Holmesdale 0-4 Whitstable Town - If they get going and on a run, Whitstable are capable of winning everything at this level, warns Holmesdale manager Andy Constable

Holmesdale 0 – 4 Whitstable Town
Location	68 Oakley Road, Bromley, Kent BR2 8HQ
Kickoff	15/10/2025 19:45

HOLMESDALE  0-4  WHITSTABLE TOWN
Go Cardless Kent Senior Trophy First Round
Wednesday 15 October 2025
Stephen McCartney reports from Oakley Road

WHITSTABLE TOWN assistant manager Matt Longhurst says it was important to get back on the horse and win this Kent Senior Trophy tie at Holmesdale tonight.

Jamie Coyle and Longhurst selected a strong side for this First Round tie at Oakley Road, only making two changes to the side that were thrashed 5-1 at Enterprise National League side Wealdstone in The FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round at the weekend.

Holmesdale went into the tie on a four-match unbeaten run and sitting in second-place in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table, having picked up 23 points (seven wins, two draws and four defeats) from their 13 league outings.

Whitstable Town, meanwhile, arrived in Bromley sitting in ninth-place in the table with 19 points (six wins, one draw and two defeats) from their nine league outings.

Bradley Schafer pounced on a defensive mistake to chip in his ninth goal of the season to give the Oysterman the lead – totally against-the-run-of-play at the time – just a minute before the interval.

However, Whitstable Town doubled their lead through striker Javaun Splatt’s clinical finish, before Holmesdale capitulated and Schafer and Splatt, 24, both scored again inside the final 13 minutes as Holmesdale have now conceded four goals in five of their games this season.

“I thought we had a lot of the ball in the first half without really any sort of cutting edge and I thought in the second half we had a little bit less of the ball in the early stages,” said Longhurst.

“I thought they came out brighter than us and then we got the second half and it effectively killed the tie and we could’ve had two or three others after that.

“I thought in the early stages of the game we were really good with the ball but we didn’t have enough of a cutting edge but Cup football it’s (all about getting the) result. That’s put us in the Last 16 of a competition that we got to the Final of last year, so it’s pleasing.”

Holmesdale manager Andy Constable, a former Whitstable Town striker for two spells during his prolific goalscoring non-league career, added: “Frustrating. I think we nearly executed our game plan to perfection and then conceded at completely the wrong time right at the end of the first half.

“I thought we should’ve scored the chance that Kayden had but then they probably could’ve scored, Charlie made a great save from Joe Healy.

“Then the goal was just gifted to them. It’s like poor defensively. That kind of killed us. If we had gone in at nil-nil, that would’ve been happy days for us and then to be fair, I thought we came out well in the second half, put a few balls across the box but didn’t really capitalise and then we get done by one massive punt over the top from their keeper, so it’s really frustrating.

“Our issue at the moment, we’ve seen it too many times where we then kind of just give up a little bit and our mentality and our work-rate drops and we end up on the back of a 4-0 result, which I think is the fifth time that has happened to us.

“When you look at the game and go ‘it’s never been a 4-0 game’ but fundamentally it is because we end up conceding goals because we switch off, so that’s the frustrating part of it and we’ve been on such a good run lately as well.

“I thought we got past those levels of performance but unfortunately we haven’t, so it’s a bit of an eye opener to the boys to realise what they need to do to compete against the better teams in this league because they are one of the better teams in this league without a doubt.”

Whitstable Town were without Connor Wilkins (illness) and Ricardo Thompson (groin) and Longhurst revealed that Finn O’Mara (thigh strain) and Theo Osinfolarin (Achilles) were both nursing knocks during the game.

Holmesdale, meanwhile, were without William Bell (hamstring), Alfie Clark (suspended) and Malachi Hudson (family commitments).

Coyle sprung a surprise by naming a strong squad for tonight’s First Round tie, as Longhurst admitted they wanted to get Saturday’s FA Cup defeat against Wealdstone out of their system

“Obviously, you were there, Saturday was a real baptism of fire for us and a lot of learning, really good. A great game to be involved in, really enjoyable and I think had we not been beaten heavily, I think we would’ve made quite a few changes tonight.

“But I think it was really important for us, we’ve got two really important League games coming up with Erith & Belvedere and then Snodland, so I think it was just important to the group to get a win under their belt tonight and just get Saturday out of the way.

“As much as it was expected and as much there was no issue with getting beaten 5-1 over there, there’s no disgrace to that with whatsoever at all.  We just felt it was a great opportunity to get the boys back on the pitch and that’s what we did.”

Constable added: “It surprised me, I kind of hoped that they would go a little bit weaker but I think they’re looking at trying to increase their squad at the moment. There’s a lot of games coming for them after the brilliant FA Cup run that they’ve had but they went strong.

“I think they wanted to get the game done and dusted. It was pretty much done after an hour and they made some changes.

“If they get going and on a run, they’re capable of winning everything at this level. They’ve already shown, they won the Vase last year. They’ve done brilliant in The FA Cup. I make them League favourites. I think it’s going to be a very close title race between them and Rusthall. I’ve been very impressed with them and I think a club like Whitstable, with the resources and the set-up that they’ve got and the management and the players, it’s more than capable of winning the treble.”

Whitstable Town enjoyed plenty of possession but they found Holmesdale a hard nut to crack, although the Kent coastal side dominated the middle of the park with 38-year-old Joe Healy impressing in the vital area of the pitch, as Holmesdale’s trio of Cameron McGovern, Kevin Dance and Callum Keeble often looked lost and kept giving the ball away.

“We just said to the boys at half-time, it shouldn’t really be the case, Joe was out-performing some of the other boys but I thought he was absolutely fantastic every time he’s gone on the pitch for us this year and last year, certainly this year, he’s been so good and so instrumental,” said Longhurst.

“He’s played a number of different positions. He’s played wide for us, he’s played in the nine (striker), he’s played in a 10 (attacking midfielder), he’s played in the four (holding midfielder). I can’t speak highly enough to Joe.”

Constable added: “I don’t really understand how our midfield three didn’t really deal with their midfield three.

“Joe’s been a great player and had a great career and continues to do so, he’s got quality. Mikey Dalton’s in there, is a great player and Brad Schafer’s a decent player as well.

“It’s three-v-three in there and they essentially got the better of us. That’s where we, did we lose the game there? I don’t think we lost the game there. I just think they won that battle and normally games are won and lost in midfield but it was our defensive mistakes that cost us the game tonight.”

Playing out from the back, right-back Finn O’Mara was seeing plenty of the ball, as Holmesdale’s players failed to press and lined up as a well-organised outfit.

O’Mara launched a long ball forward for Splatt to shrug past Holmesdale centre-half Micquelle Murray, before playing the ball square to Healy, whose left-footed drive from 22-yards deflected past the left-hand post (13:40).

Holmesdale often gave the ball away and lacked composure and quality when breaking.

Seven-goal striker, Lewis Hayden-Oriogun played the ball inside to Dance, who ignored left-back Anthony Musoke and tried to score with a speculative left-footed drive from 40-yards, which went harmlessly wide of the goal.

Recalled Holmesdale right-winger Kayden Turner-Bernard switched the play to the other side for Nathan Palmer, who cut inside and his right-footed drive from 35-yards screamed past the left-hand post.

When asked what threats Holmesdale posed his side tonight, Longhurst replied: “I think they’ve got some pace in the team.  They’re obviously confident because of where they are in the League at the minute, regardless of playing a couple more games, you’ve still got to put points on the board.

“I thought the big lad through the middle, Lewis (Heywood-Oriogun) was a handful, he won his headers. I thought he won all his headers in the first 45-50 minutes and then I thought we dominated him a little bit more after that.

“But I thought certainly first half they haven’t really troubled us too much other than a couple of balls in the box, which our goalkeeper has come and dealt with in the first half. Other than that I don’t really remember our goalkeeper making too much of a save.”

But Whitstable Town created their first real chance with 20:00 on the clock.

Holding midfielder Mikey Dalton played the ball into Healy on the half-way line and he released recalled left-back Jayden Boulton, who charged down the line and into the channel, before he put over a great cross towards the near-post.  Healy hooked his left-footed volley towards goal, only for goalkeeper Charlie Wealands to palm the shot around the post.

“I think the goalkeeper’s standing outside but he’s still put his arm out. I think it was a good save, good move, a good ball in the box and a good finish from Joe. If anything, he’s probably connected a bit too well. Anywhere else, it’s in the goal but it was a decent move and a good save,” said Longhurst.

Constable added: “I’ve seen that a lot from Charlie this season. He’s done really well for us. I expected to see that nestle in the bottom corner to be fair but whatever he saved it with, it was a great save.”

Wealands launched a big kick forward, which went to Turner-Bernard (via Healy) and he went on the outside of Boulton and his low cross was spilt by Daniel Colmer at the near post before Whitstable cleared their lines.

Holmesdale missed a glorious chance to take the lead with 31 minutes and 19 seconds on the clock.

Turner-Bernard played the ball out to Palmer on the left, who cut into the penalty area and twisted and turned Finlay Cotton before putting it on a plate for Turner-Bernard, who lacked composure and lashed his first time right-footed shot over the bar.

“That was our biggest chance and if that goes in…,” said a frustrated Constable, who would have tucked home a chance like that during his playing days.

“We’ve ground out the first 30 odd minutes where we’ve sat in and we’ve let them have the ball.  To be honest with you, it’s a way that we play and it’s been effective at times but if that goes in then maybe it’s a different game.

“Yes, that for me has to go in and it’s the difference. In games against the top sides when you’re going to get limited chances, when you get those chances, you have to take them and unfortunately for us tonight, we just weren’t clinical enough.”

Longhurst added: “That’s what we said to them at half-time. As much as we’ve had loads of possession, we haven’t really looked enough of a threat and they’ve probably had one or two of the better moments in the half.

“We were fortunate to come in at 1-0 and both myself and Jamie weren’t overly, overly pleased.  We’ve had a lot of the ball, we haven’t really done enough with it.”

Holmesdale were enjoying a confident spell and Heywood-Oriogun’s left-footed drive from 20-yards deflected off O’Mara and was comfortably gathered by Colmer beside his near-post.

Holmesdale’s attacking midfielder Keeble launched nine long throws into the Whitstable Town penalty area and his first one was cleared back to him and his left-footed cross from within the left-channel clipped the underside of the crossbar (with Colmer flapping at his near-post) and Constable was left frustrated that no one in a yellow shirt was there to pounce as it dropped inside the six-yard box.

“It was a bad cross wasn’t it really. He’s done well to try to loop it back in but what frustrated me most about that was that we all just stopped and watched the ball. Not one of our players reacted to think ‘actually if I move into a position it might drop for me and I’ve got a tap-in inside the six-yard box.’

“What happens? It loops off the bar, drops in the six-yard box and no one’s there. I find that really frustrating because that should be a potential opportunity to score a goal.

“Is that a lack of intelligence or a lack of desire? I think it’s probably a combination of both where we haven’t been switched on enough to get in the right area to try to create a chance.”

Longhurst added: “I don’t quite know what’s happened there. I’ve had a few choice words with our goalkeeper at half-time regarding a couple of scenarios, not really good enough to be honest. But we spoke about it at half-time. I thought he done well second half, Danny dominated the box, which was better than the first half.”

Whitstable Town were gifted their lead, when it arrived with 43 minutes and 23 seconds on the clock – against-the-run-of-play at the time.

O’Mara launched a long ball forward from close to the half-way-line and the otherwise quiet Dean Grant flicked the ball on from the edge of the box.

A poor header back from Holmesdale’s right-back Jude Jeffery was intercepted by Schafter, whose right-footed chip looped over Wealands and went in under the crossbar.

“Look, he’s a goalscorer, Schafes. It was a decent finish. That’s what you get from him. He’s got two again tonight. He’s one of our leading goalscorers,” said Longhurst.

“I think he’s been rushed back a little bit because he’s been injured for a couple of weeks. We’ve had to risk him back where we’ve got so many people nursing knocks and injuries, with so many games that we’ve had, obviously with The FA Cup.

“He’s done brilliant for us since he’s come into the club in the middle of last year. It's a big plus this year having him available for all of the competitions because he couldn’t play in the Vase or Kent Senior Trophy last year.”

A very frustrated Constable said: “The ball’s come back into our box and we’ve tried to head it back to the keeper and I just think it should’ve been cleared rather than that and the header was too short and Brad Schafeer’s got there before and looped it over Charlie, who’s a bit caught in no-mans land.

“If I’m in that situation and I’m Jude, I would be thinking am I going to be able to execute that header because there wasn’t much momentum on the ball?  So it was going to be difficult to get the power on the header, so for me, as a defender, I would just hook that away and put it out for a throw or a corner, just deal with it. Take that decision away from the keeper.”

Both were asked their thoughts at half-time, on a chilly Wednesday night.

Constable said: “I was just frustrated! For 44 minutes of that half, we played very, very well. It’s just annoying that we’ve switched off and conceded a goal like that when we’ve been in the game.

“If we’re sitting here nil-nil, we’ll be happy. It wasn’t negative because we had a positive half but it was then a case we’re going to have to come out of our shape a little bit and have a go and to be fair to the boys they did.

“We needed to correct the midfield situation because that was obviously a problem but I don’t think we actually got that right in the end or not but it was really just a case of the game’s not dead at 1-0, we’re still in it and the next goal is crucial.

“We came out, we did have a lot of the ball, probably the most amount of ball we’ve had in the game, for about 10-15 minutes but didn’t do anything with it to actually threaten enough.”

Longhurst added: “I just thought they had one or two of the better opportunities in the first half, even early in the early part of the second half, so just felt we needed to raise the bar a little bit. We expected a little bit more, so I just thought we needed to up the ante a little bit and start being a little bit more ruthless.

“With the amount of ball that we had in the first half, we didn’t really cause enough problems for them, so that’s a little bit down to them.  You always have to give the opposition a bit more credit than probably people do.

“As much as we weren’t probably clinical enough or patient enough in the final third, you’ve got to give them a little bit of credit. I thought their two centre-halves (Murray and Alimamy Mansaray) did well in the first half.”

Holmesdale came out with all guns blazing at the start of the second half, with Jeffrey and Turner-Bernard linking up well with the winger causing problems to Boulton and putting in numerous crosses into the Whitstable penalty area.

“Jude’s come in to get minutes from Erith Town. Kayden’s not had many starts because we’ve normally got Malachi Hudson playing and he wasn’t available tonight and I thought Kayden done well at times,” said Constable.

“A couple of times he looked a bit rusty, which I expect because he hasn’t started many games but all he’s got to do and I’m asking him to do is get wide, get one-v-one and try to get a ball in the box and I thought he actually done that at times quite well in that period.

“He’s picked up a bit of a knock at the end and had to come off. I think it was just a little bit of an impact on his ankle, so I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

McGovern played the ball out to Turner-Bernard, who cut in and his right-footed drive was palmed away two-handed by Colmer but Heywood-Origun lacked composure inside the box and couldn’t force the rebound over the line inside the box after only 192 seconds into the second half.

Turner-Bernard beat Boulton down the right channel and put in a cross but Heywood-Origun couldn’t dig the ball from under his feet and the ball fell to Palmer in the second phase and his right-footed shot sailed over the top of the far post, as Holmesdale lacked the same quality that Whitstable Town showed later in the half.

Whitstable Town produced a well-worked corner routine in the 58^th minute.

Healy rolled the ball short to Splatt, who played the ball back to Healy, who whipped in a first time cross from the right with his left-foot towards the back post where centre-half Jake McIntyre steered his header over the crossbar from inside the six-yard box.

“Should score. Simple. He’s got to score. Back post, centre-half, got to score,” insisted Longhurst.

“We’re not doing well enough from set-pieces, which is something we need to address to be honest.”

Turner-Bernard went to pieces inside the penalty area again, when direct Holmesdale should have scored in the 63^rd minute.

Keeble launched his fifth long throw into the box, the ball was flicked on at the near-post by Heywood-Origun and Turner-Bernard hooked his right-footed shot over the crossbar from six-yards.

“It looked like it was more difficult than the chance he had in the first half. He just needed to get over the ball and hit it into the ground and unfortunately he kind of just got under it a bit and went miles over the bar,” said Constable.

“I think that was probably it for our chances after that. There wasn’t really not much else but then they score and then we sort of totally thew in the towel.”

Longhurst added: “I thought early in the second half, they did (have chances). That’s why we’ve got players in those final areas of the pitch, that are there to take those chances which I thought was the difference in the two teams really.”

Whitstable Town killed the game off by scoring their second goal just 77 seconds later, the goal coming with 18 minutes and 39 seconds on the clock.

A long ball forward from goalkeeper Colmer saw Murray open the gate for Splatt, who clinically placed his right-footed shot across the advancing keeper to nestle inside the bottom far corner with another clinical strike.

“Good finish. I thought Javaun was a handful tonight for them,” said Longhurst.

“He got a little bit frustrated at times but it’s a good finish from him.  Javaun and Schafes have been outstanding for us in terms of their goals and their assists so far this year – that’s why they’re here!”

Constable added: “The worse thing about that though is that is a poke from the keeper, that first of all we’ve let it bounce, then we’ve got too tight to the striker and not defended in a decent shape.

“Micquelle was having a really good game. I thought he was dealing with Javaun Splatt very, very well. He’s a top striker at this level and that is the moment you can’t switch off against someone of that quality because they will punish you and that’s what happened.”

Turner-Bernard – who was the home side’s most threatening player – played a one-two with Keeble, before cutting inside and arrowing a 30-yarder, which was palmed over the crossbar by Colmer’s outstretched right-hand (21:20).

Constable and Tony Beckingham then decided to throw two men up top with Marcus Elliott coming off the bench to join Heywood-Oriogun but the home side lacked quality to create any further chances as they capitulated in defence.

Coyle clapped substitute attacker Chris Alhassan for playing a key role in his side’s third goal, when it arrived with 31:00 on the clock, for playing in Schafer, who was allowed to get in behind Murray and skipping past Wealands before rolling his right-footed shot into the bottom far corner.

“It was good play from Chris, great pass, great weight of pass. Schafes is in, sets himself and just passes it into the goal,” said Longhurst, who was delighted with his side’s clinical second half finishing.

“That’s what we asked for in the first half. I thought first half we weren’t great at all in front of goal and second half we did a lot better.”

Constable added: “I didn’t really see what happened there but it just looked like there was a lot of their players waiting to finish it off.

“I can’t actually break down what happened except there was a lot of their players there and not many of ours and they ended up playing a bit of football and getting around Charlie and rolling it in.”

Some more poor Holmesdale defending gifted clinical Whitstable Town their fourth goal of the night, timed at 34 minutes and 22 seconds on the clock.

Wideman Cotton played the ball in from the wing into Schafer, who played a low ball towards the back post.  The ball should have been cleared much better by Dalers’ substitute right-back Reelwan Lugboso, who put it on a plate for Splatt, who placed a first time right-footed shot nestling into the bottom left-hand corner to score his ninth goal of the season.

“I thought he was a threat Javaun, certainly. Over the night we probably didn’t get enough of the ball to him in the first half but second half I thought him and Schafes were the difference between the two teams without a doubt,” said Longhurst.

“Ultimately the key after Saturday was to come back and win a game regardless of the level or the competition. It was important just to get back on the horse and win a game of football, which we’ve come and done and we’ve kept a clean sheet.”

Constable added: “You said it perfectly. Another good goal gifted to them, where we haven’t cleared our lines and you give someone of that quality that kind of chance, there’s only one outcome. It was a pretty straight forward finish really.”

Reflecting on his side’s second half, a side that are currently second in the table, cannot leak four goals in a game on five occasions and be considered serious promotion candidates.

“For 15 minutes of it, I think it was good but then I find it very frustrating and it is a concern for me that we kind of capitulate the way we do and concede really easy goals. That has to change,” insisted Constable.

“It’s all well and good beating sides that are below you in the table and lower down but if we have got any aspirations of being a side that can compete in the top half of this League then we’ve got to cut that out and unfortunately we’ve seen it too many times now where we’re gifting too many goals and it’s got to stop!”

The Oystermen finished the game on the front foot and created more chances to score a flattering fifth goal.

Schafer drilled his right-footed shot over the crossbar from 30-yards, before substitute central striker Ashdon Day laid the ball off to Dalton, whose weak right-footed shot rolling into Wealands gloves for a comfortable save, before Schafer’s left-wing corner was hooked over the crossbar by substitute left-back Thiago Ferreria, which cleared the crossbar with the last kick of the game.

Both sides return to League action on Saturday, with Constable taking his side to seventh-placed Larkfield & New Hythe. 

Tony Reid’s side are six games unbeaten and have picked up 20 points (five wins, five draws and one defeat) from their 11 league outings.

“We’re aspiring to trying to be one of the teams that can be one of the better teams in this League. I think we’ve got a long way to go but we are making steps in the right direction. We just need to be a little bit more consistent with our concentration,” said Constable.

“We had a great result down at Larkfield last year when we won 4-3 and we were 3-1 down with 20 minutes to go, so I’m sure they’ll be looking for a bit of revenge for that.

“Look, the bottom line is, if results go our way at the weekend, we could end up top, so I mean for a team that’s conceding four goals five times is a bit crazy.

“We’ve played a few more than other teams but the League is a very, veery tight crazy League at the moment so I’ll be happy if we can go down there and get something from the game.

“Let’s be realistic, they’re going to be a team that are definitely challenging. I know a lot of the boys down there, some very, very good players but if we’re on it, I think we can match some of these teams, so we’ll go there and try to give it our best shot to get something from the game.”

Whitstable Town, meanwhile, travel to league leaders Erith & Belvedere (24 points, seven wins, three draws and four defeats).

The top 10 sides in the division are Erith & Belvedere, Holmesdale, Bearsted (22 points from 11 games), Rusthall (21 points from nine), Sutton Athletic (21 points from 13 games).

Snodland Town (21 points from 13 games), Larkfield & New Hythe, Kennington (20 points from 12 games), Whitstable Town and Phoenix Sports (19 points from 13 games).

“We probably need to bring one or two in, which is what we’re trying to do over the next sort of two or three weeks,” revealed Longhurst.

“We’ve got so many games, that’s what we’ve just said to the players. We’ve got to help them as well now by bringing one or two players in but we need to bring the players in that are going to fit the changing room and be able to play in our team.

“We don’t just want to bring bodies in for the sake of it. We want to be able to give one or two of these boys a rest at times and be able to fetch in players but at the same level that they’re at, probably from the League above, is where we’re probably be looking to try to bring in.

“We’ll have a look at that over the next couple of weeks but we’re just mindful that we bring in the right additions.”

When asked about his return to former club, Erith & Belvedere, Longhurst replied: “It’s a tough game, they’re doing well.  Gary Alexander (their director of football) was here tonight.  They’ll be organised, they’re flying, won two cup games in a row but we’ll know everything about them, they’ll know everything about us.

“But it’s an important game for us because if we can win the game on Saturday, we go a couple of points behind with five games in hand, so I think the next couple of games for us are vitally important.”

Holmesdale: Charlie Wealands, Jude Jeffery (Reelwan Lugboso 69), Anthony Musoke, Cameron McGovern (Marcus Elliott 68), Micquelle Murray, Alimamy Mansaray, Kayden Turner-Barnard (Jorden Mbola 76), Kevin Dance (Nad Nwitua 82), Lewis Heywood-Oriogun, Callum Keeble, Nathan Palmer.
Sub: Chris Tuley

Whitstable Town: Daniel Colmer, Finn O’Mara (Chris Alhassan 72), Jayden Boulton, Mikey Dalton, Jake McIntyre, William Thomas, Bradley Schafer, Joe Healy (Ashdon Day 72), Javaun Splatt (Thiago Ferreria 82), Dean Grant (Theo Osinfolarin 62), Finlay Cotton.
Sub: Josh Robson

Goals: Bradley Schafer 44, 77, Javaun Splatt 64, 81

Booked: Javaun Splatt 69

Attendance: 88
Referee: Mr Krystian Kaczala
Assistants: Mr Kenechukwu Aghasili & Mr Richard Cooksey