MATCH REPORT
Faversham Town 1 v 3 Hythe Town
Ryman League Division One South
by Thomas Reeves
Faversham signed out 2011 in disappointing fashion, losing 3-1 in this Kent derby. Little separated these sides prior to kick-off. Both teams were on the same number of points in the Ryman League Division 1 South table having played the same amount of games. Although, this wasn’t the case after the match with the away side picking up the points and moving ahead of the Lilywhites in the league standings. Hythe’s victory was secured courtesy of a brace from Captain Dave Cook and a free kick from Nick Reeves.
The visitors came into this contest on the back of an 8-0 drubbing by Folkestone just 5 days earlier. However, they started well and took the lead after just 4 minutes when Reeves curled a delightful 25 yard free-kick into the top right hand corner leaving Rob French in the Faversham goal with no chance. After this chance, the home side pushed forward and were able to string together a spell of consecutive corners that eventually led to an opportunity on the 5th minute. David Botterill headed over from Aaron Quain’s corner though.
The Lilywhites were made to pay for this miss on the 17th minute as Hythe doubled their lead in controversial circumstances from the penalty spot. James Peacock ruled to have pushed Kane Rice over by Referee Mr Wright and Cook stepped up to slam the ball home. This score line seemed harsh on Faversham as in open play the match was even and the home side did get a deserved goal on 26 minutes. Danny Hockton leaping highest to get on the end of a high cross from Justin Ascheri and Hockton’s header flew past Paul Egan in the visitor’s goal.
The away side then restored their 2 goal advantage on the 32nd minute, again in debateable circumstances. Former Faversham man Richard Sinden latching onto a poor clearance from the home side’s defence and flinging himself to the ground just outside the penalty area, under from the Lilywhite defence. Mr Wright awarded a free kick, much to the fury of the home faithful. From this free kick, Taser Hassan whipped the ball to the far post and found Pat Kingwell who nodded back across the face of goal and Cook was on hand to smash home his second goal of the afternoon. The home side began to push forward and had another good chance to pull a goal back before the interval. The opening came on the 39th minute as Hockton played Ascheri through on goal. But, his scuffed effort went agonisingly wide of the post and Hythe remained 3-1 in front at the break after an entertaining first period.
If the first half had been enthralling to watch, the second half definitely wasn’t. The home side continued to look for a way back into the match. But Hythe defended well, without trying too hard to open up a 3 goal cushion. This meant that there was only one chance throughout the entirely of the second half for either side. Simon Brown blasting well over on the 70th minute from 30 yards out.
Then with time running out for the home side, Peacock complained to the Referee one too many times and Mr Wright gave the defender his marching orders for a second yellow card. But, the fact that the Lilywhites had racked up 5 yellow cards and a sending off, whilst the visitors weren’t given any cards was far from a fair reflection on how the contest had panned out. This was also the opinion of Faversham manager Ray Turner who fumed “It’s a derby and we have got 5 bookings and a sending off. Yet, they didn’t get any cards and how can a game that is fairly competed end up like this?” But, on a lighter note Turner also summarised the calendar year “We are a newly established Ryman League side and we have finished 2011 in mid-table which is good. We just need to keep working as a club and hopefully we can sustain our position in and around the top 10 of the league through next year whilst we continue to build”.
Faversham Town:
Rob French
Mobajli Dawodu
Nathan Simpson
Tom Hickman (c)
James Peacock
Matt Bourne
Justin Ascheri (off 77)
David Botterill
Adrian Stone
Danny Hockton (off 43)
Aaron Quain
Ashley Brown (on 77)
Simon Brown (on 43)
Sam Gore
Dale Skelton
Joe Ainsley
