13thaug04

Godden declares himself fit for league opener

HYTHE TOWN entertain Sevenoaks Town at Reachfields on Saturday as they kick off their Go Travel Kent League campaign, writes Stephen McCartney.

On Tuesday they play hosts again, this time to Deal Town.

Striker Roy Godden has declared himself fit for the weekend and is likely to join Mark Pollard up front.

Manager Paul Fisk's only player on the injury list is centre-back Gavin Ransley, who is still recovering from a back injury.

It has been a different pre-season for Fisk's side this time round with sporadic results, but they finished on a high with an impressive an hard fought 1-1 draw against Kent League champions Cray Wanderers on Monday night.

Although Fisk hasn't been entirely pleased with all of his side's pre-season displays, he will point to the fact that he has had an impressive 17 or 18 man squad to pick from, with all players pushing for a first team place.

One issue that will be resolved is the starting position for young Mike Yianni who has improved in every game since his return from Maidstone United . After run-outs at wing-back and up-front he impressed in his preferred central midfield role on Monday night and was on the scoresheet on ten minutes passing the ball into an empty Cray net from 20 yards after Cray's keeper
had collided with Hythe striker Darren Walmsley.

With exciting end to end 15 minute periods at either end of the 90 minutes, the middle hour of the game was somewhat of a repeat of the Kent Senior Trophy Final between these two with some tough tackling and impressive fitness levels contributing to both sides canceling each other out.

Hythe lost their lead with around 15 minutes still to play, with Cray then going on to hit both of Hythe's posts with glancing shots.

But it was Hythe that almost nicked the win as subs Rhys Taylor-Ryall and Stuart Daffin performed a neat 1-2 move down the pitch which gave Taylor-Ryall a clear sight of
goal, only for him to screw his chance wide.

Hythe Town vs Sevenoaks Town
Saturday 14th August 2004
Go Travel Kent League Premier Division
Kick Off 3:00 at Reachfields, Fort Road, Hythe