Hythe Town 1-0 Faversham Town - It doesn’t matter how results come at this part of the season, you’ve just got to get them and we got the win, another clean-sheet, so we’ve got to be pleased with that, says play-off chasing Hythe Town boss Steven Watt

Hythe Town 1 – 0 Faversham Town
Location	Reachfields Stadium, off Fort Road, Hythe, Kent CT21 6JS
Kickoff	10/04/2023 15:00

HYTHE TOWN  1-0  FAVERSHAM TOWN
Isthmian League South East Division
Easter Monday 10 April 2023
Stephen McCartney reports from Reachfields Stadium

HYTHE TOWN manager Steven Watt believes Faversham Town will be a force to be reckoned with in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division next season after consigning Sammy Moore’s side to relegation.

Seventy-eight players and three management teams (John Embery and Jermaine Darlington, P13 W3 D2 L8, stats including all competitions), Simon Austin (P10 W2 L8) and Moore (P19 W4 D6 L9) couldn’t prevent the Lilywhites slumping to the foot of the Isthmian League South East Division table with 25 points (W6, D7, L22) from their 35 games and suffering relegation along with Michael Golding’s Corinthian today.

None of the Lilywhites’ management team made themselves available post-match to reflect on the game, relegation, or the future, as Faversham Town’s 13-year stay in the eighth-tier of English football came to an end.

Hythe Town sealed their tenth 1-0 win of the season and their 17^th clean sheet, as former Sittingbourne striker Johan Caney-Bryan flicked in his fifteenth goal of the season following a long throw.

The Cannons remain in seventh-place in the table with 61 points from their 36 games and are in the hunt of grabbing a play-off place after grinding out a win on a heavy pitch at Reachfields Stadium.

“Job done. Simple as that.  It was by no stretch our best performance this season, one of our poorest I would say,” admitted Watt.

“We looked a little bit lethargic if I’m being honest.  Saturday (4-1 win at Burgess Hill Town) took more out of us than we though. We freshened things up a bit but I didn’t think we were at our best today at all.

“We restricted Faversham to one chance really, which was late on.  We didn’t feel we were cut open at any point.  They put a couple of good balls in our box but Steve Phillips had one save to make in 90 minutes, which is testament to our defensive set-up and how we controlled them.

“The team needed a lot of energy and vocal support from (me) on the sidelines today to keep them on their toes.  We looked a bit flat so you’ve got to try to keep people on their toes and demand more.

“All credit to the boys.  It doesn’t matter how results come at this part of the season, you’ve just got to get them and we got the win, another clean-sheet, so we’ve got to be pleased with that.”

The two sides cancelled each other out for large parts of this battle, with visiting goalkeeper Bailey Vose being the busier of the two goalkeepers.

Hythe Town are a threat from set-pieces and Frannie Collin’s free-kick was headed out by Kieron McCann – operating on the right of a three-man defence – and Liam Smith rolled the ball back to Collin to put the ball back in towards the edge of the box where holding midfielder Jack Steventon steered his header bouncing harmlessly wide from 22-yards inside the opening seven minutes.

The Cannons won the corner count five-to-four and Collin floated in their first corner and McCann cleared the ball back out to Collin, who recycled the ball back into the box from the right towards the far post where centre-half Lex Allan looped a towering header into Vose’s gloves at his near post.

McCann often had time on the ball and operated more like a right-back, with wing-backs Michael Ademiluyi (right) and Matthew Parsons (left) operating high up the pitch.

McCann ventured into the final third and whipped in a cross, which was blocked by Liam Smith inside the Hythe penalty area and striker Shola Ayoola’s effort failed to hit the target.

Faversham kept the ball alive and in the second phase, Tyler Christian-Law floated the ball back into the box and found Ayoola at the far post but the big striker glanced his header across Steven Phillips and past the far post from eight-yards.

“I didn’t feel at any point that we were under a great deal of threat in terms of being cut open,” said Watt, “I felt it was such an even game.

“Faversham are a good side.  I mean they’re actually unfortunate to be down where they are because they’ve got some realty good players and next season in the SCEFL they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

Faversham Town have one of the three biggest budgets in the division (on par with Chatham Town and Ramsgate) so you have to ask how on earth have they been relegated this season?

Unfortunately, Hawkinge resident Moore wasn’t available post-match to answer that question.

Hythe Town claimed the victory with 19 minutes and 37 seconds on the clock, following Steventon’s first of four long throws into the box.

Liam Smith easily jumped up at the near post to flick the ball towards a crowded goal-mouth and Caney-Bryan poked the ball past Vose and into the back of the net.

“Look, it’s something that we relied on a lot this season and the first part of the season I didn’t think we did it well enough to score from set-pieces,” said Watt.

“We’ve got very good quality from deliveries and obviously we’ve got a couple of long throws (Steventon and Hamilton) in our arsenal.  It’s something that we demanded more and more out of the players and the second half of the season we’ve relied on set-pieces a bit for some goals which you need in this game to be successful.

“It’s something that we’ve worked on. We’ve changed certain aspects of it where we place players to try to make it work in our favour. It’s certainly worked this second part of the season.”

Hythe Town almost doubled their lead just 177 seconds later when McCann fouled Ethan Smith, who operated behind the front two of big targetman Duane Ofori-Acheampong and Caney-Bryan.

Collin stroked his right-footed free-kick towards goal from 25-yards and Vose palmed the ball towards the safety of the touchline.

“A good strike, a good free-kick.  Whenever you’ve got a free-kick around in that area everyone knows what Fran’s about and what he’s capable of doing. It was a good solid save from the keeper but a save you expect the keeper to make,” added Watt.

A Faversham Town raid was cut out by Liam Smith, who fed Sam Itauma, who drove over the half-way line with the ball and into the final third and cut inside Ollie Gray before feeding Caney-Bryan, whose shot from 20-yards deflected off Bode Anidugbe and brought a comfortable save by Vose in his midriff.

“We slightly changed our shape with what we went with on Saturday with the two up top today. We felt with the shape that Faversham were playing, two up top against their back line (back three) would cause them problems, which I thought it did and that was a good example of that.

“Either side of the goalkeeper, it’s got a chance of going in but it’s a shot straight at the keeper, which you expect him to save.”

Faversham Town’s attack was toothless during the first half and they created an opening in the 39^th minute, after Hythe’s defence dealt with their first corner, taken by Toby Ajala.

Ajala recycled the ball back into the box with a quality whipped-in delivery towards the back post but Ayoola steered his free-header over the crossbar from inside the six-yard box.

Watt added: “It’s the story of the season really, it’s not about Steve (Phillips). He’s not overly had to do much in games but that’s a disrespect to Steve because he’s been such a difference since we’ve brought him in with how he commands that back line.”

When asked about his thoughts at the break, Watt replied: “I wasn’t happy if I’m being honest.  I told a few home truths. I just felt we needed energy, so it was me going a bit mad to try to force that energy out of a couple of players.

“We very much spoke how we needed to play the next 45 minutes just to see the game out.  I felt the game would go the way it went where they would have a bit more momentum and we would look to pick them off on the counter but it was all about our defensive structure to make sure we restricted them to little as possible.”

Hythe Town started the second half briefly on the front foot. Collin’s right-footed free-kick some 40-yards out was met by Liam Smith’s free-header from 16-yards, which was bouncing towards the bottom left-hand corner and Vose flicked the ball behind for a corner to make sure after 149 seconds.

However, Vose was called into making a flying save to prevent Hythe Town doubling their lead with three minutes and 15 seconds into the second half.

The Cannons produced a well-worked move inside the Faversham half with Liam Smith, Ofori-Acheampong and Steventon all linking up before the ball was worked over to an unmarked Ethan Smith, who unleashed a first-time right-footed piledriver from 22-yards, which was destined to scream into the top right-hand corner, only for the former Folkestone Invicta goalkeeper to dive high to his left and use a strong hand to push the ball over the crossbar.

“It was a good save. I thought we started the half quite well,” said Watt.

“It was a good save from the keeper but I think it’s one of them you’d expect him to make. It’s a good height for him. It’s a great strike from Ethan – I thought Ethan was the best player on the pitch, he was outstanding – and it was good build-up play on the counter-attack from us but unfortunately he didn’t get it a bit further away from him and it’s nestling in the back of the net.”

Faversham Town started to have a bit of a go inside eight minutes when central midfielder Ajala played the ball down the 18-yard line to Parsons, who drilled in a low cross which fizzed across the face of goal and came out to Ademiluyi, who lacked composure and his weak left-footed shot from 20-yards rolled into Phillips’ gloves for a comfortable gather.

The Lilywhites started to win the midfield battle and you sensed a glimmer of life from them.

“It’s always difficult when you’re playing against teams who have nothing to lose.  They had a go but Steve’s had one save to make, I believe, in 90 minutes, one real save to make,” added Watt.

Ineffective striker Ronald Sithole whipped in a low cross from the left, the ball was missed by Hythe’s centre-half Allan, and Ayoola poked his shot across the keeper and trickling past the foot of the far post.

Watt made a tactical change just before the hour-mark and replaced Afori-Acheampong for Marvin Hamilton, with right-winger Josh Stirman replacing Itauma.  That meant Hamilton operated as holding midfielder and Caney-Bryan played up front on his own.  The scorer was replaced with 10 minutes to play for Jeff Duah-Kessie, who was left up front on his own as Hythe successfully navigated the rest of the game.

Watt’s men are experts in seeing out a single-goal victory, as the rest of the game proved to be a stalemate.

Ajala’s intended square pass for Parsons was intercepted by Liam Smith inside the Hythe half and the captain went on a 60-yard run and reached the by-line and his cross-shot was headed away by McCann before the ball hit the roof of the net.

“It was a great run from Liam, something I felt we needed at that point in the game, something to give us a spark, to give everyone a bit of a lift.  It was a fantastic power run from Liam, another good opportunity,” said Watt.

“We changed our shape at that point to try to get a bit more control of the middle of the park and get a bit more structure defensively because Sam Itauma was exceptional driving forward but I just felt we needed a little bit more defensive resolve so we got Marvin on and Marvin was struggling but he only came on for the last half-an-hour to do a job for us.”

Moore made a couple of late changes and one of them, central midfielder Ebang Gurung, went close to grabbing an equaliser inside the final nine minutes.

Ajala’s poor corner failed to beat the first man (Collin).  Ajala put the ball in at the second attempt and the ball was cleared out to Gurung, who unleashed a right-footed dipping drive sailing just over the crossbar from 25-yards out.

Faversham Town almost grabbed an equaliser with 41:21 on the clock, with Hythe Town now operating with a back five with Steventon dropping back.

Ajala split open the defence with a fine through ball on the deck to put Sithole through on goal but Phillips rushed towards the edge of his box and made a big save to deny the Gillingham loanee.

“Steve’s had nothing to do today, maybe come for a cross or two or take a goal-kick but he makes a vital, vital save right at the death,” said Watt.

“If I’m being honest, I felt a goal might be coming for them because I just felt we weren’t at it today.  I just felt they might get a goal through a mistake or we lose a second ball.  We got a bit panicky with clearances when we could’ve been a bit more composed.

“Steve’s a fantastic keeper, for me, he’s the best keeper in the league.”

Chatham Town beat Ramsgate 2-0 in the top-of-the-table-clash at Maidstone Road today.  Kevin Hake’s side retain their place on the summit with 73 points with two games left to play.

Jamie Coyle’s Ramsgate remain in second place (68) and Whitehawk (67), Beckenham Town (63, game in hand) and Cray Valley (62, game in hand) remain in the play-off zone.

Sheppey United are now in sixth-place on 61 points, Hythe Town remain in seventh-place on 61 points and Ashford United are in eighth on 57.

Faversham Town (25 points, game in hand) will join Corinthian (27 points) in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division next season as both fell through the trap door.

Haywards Heath Town (36 points) and VCD Athletic (37 points, game in hand) are both in the relegation play-off zone, having home advantage against Step Six runners-up on Saturday 29 April.

Three Bridges (39 points), Lancing (40 points) and East Grinstead (41, game in hand) are all looking over their shoulder.

Hythe Town travel to VCD Athletic next Saturday, before completing their league campaign at home to Haywards Heath Town on 22 April.

The promotion play-off semi-finals take place on Tuesday 25 April, with the Final being staged at the club who finished the highest on Friday 28 April.

“We’ve just got to keep winning, it’s all we’ve got to keep doing, we can’t do any more than that,” said Watt.

“Look, to be mixing it with all those teams on what we’ve got (limited resources, budget wise) is testament to the players, simple as that.

“You look at all of the teams in there, they must all have double what we’re spending here.

“This is our 20^th game that we’ve played since the turn of this year. It’s a hell of a lot of football so to still be going and still to be challenging, I can’t speak highly enough of the players.  It’s been a fantastic bunch to work for. My job is to try to give them the best chance to win games of football, it’s as simple as that.

“All these players we’ve brought in have had a point to prove.  I said a few weeks ago, ‘you’ve proven that point’.  I guarantee that there won’t be one player in this dressing room whose phone won’t be ringing in the summer but hopefully it will be ringing to come back here and to go again, whatever it may be.

“People say we’ve got the easiest run-in.  If I’m being honest, I may sound stupid but I’d rather play teams at the top because you’ve got nothing to lose.  In these games we’re expecting to win.  Look at Faversham, we expected to beat Faversham but with their resources, which is god knows more than what we’ve got, the players they’ve brought in, you’re playing against a team that’s got players that’s playing league’s above, so it’s not a gimmie at all so you’ve got to earn that three points.

“These games are tough games.  We respect everyone that we play because we feel that we’ve been disrespected quite a lot this season by teams, by outside influence in terms of not giving this team credit.

“At this level there’s no easy games. I know it’s that old cliché but I’ve never experienced this level this difficult at this time at both ends (of the table).”

Considering The Cannons were fighting for survival both on and off the pitch this time last season under James Rogers, Watt has done a brilliant job with limited resources to keep the club’s play-off dream alive.

“It’s great for the boys. Look it’s fantastic.  For me, it’s all about the club. It’s all about the players.  With what the club had to go through last year and up until quite late they were still fearing the worst, it’s a credit to the club.

“They could’ve pulled the plug because things are tight as it is, still.  The plug could have been pulled weeks ago because we were safe weeks ago but they obviously still want to still try to achieve something because it is something special.  I think this is a special group of players.

“We spoke about what’s needed to be a play-off team, to be a promotion team, to be a team that’s going to win and challenge things and the boys have really embraced it since the turn of the year.”

Hythe Town in the Isthmian League Premier Division next season?

“It would be a great problem to have but we’re certainly not thinking about it now. I’m only thinking about VCD,” replied Watt.

“You can’t look that far ahead, we never have all season, so we think about what’s up next. Win that and if that ends up how our season ends up, fantastic and we’ll worry about that later down the line.

“It will certainly be a very good problem to have but look we just got to keep winning games of football and hopefully a result or two goes our way.”

Reflecting on Faversham and Corinthian's relegation, Watt added: "It's a shame, it's a shame for Kent football.  Corinthian had a fantastic season last year but when you're a club like that, you normally lose your core players and it's unfortuante it's happened there.

"Faversham have been a fantatic club. When I first dropped to this level with Maidstone, we beat Faversham in the play-off final (in 2013) at this level so I know Faversham and what they're about for years.

"It's really disappointing to see the Kent club's be relegated but I think they'll come again next year. 

"Faversham have got great financial backing, got great infrustructure going in place with a 3G pitch and the Post-16 Academy.  They have got an experienced manager in Sammy so I'm sure they'll come again and it will be good for Kent football to have them back in this division."

Hythe Town: Steven Phillips, Liam Smith, Marcus Goldsmith, Jack Steventon, Jason Fregene, Lex Allan, Sam Itauma (Josh Stirman 59), Frannie Collin, Johan Caney-Bryan (Jeff Duah-Kessie 80), Duane Ofori-Acheampong (Marvin Hamilton 59), Ethan Smith.
Subs: Shad Ngandu, Morgan Williamson

Goal: Johan Caney-Bryan 20

Booked: Jack Steventon 45

Faversham Town: Bailey Vose, Michael Ademiluyi (Harry Meleady 80), Matthew Parsons, Jacques Kpohomouh, Ollie Gray, Kieron McCann, Toby Ajala, Bode Anidugbe (Ebang Gurung 46), Shola Ayoola (Harry Codd 77), Ronald Sithole, Tyler Christian-Law.
Subs: Hafeez Irawo, Alvin Reji

Booked: Kieron McCann 22

Attendance: 333
Referee: Mr Kane Dempster
Assistants: Mr Nicholas Monkman & Mr Luke Morley