Hythe Town 1-2 Whitstable Town (aet)

On a bitterly cold Tuesday evening Whitstable Town travelled to Hythe Town for the second leg of the Kent League Cup Semi Final, writes Mark Wyver.

 

 

 

 

After the two sides had drawn 2-2 at The Belmont in the first encounter this was always going to be a close game.
 
The visitors playing in their yellow shirts started at good tempo with Alex Hossick hitting the bar in the third minute only for Marlon Button to blaze the rebound over the bar.
 
Button redeemed himself on seven minutes however when he curled an exquisite shot beyond home goalkeeper Dave Wietecha which went into the net of the post.
 
After a good twenty minutes from the away side it was Hythe who forced their way back into the game and after missing the game at Croydon on Saturday goalkeeper Kevin Fewell made a good double save to keep the score at 1-0.
 
Stuart King also had a good chance when after getting into the box he blazed his shot high and wide. The score remained 1-0 until the half time whistle.
 
Only four minutes had elapsed when the home side netted their equaliser when Mike Smissen netted his 16th goal of the season after some poor defending.
 
Hythe seemed the more likely side to get a winner at this point with Lee Winfield and Roy Godden always causing a threat.
 
Andy Constable for Whitstable also came close only to be thwarted by Wietecha.
 
With no further goals an extra thirty minutes were required.
 
In the first period Hythe had a goal ruled out for offside while Rob Thomas came close to scoring his first Whitstable goal when his towering header was cleared off the line.
 
The breakthrough came in the 110th minute when substitute John Akinde was upended by Wietecha, which resulted in a penalty and a yellow card for the keeper.
 
From the spot Constable cooly sent the keeper the wrong way and the Oystermen had moved into their second final where they will play the winners of Herne Bay or Thamesmead.
 
Jason Lillis’ Herne Bay lead 2-0 from the first leg.
 
Whitstable Town:  Fewell, Adcock, Gess, Thomas, Ohakam, Hossick, Martin, Perona, King, Constable, Button.
Subs: Akinde, Strouts, Keir, French, Lane.
 
Attendance: 175