Whitstable relish Hessenthaler visit - EXCLUSIVE

The lure of Andy Hessenthaler and his star-studied Dover Athletic team coming to The Belmont on August Bank Holiday Monday, should attract a crowd of over 1,200 - according to Whitstable Town chairman, Tony Rouse, writes Stephen McCartney.

Mr Rouse, 60, is looking forward to welcoming title chasing side, Dover Athletic to Belmont Road, for their first ever Kent derby in the Ryman League.

Dover Athletic have already stormed to the top of the Ryman League Division One South table following wins over Horsham YMCA (5-1) and Cray Wanderers (3-2) and welcome Leatherhead to the Sea France Crabble Stadium on Saturday before making the short trip to play the Oystermen.

Newly promoted side, Whitstable are still waiting for their first win, having drawn Eastbourne Town (2-2) on the opening day of the season, before losing 2-1 at Metropolitan Police in midweek, when striker, Andy Constable scored.

Marc Seager’s side travel to Walton & Hersham on Saturday, before welcoming Hessenthaler’s men.

Whitstable Town have already experienced the big game atmosphere at The Belmont when a crowd of 1,144 watched Margate knock them out of the FA Cup in the second qualifying round stage last season.

And Mr Rouse admitted EXCLUSIVELY to www.kentishfootball.co.uk that the club are ready for Monday’s big showdown.

He said: “What we’ve got to do, we’ve got to pull from our experience when we hosted Margate in the FA Cup last season.

“We did learn a lot that day and we’ll be using the experience of that day and take that forward to the Bank Holiday game.

“I anticipate and I would hope that we’re going to break that as a record - realistically, we’re looking at 1,200 plus.

“I think the Hessenthaler factor will be a big draw. There will be a lot of people that would have followed Hessenthaler at Gillingham, local people that won’t have seen Whitstable Town play - or Dover - and will be interested to come down.

“I think it’s going to be absolutely fantastic day for the football club and Whitstable, like every other club that Dover will be playing this year, will be looking to maximise that game to their benefit.”

Visit club websites:

www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk & www.doverathletic.com


Whitstable Town v Dover Athletic
Ryman League Division One South
Bank Holiday Monday, 27^th August 2007
Kick Off 3:00pm
At The Belmont, Belmont Road, Whitstable, Kent CT5 1QP