Rusthall 2-2 Whitstable Town - It's a really, really special night. We can finally hold our heads high and let everyone know that we're the champions and looking ahead to Step Four next season, says Whitstable Town coach Taylor Couldry

Rusthall 2 – 2 Whitstable Town
Location	Jockey Farm Stadium, Nellington Road, Rusthall, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 8SH
Kickoff	24/03/2026 19:45

RUSTHALL  2-2  WHITSTABLE TOWN
Presence & Co Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division
Tuesday 24 March 2026
Stephen McCartney reports from Jockey Farm Stadium

WHITSTABLE TOWN coach Taylor Couldry says his players can finally hold their heads high and let everyone know that they’re the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division champions after earning the point they needed to get over the line with five League games to spare.

Jamie Coyle’s men claimed a comfortable 3-0 home win over Chislehurst Glebe at the weekend and they put in a resilient performance to seal their first League title since Marc Seager’s side back in 2007.

After a goal-less stalemate at a wet and windy Jockey Farm Stadium, Whitstable Town striker, Jack Nelson, 21, rifled in his 30^th goal of the season (18 for Rochester United, three for VCD Athletic and nine for Whitstable), following a corner.

Jack Kirby capped off an impressive performance for the sixth-placed Rustics’ by restoring parity just 106 seconds later, as the home side put in a vastly improved performance, bouncing back from their sole home League defeat of the season when they lost 2-1 to Sutton Athletic at the weekend.

Whitstable Town were reduced to ten-men in the 57^th minute when Nelson went for an early shower and Rusthall took the lead after a goalkeeper blunder allowed the giant Thompson Adeyemi to smash home his fifth goal of the season.

However, Whitstable Town sealed the title, courtesy of a headed goal from captain William Thomas, following another set-piece, as Whitstable Town sealed promotion at the fourth attempt.

“Phenomenal! A mixture of emotions throughout the day. It was obviously always the overall objective and I don’t think anyone could really envisage it would pan out like that but we’ve come here (and did) what we wanted to do ultimately and we’ve got the point that we needed to win the division and that was the target from the beginning of the season.  No matter how bad or ugly it may look, we’ve achieved our goal,” said Couldry.

“You couldn’t really call it a game of football really. It was an all-out battle between two really good sides.

“I’ve got to give Rusthall credit. I thought they looked much-improved from the previous two games that we’ve had with them.  They looked very solid. They looked incredibly dangerous on the counter-attack and on a (grass) pitch like that today and conditions like that, it was going to be down to a number of who’s going to make mistakes.

“I mean, it was a really entertaining game I suppose and there’s certainly things where we could’ve done a lot better and things that we weren’t happy with but overall, as I say, we’ve done what we’ve set out to do.”

Rusthall manager Jimmy Anderson added: “I thought it was a really good game for the people who came and turned up.  Obviously a lot of Whitstable fans have turned up today but I thought anyone who watched the game, it was two really good sides, battling it out and obviously they’re champions and deserved.

“We faced a very good side today, even when they had 10 men they sat in and they made it very hard for us to try to get the winner.

“My players gave a lot better performance than they have been recently. We haven’t been playing our way recently. We’ve obviously lost a few players through injury and stuff like that but they’re back now.  Confidence has been low.

“Today I felt the boys dug in and we played some really, really good football against a really good side.”

Fisher manager Ajay Ashanike heavily criticised Rusthall’s “ugly” direct approach following his side’s 2-1 defeat here on 10 March – but Rusthall’s football was back to their eye-catching best as Whitstable Town retained their direct approach.

“The wind was something else tonight! Like the ball, obviously they've gone quite direct so the ball was going off the pitch quite a lot,” said Anderson.

“We tried to get it down and play. The surface is pukka tonight but the conditions, obviously they didn’t play a part in the result but they played a part in how both teams were going to play.”

Recalled holding midfielder, Lewis Chambers, launched 12 long throws into the Rusthall penalty area (nine coming in the first half) in windy conditions, while Rusthall substitute striker Charlie Clover launched two into the Whitstable box.

Rusthall created an opening (17:52) when Adeyemi travelled over the halfway line and fed Kirby, who laid the ball off to Joshua Reid, who drilled his shot high over the crossbar from 35-yards, as Reid and Kirby stood out for the hosts.

“I agree. We played Kirby in a different position tonight but I thought he was superb. It was like a false nine and Josh Reid, I thought he caused Finn O’Mara a lot of problems tonight,” added Anderson.

Chambers launched his seventh long throw into the Rusthall penalty area and the ball was flicked on the near-post and sailed towards the back post where Bradley Schafer cracked his left-footed half-volley over the crossbar from a tight angle (22:21).

Direct Whitstable Town created their best first half opening with 24:11 on the clock when keeper Daniel Colmer drilled a long ball forward.

Schafer cut inside and onto his right foot and stroked a low angled drive towards the bottom far corner from 30-yards, which was pushed away by a diving Serine Sanneh.

Couldry said: “We know what Serine possesses. He’s a very talented goalkeeper and I think playing downhill on the slope with a skiddy pitch, it was really difficult to carve out chances, so I think Schafer’s understood the assignment from long-range. He’s plucked out a very good effort on goal and Serine’s made a good save for them.”

Anderson added: “Serine’s made two very good saves tonight and I felt like that was Serine’s best game for us as well.

“Conditions like this, keepers have to stay concentrated for 90 minutes.  I thought, for me, I feel like every player, even my subs, gave me everything I wanted tonight.”

The Oystermen – unbeaten in 25 games - were playing on the front foot during this part of the game.

Recalled striker Joe Healy’s deep corner came in from the right and the ball came out to Nelson, who cut inside and flashed an angled drive across the keeper and bouncing past the foot of the far post.

Schafer whipped in a quality delivery with his right-foot and the ball was cleared out to Chambers, who looped his header towards goal, which comfortably landed in Sanneh’s midriff, as Whitstable Town kept knocking on the door.

Whitstable Town missed a glorious chance to take the lead with 29:47 on the clock, through more direct football.

There were many bodies inside their own penalty area and Schafer drilled a long ball forward which released Nelson, who easily shrugged past last defender, Rusthall’s left-back Jesse Hammond outside the penalty area and Nelson lacked composure when he dragged his right-footed shot across Senneh and past the far post in a one-v-one.

Couldry said: “Probably could’ve done better to get it on target, like you say, he’s skipped past a couple of times but there pivotal moments in games where it could’ve alleviated a lot of pressure for us later on.

“Yet again, like on Saturday, it shows how dangerous he is and the threat that he possess in behind.”

Anderson added: “Like I said, they’re very direct with what they do but they’re good at it. They’ve got really good players. They’re missing two strikers tonight but the two boys up front that started (Nelson and Healy) are superb and then they brought on Dean Grant and his hold-up play was unbelievable!”

Anderson lost centre-half Daniel Blunn to injury (Frank Griffin partnered Robbie Bissett at centre-back) and on came Clover and the 18-goal striker gave the ball away inside his own half and Healy released wing-back Theodore Osinfolarin within the right channel.

His dinked cross was met at the near-post by Nelson, the ball going just past the near-post but the second half was a vast improvement.

Anderson said: “We were trying to hit them on the counter-attack. We were against the wind. We knew long balls and long throws (were coming our way) and I felt for the first half we did exactly what I wanted and dug deep and stayed in the game.

“We wanted to create chances in the second half.  Kirby and Josh Reid, playing slightly out of position today showed exactly what I asked.  I said 'just keep digging in', the conditions were playing a part. We had the wind and the rain going our way in the second half and we’ll get chances.”

Couldry added: “The main focus at half-time was the clean sheet. It was about remaining solid and compact. We felt that we were getting beaten too easily in terms of letting it be switched across the pitch, so we wanted to try to stop that.

“I think we gradually improved our compactness and locking off one side of the pitch but as the game changes and we get the red card the half-time stuff goes out of the window really and it’s all about fight or flight.”

Whitstable Town came out with all guns blazing at the start of the second half, taking the lead with two minutes and 31 seconds on the clock, following their fourth and final corner.

Healy swung the ball in from the left towards the back post, centre-half Thomas knocked the ball back for Nelson to rifle his right-footed half-volley into the top right-hand corner.

“Set-pieces, as I said on Saturday, is a big gripe for us but we’ve managed to be aggressive on the first one and we’re always alive to the second one and it’s another goal for Jack, which was pleasing for him and the team and it certainly lifted the mood,” said Couldry.

Anderson added: “Like I said to them (during the interval), they’ll come out in the first five-10 minutes.

“Their bench was very disappointed, I think,  with them at half-time and was getting very angry, so we knew there was going to be a reaction and it was throw-in, corner, throw-in, corner, first five minutes and eventually they got their joy.

“The boys didn’t drop their heads so we continued.”

Rusthall showed great character to restore parity with Kirby’s 15^th goal of the season, with four minutes and 17 seconds on the clock.

Hammond and Reid were linking up well during the second half and they did for this goal as Hammond travelled over the half-way line, fed Reid, who cut inside and his low cross was cleared out to Kirby, who placed a first-time shot across the keeper into the bottom left-hand corner.

Anderson said: “Kirby needed that to be fair. Like you said, his performance was really good enough. He’s been really good for us all season, so hopefully it continues.”

Couldry added: “Jack’s a good player and I think that kind of came from our lack of compactness and failing to lock one side of the pitch, so although that’s our half-time team talk, it’s a moment that was still quite vulnerable for us.

“They were quite good about being able to switch the play, so we were really disappointed to concede that goal and I think the effort maybe we could’ve done a lot better in terms of getting our bodies on the line and stopping it.”

Centre-half O’Mara drilled a hooked, low left-footed angled drive, which Sanneh got swiftly down to his left to hold (8:43). 

Anderson admitted: “Serine was really good and it was a great save. It was a great save and you need your keeper to play well when you play Whitstable. They have an unbelievable squad and rightly so – they’ve won the League!”

Following the save, there a melee inside the penalty area and referee Byron Beard consulted with his assistant Tony Rawlings and Nelson picked up his first yellow (9:25).

Clover’s sublime through ball released the impressive Reid, who cut inside and his right-footed angled drive outside the box went through numerous legs and Colmer dived to his right to push around the post (10:36).

Whitstable Town went route one again as a long ball saw Senneh rush out of his penalty area and Nelson clattered into him and referee Beard pulled out a yellow and a red-card (11:26).

Both were asked about the incidents that led to Nelson letting down his team.

Anderson said: “The first one, I’m told that he pushed my three (Hammond) to the floor off the ball, so that was a yellow card and obviously the second one, he’s clattered Serine and obviously it’s a yellow card. It weren’t a straight red, so it’s two yellow cards, so it’s red.”

Couldry said: “I mean, I didn’t see what the first booking was for and I think in terms of the second one, I think the state of the game, it was still one-all at the time. He’s obviously so eager, as a young player, full of confidence in the game, playing really well, just to go and win the ball back for us.

“Look, he’ll learn. That could’ve cost us on another day but the team’s really dug him out and that’s what you’ve got to do in tough times like that when you are apart of a team.  If someone slips up and makes an error, you’ve got to be there to back your mate up no-matter how sort of fatal that error may be.

“We were applying pressure. We were looking to re-impose ourselves after conceding the lead. I can’t comment, I don’t know what happened with Jack.

“But it was getting to that sort of game. I don’t think the ref helped certain situations and allowed it to get to that point but that’s for us to reflect on and our players to show that more sort of patience, mature side and not being in the position to get silly bookings.”

Dean Grant came on for Whitstable Town as Healy was sacrificed and they operated with two resilient banks of four with Grant up top on his own.

Kirby’s sublime through ball put Reid through on goal and a last-ditch foul by O’Mara was judged to have just been outside the box by the referee.

Colmer lined up a three-man wall and Griffin’s right-footed free-kick was comfortably gathered at the second attempt by the Whitstable keeper in the centre of his goal (18:59).

Colmer was at fault when he gifted Rusthall the lead, when it arrived with 21 minutes and 1 second on the clock, following the home side’s third of six corners.

Striker Louie Clark swung in a superb high hanging delivery from the right, under the bar and into the swirling wind and Colmer raised both of his arms above his head and dropped the ball. The ball spun towards his goal-line and Adeyemi accepted the gift by smashing the ball over the line to the delight of the home faithful.

Anderson said: “Their keeper kind of half-punches it, half slaps it, drops and then Thompson puts it in.”

Reflecting on the leveller, the Rusthall manager added: “We take the lead and I felt we deserved it at the time to be fair and then yes, they do what they do best and they get numbers up the pitch, they draw a foul and the ball from the free-kick by Brad Schafer is unbelievable!

“From my angle it’s unbelievable and the header matches it. It’s a great goal from them and then I felt at that point they kind of settled for the draw because they knew the draw would win them the League tonight and fair play to them, they’ve done their job.”

Couldry admitted: “There’s no hiding from it. The goalie has to do better but tonight’s not the night for us to dig any of our players’ out. They’ve got us to where we are today, which is winning the League title.

“But in that moment, I think we’ve got to do a lot better. I think the goalie has to as well. That was a really disappointing goal to concede and it could’ve deflated us.”

However, Whitstable Town’s 76^th League goal of the season sealed the deal, with 24 minutes and 11 seconds on the clock.

The rain was lashing down and visibility was poor by the time Schafer drove in a high-quality delivery with his right-foot and Thomas glanced a near-post free-header into the left-hand corner to score his third goal of the season.

“We moaned at the players constantly about the deliveries that we get into the box from set-pieces and how aggressive we are,” said Couldry.

“We probably couldn’t tell you before tonight if we had any goals from set-pieces that were first contact so to win the League on that, I think, does a little bit of justice.

“We’ve been hammering it home for months and months and the skipper on the night Will Thomas, it’s an unbelievable header. It’s great aggression, sort of timing in the box.

“You need your big leaders and big characters to step up in big moments and with 10 men defending for our lives. It’s an unbelievable moment and probably unforgettable one for the club history.”

High left-wing-back Jayden Boulton played Schafer down the line and the talented midfielder cut into the box and his drilled right-footed shot was beaten away by Rusthall’s goalkeeper.

“I think when you’re in moments like that you need your star players to pluck out a little bit of magic when you’re under such pressure consistently with 10 men behind the ball fighting for our lives,” said Couldry.

“We know Schafer’s got that quality. He’s got that inventiveness. He skips through a few players and it could’ve been a comfortable goal to get us in front from what we needed to do tonight.

“Serine’s made a good save again and credit to Schafer, he’s helped us buy us a few more minutes up the pitch.”

Reid and Hammond linked up down the left and Hammond put in an excellent delivery and Clover’s near-post header cleared the crossbar as Rusthall went for it.

When asked whether he was happy to settle for a point – Rusthall had lost six of their last 11 games (across all competitions before tonight) – Anderson replied: “Before the game, because of our form, before the game, if someone had offered me a point, I would’ve bit their hand off for it to be fair.

“I’m happy because we performed well against a really good side. I’m disappointed because I feel like we could’ve just created slightly a little bit more at the end.

“We’re up against a good side, who defended for a point and rightly so, they’ve won the League, so congratulations!”

Rusthall finished the game on the front foot but they couldn’t find a late winner as resilient Whitstable Town held out for the point that they needed to claim the League title.  You just want to see the silverware raised on the night, not in this League, sadly.

“It’s a really, really special night. We’ve waited so long this season, knowing that was our aim, knowing how good we are and how deserving we are to finally have that moment,” said Couldry, whose side are 22 points clear of Fisher tonight.

“People tell you throughout the season ‘oh, you’ve done it, you’re so far ahead, you’re clearly going to win the League’, but we tried to keep level headed throughout. 

“We’ve reminded everyone that we’ve not achieved anything yet (before this game) and tonight we can finally hold our heads high and let everyone know that we’re the champions and we’re looking ahead to Step Four next season.”

Whitstable Town have picked up 24 wins, five draws and two defeats for their 77 points enroute to their title success this season.

Second-placed Fisher – 16 wins, seven draws and six defeats – arrive at Belmont Road on Saturday 4 April.

“Our record looks very good on the eye, we’re just glad to achieve that final goal but we’re not going to stop now. We want to be the best champions we can be and the best versions of ourselves,” said Couldry.

“It’s going to be a tough game. They’re on an unbelievable run. Ajay (Ashanike) seems to get a tune out of an ever-changing dressing room, so we know that’s going to be a tough occasion.

“But it’s one that we’re keen to impress on especially knowing that we’re probably due to have a lot of fans behind us for that one. I’m not sure when the trophy comes but if it does come against Fisher then that’s the greatest incentive of all to win the game in front of our fans and lift the trophy as true champions and winners on the day.

“We’ve got a massive Cup Final to prepare for in a few weeks’ time. We want to make sure that we enjoy this week, we’ve got no game on Saturday and then we’re back in for Fisher at home.

“We want to make sure that’s an unbelievable occasion for the fans and the club to bring the title back to The Belmont. We want to make sure that we win every game possible towards the end of the season.

“I think we can have a more stringent focus on performance now.  Obviously we’ve got the results that we needed.  We still want to win, of course, but we want to see how much we can challenge the boys. We’ve got a few free hits to be able to prepare for that Cup Final as well.

“We want to make sure that we now speak to players about what next season looks like, what’s the plan and maybe do our own scouting and recruitment for next year as well.”

When asked what he is looking forward to the most in the Isthmian League next season, Couldry replied: “I think the amount of massive clubs in Kent that we’re able to come across next season. There’s going to be a load of derby days, all right on our door step, so those games are going to be massive for the club in terms of revenue and rivalry with other fanbase and the club histories.

“We’re really excited for those occasions and we’re really excited to be able to test ourselves as a  group.

“We’ve managed to beat three Step Three sides in The FA Cup this season. We know that we pose that quality. We’ve done very well in pre-season against some Step Four sides that we played and we know that we can compete very well in the league above.

“You see Whyteleafe and Faversham, who are prime examples being able to propel themselves into really threatening league positions this season (third and fifth in the Isthmian League South East Division following promotion) and we want to replicate the same thing and we want to bring more and more success to the football club.”

Meanwhile, 11 clubs are vying to join Whitstable Town in the Isthmian League next season.

Punjab United beat Holmesdale 2-1 tonight to climb into fifth-place, while Phoenix Sports’ recent progress was ended by a 1-0 defeat at Culverden Stadium, as Steve Ives’ Tunbridge Wells cannot be ruled out in 12^th place with 37 points with eight games remaining.

Fisher (55 points from 29 out of 36 games), Larkfield & New Hythe (50 points from 30 games), Bearsted (49 points from 30 games) and Punjab United (47 points from 30 games) are in the play-off zone tonight.

Rusthall (46 points – 13 wins, seven draws and eight defeats), Sutton Athletic (46 points from 30 games), Hollands & Blair (44 points from 30 games), Phoenix Sports (44 points form 30 games) and Snodland Town (43 points from 29 games) are all within a shout.

Rusthall have nine League games left, starting with Corinthian’s visit here on Saturday.

“I want to win it. It’s got to be three points. We take that performance into Saturday, I want three points from it and hopefully we can,” said Anderson, who left Corinthian where he was reserve team manager to become Rusthall’s manager seven years ago.

“Maybe one or two players (will be) coming back into the squad. I’m not going to tell you names but you could probably work out if they haven’t been playing recently then hopefully, they’ll be in with us. Hopefully we’ll be stronger at the back end of the season.

“We might have a couple coming in (before transfer deadline day) to strengthen the team.

“Reuel (Powell-Downey, a 77^th minute, left-winger substitute) is going to be an asset for us. He was playing at Peacehaven but they released him.

“We’ve got Corinthians on Saturday and then we’ve got a tough (home) game against Hollands & Blair on Monday and we’ve got the final to look forward to.”

When asked about the number of sides involved in the race for the play-offs, Anderson replied: “It just shows how competitive the League is  - even down the bottom.  Look at the run that Phoenix have been on lately and they lost tonight to Tunbridge Wells, a difficult place to go, difficult conditions. Tunbridge Wells are a good side, so you can’t take any game for granted.

“Corinthian’s will come here on Saturday and they’ll expect to win. We went there, we were 2-0 up, drew 2-2 away from home. They have a long throw, probably longer than Lewis Chambers’ one and we’ll have to deal with it.  It’s just going to be one of those games.

“I thought our performance, our attitude, our work-rate and it seemed like Rusthall. It seemed like my team. Like, read whatever you want into that but it seemed like my team, you’re nodding your head.

“I think everyone who was here tonight probably witnessed a very good side playing the champions. I thought we were really good tonight, on a perfect playing ground for us.

“All of my boys took risks, they were comfortable on the ball. We played a very good game against a very good side tonight.”

For football purists like myself, if you want to watch two attractive passing sides that play football the right way, then Flamingo Park (Cray Wanderers) is the venue for the Challenge Cup Final between Bearsted and Rusthall on Good Friday, 3 April (13:00).

For those that love watching the ball being thrown and kicked into the air then Whitstable Town lock horns with Punjab United in the Kent Senior Trophy Final in Maidstone on Sunday 19 April.

Fans can count the number of long throws hurled into each penalty box by Chambers and Schafer and Punjab’s Chris Edwards and Stephen Ratcliff!!!

Let's hope Whitstable Town play more attractive football in the eighth-tier next season, after Coyle sealed promotion in his second season at the club.

Looking ahead to Rusthall’s first Cup Final as a ninth-tier football club, Anderson said: “I want to win it, I want to win it! So, when we get there, we’ll hopefully be ready, so when you’re in a final, you want to win it.

“We’re up against a very good side. Bearsted are really good. It should be a really good match. They’re a good passing side as well, so there will be a lot of people there hopefully watching a very good game.

“I don’t expect it to be boring. I expect both teams to have a go. It’s a final but we’ll worry about that when it comes round.”

Rusthall: Serine Sanneh, Rahman Kareem (Abdullah Khalil 61), Jesse Hammond, Frank Griffin, Robbie Bissett, Daniel Blunn (Charlie Clover 34), Joshua Reid, Jeffrey Njuguna, Louie Clarke (Reuel Powell-Downey 77), Jack Kirby (Ayodeji Owoeye 81), Thompson Adeyemi.
Sub: Reece Hobbs

Goals: Jack Kirby 50, Thompson Adeyemi 67

Booked: Rahman Kareem 27, Charlie Clover 71

Whitstable Town: Daniel Colmer, Theodore Osinfolarin, Jayden Boulton, William Thomas, Tyler Hatton, Finn O’Mara, Bradley Schafer, Lewis Chambers, Jack Nelson, Joe Healy (Dean Grant 57), Isaac Currie (Mikey Dalton 90).
Subs: Robbie Rees, Finley Cotton, Connor Wilkins

Goals: Jack Nelson 48, William Thomas 70

Booked: Jack Nelson 54, Finn O’Mara 64

Sent Off: Jack Nelson 57

Attendance: 235
Referee: Mr Byron Beard
Assistants: Mr Simon Baker & Mr Tony Rawlings
Observer:  Mr Peter Lindsey