We've under achieved this season, admits Cory

STRIKER Dave Cory says Whitstable Town have underachieved this season - but the Oystermen have enough in their locker to retain their Ryman League status at the end of the season, writes Stephen McCartney.

Cory’s brace, taking his goalscoring tally to nine for the season, was vital, as it claimed a morale boosting 3-2 win over fellow strugglers Corinthian-Casuals at Belmont Road.

A stunning Jack Tanner 25-yard volley gave Whitstable a 12^th minute lead, but Corinthian-Casuals fought-back and levelled through Jamel Carr’s route-one finish.

Cory gave the Kent side the lead again, when he nodded home Ian Pulman’s 52^nd minute cross, but their joy was short-lived as Jamie Reive headed home the equaliser just four minutes later.

But Cory sealed the crucial win, nineteen minutes from time, turning home Danny Tipple’s corner, which ensure Whitstable climbed up to 18^th place in the table, but more importantly six points clear of the relegation zone in Ryman League Division One South.

Cory, speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk afterwards, was pleased with the way that his team-mates dug in, especially on a pitch that cut-up throughout the battle.

“It was very important we got the result,” said Cory. “It was a tough, tough pitch, it was always going to be difficult to pass the ball out there.

“We spoke before the game, and at half-time, about the way we wanted to play today, and we tried to stick to a game plan.

“We didn’t do that well in the first half and we spoke about it at half-time and we made the changes and made a difference in the second half.”

Last season, Whitstable Town finished in fourteenth place in their first ever campaign in the Ryman League, finishing on 50 points from 42 games (14 wins and 8 draws) - 23 points above the drop zone.

This season, Whitstable have collected 29 points from 28 games (9 wins and 2 draws) and Cory admits that’s not good enough.

“The way we finished was fantastic last year and everyone was saying we’d be up there this year and we’ve kind of under achieved,” he said.

“We’ve started poorly and we wanted to turn the corner and start putting some results together but it hasn’t really happened for us yet, but hopefully we’ll start picking up some points.”

The Oystermen are now level on points with their next opponents, Burgess Hill Town, who are only two places above them, and travel to Whyteleafe on Saturday, a side that are one place above the Hillians on 31 points.

And Cory says he has a score to settle against Burgess Hill Town on Tuesday night.

He said: “They gave us a good hiding up here, beat us 4-0 at our place (in August), and we owe them one.

“Marc (Seager) spoke about a mini-league that we’re in at the moment and there’s seven or eight teams in that league.

“We had Leatherhead last week, won there, that was a big result, and we pulled them back towards us.

“We’ve got the result today and we’re level on points with Burgess Hill and hopefully we’ll go above them (with a win on Tuesday night).

Visit Whitstable Town’s website: www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk

Burgess Hill Town v Whitstable Town
Ryman League Division One South
Tuesday 10^th February 2009
Kick Off 7:30pm
At Leylands Park, Maple Drive, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 8DL