Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Lack of goals was a key factor
Whitstable player-boss Andy Drury thinks the club ultimately paid the price for not scoring enough goals following their relegation from Isthmian South East.
Heading into the final match of the season, the Oystermen needed to beat second-bottom Lancing to earn a relegation play-off place.
But Whitstable lost 1-0 last weekend in front of a crowd of 402 to also consign them to relegation.
Whitstable were three points adrift and eight behind fourthbottom when Drury took charge last month and, despite taking seven points from his first four matches, a run of three successive losses sealed their fate.
Drury said: “We have scored two from open play in seven games. We didn’t score many goals all season.
“It should have been addressed a lot earlier than it was addressed. We have paid the price for not scoring goals.” Against Lancing, who finished third-bottom and now face Newhaven in a relegation play-off game this Saturday, Whitstable were without suspended striker Harry Goodger. Adam Highsted replaced injured first-choice goalkeeper Dan Eason (shoulder).
“There was nothing in it, it was a bit like the Faversham game I felt,” Drury reflected. “We just didn’t have enough up front in the final third and never looked like scoring. We just needed a bit more in the final third.”
Seven points from three games did give the Oystermen
some hope - but they failed to replicate that form in their last three league fixtures. “When we went in there, the club was very flat after what went on in previous months. We had a few positive results and the club’s in a better place,” Drury reflected. “There is a lot of work to do over the summer, which starts with the 3G pitch. After the previous management, there is, obviously, a lot of stuff to sort out.
“But it’s always disappointing to get relegated. We took it to the last day and that was all we could do, really.
“I think the fans just wanted a bit of hope.”
Whitstable, who scored 39 league goals all campaign, last played at Step 5 in 2017/18 when a second-placed finish behind Sevenoaks was enough to earn them promotion to the Isthmian League under Scott Porter.
The Belmont hosts a fundraising day this Sunday in support of under-14s player Miles Stockwell who is battling bone cancer. Whitstable under-18s and under-14s will play before a veterans tournament in the afternoon, which will involve a Whitstable side, a Herne Bay team and a Teammiles XI. Go to tinyurl.com/ Kmmilesfundraiser to donate.