Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
SOUTHERN COUNTIES EAST LEAGUE: TWO OFF AS WHITSTABLE FALL TO LEADERS
James Morrish and Charlie Smith both saw red for Whitstable as Scott Porter’s side went down 2- 0 to leaders Ashford United at Belmont on Tuesday.
The home side were already trailing 2- 0 when Morrish was sent off by referee Richard Joss after putting his head to the face of United midfielder Jason Goodchild on the hour.
Smith got his marching orders 13 minutes time when he fouled Ryan Palmer to collect a second yellow. He had earlier been booked for a clash with Rory Hill.
The hosts but they fell behind on 13 minutes when Dave Botterill’s free-kick was powerfully headed home by Shaun Welford.
The visitors added their second when United goalkeeper George Kamurasi’s long free-kick was helped on by Welford to teenage debutant Matt Day who lifted the ball over home keeper Dan Eason.
A feisty second half featured a series of bookings in what was a busy evening for the referee.
Whitstable withheld substantial second half pressure as they held on for a 2-1 victory at Bearsted on Saturday.
Captain Tom Bryant fired in two goals to help a depleted Town side missing six regulars, to victory. Whitstable took the lead after just seven minutes when a corner found its way to Craig Thompson at the back post, whose shot cannoned into the post, however, the rebound found its way to Bryant who poked home.
Bearsted pressed Whitstable and created a few chances of their own, with the Scarlat brothers, Constantin and Lucian going close.
However, five minutes before half-time, Town extended their lead, as Frankie Sawyer delivered a corner onto the head of Bryant who nodded home.
Four minutes into the second half, Bearsted’s Peter Williams fired into the net from close range to pull one back.
The home side piled men forward and created chances but Town’s defence held firm.
Canterbury City extended their unbeaten run to 12 games following a goalless draw at relegation-threatened Fisher.
City made the first foray of note when the ball fell to Rob Lawrence who flicked a shot just over the bar after the visitors had broken down the left.
Sam Conlon almost broke the deadlock, firing in a shot from close range that was blocked by a good save from home keeper.
Gary Clarke was the next City player to nearly break the deadlock, powerfully heading towards goal, only to be denied by a fantastic one-handed stop from Francis in the Fisher goal.
Minutes later, Clarke was denied twice in a matter of seconds by Luca Haidarovic who cleared two of Clarke’s efforts off the line with the keeper stranded.
Canterbury would’ve been the happier of the two teams at the break but Fisher came out fighting in the second half, needing points to stave off the ever-increasing threat of the drop.
Daren Hawkes in the City goal was called into action, punching away a couple of dangerouslooking crosses to stop any immediate threat from the home side. City continued to press forward but were being let down by their final ball in the final third.