Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Blossoming Blues hit top spot after comfortable win
‘We blew them away in that last 20 minutes, they just couldn’t live with us’
Whitstable swept to the top of Shepherd Neame Kent 2 on Saturday after producing an impressive performance at home to Footscray. Only two points separated the teams going into the final quarter at Reeves Way but Whitstable’s superior fitness told as they pulled clear to extend their winning start to three games. The Blues lead the table on points difference from Brockleians and player-coach Mal Graves says they are already showing they have learned lessons from last season when promotion just eluded them. He said: “The team’s maturing, they’re not young boys any more, they’re young men. They know the game plan and the difference from last year already is that we are being more clinical. “They (Footscray) were still in touch with us after an hour but I’d said that they would tire because they were heavier than us and that’s what happened. We blew them away in that last 20 minutes, they just couldn’t live with us and it’s a sign of where we’re at that we got five points, they got none and we still came off thinking we’d left a bit out on the pitch.” Footscray – previously unbeaten – were one of Whitstable’s promotion rivals last season and they struck first when they scored a converted try after the home side had failed to exit their 22. Scrum-half Andrew Huey kicked a penalty to get Whitstable on the board and he then converted Luke Pepper’s try before adding two more penalties, the second of which came just before half-time to give his side a lift. Robert Hudson claimed the home side’s second try, again converted by Huey, who added another penalty before tries from Andy Till and impressive No.10 Marck Olive put the game beyond doubt. Huey converted the penultimate try taking his personal haul to 18 points and 38 in the last two matches. Whitstable have racked up 151 points in winning their first three games – 49 more than nearest rivals Brocklians. Whitstable are due to host Croydon in the Junior Vase this weekend before resuming their league campaign with a derby at Faversham on Saturday, October 21.