: Rory Hill 17, Denzel Gayle 33, Nathan Green 67, Francis Babalola 80.
Yellow cards: Nathan Green 53, Connor Dymond 87.
Red card: David Ompreon (two yellows 61, 68)

Attendance: 167
Referee: Paul Stratton
Assistants: Kieran Cox & Gavin Bailey