Sevenoaks Town 2-1 Whitstable Town - We're here to bring big days to the club, says Sevenoaks Town boss Marcel Nimani, while Whitstable Town boss Jamie Coyle laments 'car crash performance' from his side that are 'a long way away'

Sevenoaks Town 2 – 1 Whitstable Town
Location	Greatness Park, Mill Lane, Seal Road, Sevenoaks, Kent TN14 5BX
Kickoff	03/08/2024 15:00

SEVENOAKS TOWN  2-1  WHITSTABLE TOWN
The Emirates FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Saturday 3 August 2024
Stephen McCartney reports from Greatness Park

SEVENOAKS TOWN’S newly-appointed manager Marcel Nimani says he wants to bring big days to the club after beating his former club at the very first stage of this season’s FA Cup.

All three goals of this Extra Preliminary Round tie were scored inside the opening 20 minutes, played in temperatures of 24 degrees at Greatness Park.

Sevenoaks Town opened the scoring after only 216 seconds into Nimani’s reign as attacking midfielder Kiye Martin produced a quality strike from 22-yards.

Whitstable Town grabbed an equaliser in the 15^th minute following a three-man Sevenoaks corner routine broke down and the away side counter-attacked through three players which ended in striker Jerson Dos Santos joining strike partner Harvey Smith on two goals from their first two games of the new season.

However, Sevenoaks Town right-winger Rodney Eruotor – who was Jamie Coyle’s team-mate when they were at Glebe together last season – was given oceans of space to finish emphatically to set up a home tie against Isthmian League South Central Division side Leatherhead on Saturday 17 August (15:00).

Eighth-placed Whitstable Town opened their Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division campaign with a 3-3 draw in Hextable against Sutton Athletic, who scored two injury-time goals to claim a point against a Whitstable Town side that are expected to challenge Faversham Town for the title this term, after having to settle for a sixth-place finish with 73 points from 40 games.

This was Sevenoaks Town’s first competitive outing of the new season and the club finished in tenth-place in the Isthmian League South East Division table last season, having picked up 46 points from their 38 league outings.

“I was pleased. It was a good game to start the season with because it would’ve been a good experience for my players to get ready for the season,” said Nimani.

“Our objective is to focus on the league this year. Our year one of the project is the league, so it was a good game to start the season.

“I was very pleased of the performance of the first half. I felt that we played and created some great opportunities and we played the way I like to play it.

“In the second half, I felt that a lack of fitness, you can definitely see that we’re not fit or not ready and the thing that pleased me, we didn’t keep the ball but what pleased me is we managed the game well and stopped the opposition from dominating.”

Nimani coming across his former club in his first game in charge of Sevenoaks Town was the main reason why this website covered this FA Cup tie.

He said: “It’s good to see you, so thank you for coming!

“I was at work (when the draw was made) and I just finished my PE lesson and I came in and (looked at) my phone, I had 37 messages! I thought ‘what the hell has happened!’

“If I’m honest with you, for me it made no difference. My focus and my desire is with Sevenoaks Town. For me it was just another game.

“I made some great friends at Whitstable and I have nothing but positive things to say about them and I’m thankful to Whitstable.  Part of the reason I got this job was vastly to do with my time at Whitstable, so I’m happy to be here and I’ve got Whitstable to thank for it.”

Meanwhile, Whitstable Town boss Coyle, who played centre-half for Glebe as they finished beneath Deal Town and Faversham Town in third-place last season, admitted: “I’m disappointed with the performance to be honest with you.  I don’t think we’ve done enough to win the game, if I’m honest with you.

“We made some really poor decisions again at the back and conceded two soft goals, which is always going to be tough to come back from when you’re away from home.

“We’ve conceded five goals in two games and it’s been the thorn in our side really, so we’ve got to look at that because we can’t keep giving teams a leg up and try to get back into the game.

“What was missing today? Decision making, energy. I think near enough everything, if I’m honest with you.

“I’m really, really frustrated and some of the boys let us down today tactically. We prepped two days with how we were going to play and we just didn’t really perform correctly today.

“I can’t keep saying it’s a new team that we’ve put together and we have to understand how each other play because sooner or later you’ve got to start picking up points whilst waiting for the team to come together and get through games like today.

“I think player-for-player we’re confident that we’re more than capable of competing and getting a good result.

“We should be a little bit ahead,” added Coyle, who has played one more game than their higher-league hosts.  “But I think fitness wise they were stronger than us and that’s the reason why they’re through and we’re not.”

Sevenoaks Town opened the scoring following their first attempt on target, after only 216 seconds.

Martin played the ball out to fellow debutant Eruotor, who cut in from the right before Martin took a touch and Whitstable Town centre-half Jake McIntyre failed to come out to close him down and allowed Martin the chance to take a touch before curling a sublime left-footed shot into the far corner from 22-yards.

“We’ve brought in some players. You can call them X-factor attributes.  Both of them (that scored) showed it today in that first half,” said Nimani.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very good start. It’s just important not to get carried away because we’re not here to win The FA Cup.  As much as I love The FA Cup, our focus is the league, so it was a good game, a good competitive game for us.”

Coyle added: “It’s a really poor goal. Unfortunately, the last two games analysing the goals that we’ve conceded it’s been really disappointing, so we’ve got to look at that again.

“We’ll look at the Veo, we’ll analyse it.  Like I said to the boys, unfortunately there’s not enough players in there that can actually ask the question if they’re not in the team next week, so it’s a sign we haven’t delivered today.”

Sevenoaks Town produced another well-worked move and almost scored from the same blade of artificial grass, with five minutes and 53 seconds on the clock.

Eruotor played a low pass in from the right before central midfielder Ayominde Majekodunmi teed up an unmarked Sammie McLeod, who placed his right-footed shot towards the bottom left-hand corner, which was comfortably gathered by visiting goalkeeper Daniel Colmer, diving low to his right.

McLeod, 24, who finished last season with Tunbridge Wells, put in a dominant performance at the heart of midfield, which pleased Nimani and disappointed Coyle.

Nimani said: “It was a stand-out performance. He’s a good lad, he’s a local lad.  Two conversations, he brought into the project. He’s here to stay and I’m very pleased to have him on board.

“Sam has got a really good CV, not necessarily non-league but he’s played National League level last season. He also played for Tunbridge Wells towards the end, but I’ve known him when he was younger because I coached him a little bit.”

Coyle added: “Totally agree (about McLeod).  I think their left-back (Futa) was creating a box at times and we couldn’t get nowhere near them.

“Joshua Oliver has come back from injury and he struggled a little bit, so he had to come off at half-time.  That is really down to, it’s not only understanding, it’s more fitness levels and we were carrying Josh in the first half because he was not fit.

“They got in behind us too easily down their right-hand side today.  I don’t want to talk too much about it. I want to have a look at the veo and analyse it.

“We have to wok on it this week because if we keep conceding goals like that, we’re not going to get anywhere this year.”

Oliver was replaced by fellow winger Omotunmise Akanni, who offered nothing and was hooked in the 75^th minute.

“He got a booking and then he made two fouls straight after so one more foul he’s going to be sent off, so he had to come off unfortunately,” explained Coyle.

Sevenoaks Town were caught on a devastating counter-attack following their third corner, as Whitstable Town grabbed an equaliser with 14 minutes and 50 seconds on the clock.

Martin played the ball short to William Efambe, who cut the ball back towards the corner of the box and Salim Futa’s rolling ball was intercepted by Whitstable Town’s right-back Jerald Aboagye.

The former Sevenoaks Town man released winger Joshua Oliver down the right, who switched the play to Dos Santos, who cut into the penalty area from the left before stroking a clinical low right-footed shot into the bottom left-hand corner from 15-yards.

“It was a great finish but we’re finding it difficult to stay in games. We’ve got a very, very soft underbelly at the moment defending as team. It’s not just individuals it’s a team,” admitted Coyle.

“If you break down the actual work that Dan in goal that has had to do, I don’t think he’s had to make a save outside the goals that we’ve given away. That’s the frustrating thing. We have to get right and we have to get it right quickly.

“You look at the positives, we are looking a threat going forward but it’s like anything, if you’re going to be successful as a team, you’ve got to have a good defensive record and we haven’t got that at the minute but it’s something that we’ve got to work on and we’ve got to get it right really quickly.”

Nimani added: “It was a good finish from Jerson. He drove the ball well. A bit disappointing, you could see he’s very heavily right-footed. I felt I’m expecting my defenders to read on that, but I take nothing away from the striker. It was a great finish. Had he been in my side, I would’ve been extremely happy with him.

“In terms of us, we have our routines that we go through, sometimes it doesn’t pay off but what pleased me the most, we went and scored straight after again, so that’s the sort of character we’re looking for.

“It’s a good point that you raised that (counter-attack leading to an equaliser only about 10-20 seconds after having a corner at the other end of the pitch).
I’m not concerned. It’s disappointing but not concerned just yet.”

However, Whitstable Town left-back Karn Miller-Neave went AWOL as Sevenoaks Town claimed the victory as early as 19 minutes and 40 seconds into an open start to this Kent derby.

Left-back Futa played the ball up to Martin, who played the ball into Majekodunmi, who clipped a sublime diagonal pass over to Eruotor, who capitalised on some woeful defending from Miller-Neave, who was nowhere to be seen!

Eruotor cut into the box at ease and emphatically smashed his left-footed drive into the roof of the net from a very tight angle from just outside the six-yard box.

“We’ve got to look at some of our patterns of play in possession and obviously that allowed us to be creative in how we can bring Rodney in and it kind of worked a treat on that specific pattern,” said Nimani.

“It was a plan of switching play to isolate Rodney there so it worked there for analysing the team.”

Coyle added: “Again, we have to look at it positionally. It looked like a bit of a car crash so it’s disappointing. It’s disappointing because you’ve got players there that have got real experience to make the right decisions the majority of the time.

“Today it was an off day for too many individuals and if you’ve got half the team that are not performing and not at it then you’re not going to win a game of football, whatever level you’re at.”

Whitstable Town centre-half McIntyre launched a long diagonal ball out of defence in the 32^nd minute and ineffective winger Ali Fofahan teed up ineffective winger Oliver, who cut in and lashed his left-footed drive high over the bar from 25-yards.

McIntyre launched a second long ball out of defence and Aboagye cut in from the right from within the channel before Fofahan lashed a deflected drive over the crossbar from 16-yards.

Michael West swung in Whitstable’s first of two corners in from the left and McIntyre found a pocket of space at the far post and cracked a left-footed half-volley which was caught by former Whitstable Town goalkeeper Jordan Perrin.

“It was a really good chance. It would’ve been a good time to score. That was a good bit of play in the wide areas, created a good opportunity but it wasn’t to be,” added Coyle, a double World Cup winner for the England Senior football team.

“On the grand scheme of things across the 95 minutes we haven’t really created enough opportunities to sit here and say we should’ve won the game or got a draw out of it.”

Nimani added: “Very pleased for Jordan. Jordan’s just back to what he’s good at, saving us when they did break over line and that’s why we’ve got Jordan in there.”

Sevenoaks Town were a threat in attack with their pace and Colmer stuck up his right-hand to push Martin’s left-footed free-kick over the centre of his goal in the 41^st minute.

Nimani said: “It was quite central. If you’re going to be successful from that angle, it’s got to be more to the side, but he’s hit the target and the keeper’s made a save.”

Coyle briefly added: “It was quite central. I thought it was going over anyway but he just made sure of that.”

Whitstable Town went very close in grabbing an equaliser (44:30), when Oliver switched the play to Dos Santos, who poked a short pass through to striker Smith, who drilled his right-footed drive just past the right-hand post from 15-yards.

Both managers were asked their thoughts at the interval.

Nimani said: “So at half-time we spoke about maintaining the patterns of play that we were doing.   They didn’t really keep the ball as well as I thought they would, but we spoke about if they do keep the ball what the press would look like. If they don’t keep the ball what the press would look like, so our main focus was how we were going to manage the game off the ball.”

Coyle added: “Just that we need more. We need more energy; we need more urgency. We need to increase the tempo of the game. We need someone out there to actually spark something because it was flat.  We just tried to increase the tempo of the game.

“We huffed and puffed but the reality was it wasn’t good enough today. Some days you’ve got to hold your hands up and say did we deserve to get anything out of the game?  Although Dan doesn’t make many other saves, other than the goals going in, we haven’t really worked enough in their final third.”

Whitstable Town put in a vastly improved second-half performance.

Eleven minutes into the second half, West sprung into life and clipped the ball into the danger area from the left, the ball was flicked away by Perrin and dropped to Dos Santos, who drilled a right-footed half-volley straight at Perrin.

“Santos is a good striker, he’s very physical and he got good delivery into it. He managed to get the ball better of our defence on that occasion but he didn’t beat Jordan, so that’s why we’re a team unit,” added Nimani.

Whitstable Town centre-half Finn O’Mara squandered a glorious chance to restore parity following a 59^th minute set-piece.

Former Ramsgate central midfielder Michael West whipped in a quality right-footed delivery from the left towards the near post but O’Mara glanced his free-header straight at Perrin from the edge of the six-yard box to make a comfortable catch.

Coyle said: “We started better the first 25 minutes. We were much better, but it needs to end up in a lot more opportunities looking like we’re going to score!

“I thought Finn O’Mara should’ve scored from Westy’s set-piece.  I think it’s a free header from about four yards out. He’s headed it straight at Jordan but outside of that, we haven’t asked enough questions.”

Nimani added: “One thing I was a bit disappointed, we discussed in the first half in the changing room, that we did say to them if they were going to get a goal it will be through set-pieces. They’ve got big lads and I did think we weren’t as patient as we could’ve been with our bodies and we gave some silly free-kicks away and they did have an opportunity to score.”

West swept a right-footed free-kick from the half-way line and well-built targetman Smith chested the ball before cracking a right-footed volley on the turn, which was hit straight at Perrin, who caught the ball comfortably in the 65^th minute.

“A great turn. It was a great turn and early shot but it was the goalie’s side, so he looked really bright in spells, which was really positive,” said Coyle.

“He’s off and running with his goals and so is Jerson. We needed more of a collective performance really to move forward and get through games like this.” 

Sevenoaks Town were a threat on the counter-attack, although former Faversham Town striker Warren Mfula offered very little in goalscoring threat, and they created an opening four minutes later when substitute winger Gael Kileba cut in from the right before switching to fellow sub Jefferson Aibangbee, who cut onto his right-foot and curled his shot just around the far post from 20-yards in what turned out to be the game’s final chance (23:20), as both sides ran out of steam for the final 20 minutes of the game and six minutes and 26 seconds of stoppage time.

“Second half was disappointing. Definitely not the way I like to play,” admitted Nimani.

“I think fitness had a huge part in that. You could definitely say that we’re not fit. We’re not ready to produce 90 minutes of quality football like the standards I would endure but what I was pleased about was this time round was the game management was good, although we weren’t fit to play, we did manage the game well enough.”

Nimani challenges his squad of players to put in the hours in the gym and pounding the streets to improve their own individual fitness levels.

“We’ve just spoken to them in there and I’ve just said to them there’s no point you telling me you want this, this season, if you’re not prepared to put in the intrinsic side of the game, which is you’ve got to look after your body. You’ve got to get fit yourself.

“In non-league football and the two training sessions I have with you. I can’t get you fit. If you’re determined and motivated to be successful, there’s no point saying it, you’ve got to go away and discipline yourself and work on it and you could see the last 20 minutes today, we were gone.”

Whitstable Town welcome Jimmy Anderson’s Rusthall to Belmont Road for league match day two next Saturday.  The Rustics will play Sheerwater at Jockey Farm on Tuesday night after a 1-1 draw away in The FA Cup today.

When asked where Whitstable Town are after 180 minutes of football, Coyle admitted: “We’re a long way away! The players know it. We know it. We’ve just had this conversation and we’re a long way away and we’re definitely two or three additions away, so we’ve got to get it done quickly. We’ve got to move quickly and we’re going to need some additions for us to really push forward this season.

“It’s looking at adding more quality to what we’ve got. We’ve got a talented squad, there is no doubt we’ve got a real talented squad, with a mixture of real young players, as well as some experience but we’re definitely two or three players short of where we need to be.

“It’s (Rusthall) going to be tough. Seeing this league for the first time last season, every team you’re playing against have got a real high work ethic and a never say die attitude.  We’ve got to compensate with that side and then let our quality come through.

“That’s the frustrating thing today. Player-for-player I was confident. I was really confident but I just think energy levels and fitness today showed and that’s the reason why we’re out and they’re through.”

When asked about Whitstable Town’s aspirations for the season ahead, Coyle replied: “The expectation is to improve on the last two seasons. It’s been a complete rebuild but you can’t use that as an excuse.

“I said to everyone around the club, we are going to take a little bit of time to gel but at the same time we have to pick up points because for us to improve on what’s been delivered over the last two years’, we’ve got to be better than what we’ve been over the last two games.

“It’s not just the back five when you’ve conceded goals, it’s a collective.  Everyone’s got a job to do. If we get that better and we don’t concede soft goals that we keep throwing in, we’ll get there. I’m confident that we’ll get there. It’s really early in the season but we need to start picking up points.”

Looking ahead to the visit of Leatherhead in the next round, the Sevenoaks Town manager said: “It’s not the biggest reward is it when you’ve got to play Leatherhead at home.  They’re a fantastic side, so it’s not something to look forward to but it’s another opportunity for us to lock horns with a team that have got the potential to win their own league so to bring another good side like Leatherhead in here, is just a good opportunity for the club to pick a club of that sort of pedigree and that’s why we’re here, to bring big days for the club.”

Sevenoaks Town kick-off their Isthmian League South East Division campaign at home to Burgess Hill Town next Saturday.

Gary Mansell’s first game in charge of the Hillians’ saw them come away from Spelthorne Sports with a 1-0 win in the FA Cup last night.

“Tough start. If I’m honest with you. Very, very tough start.  I think Burgess Hill have had the strongest recruitment this pre-season. The management team have strengthened and I’ve watched their results throughout pre-season. They’ve had a wonderful set of results and I don’t think they’ve actually conceded many.

“So based on the veo’s that I’ve watched, I think they’re going to be a very good side this year in my view. If they continue as they are, they could end up being one of the team’s that surprises everyone in this league this year.”

When asked about his first impressions with life at Greatness Park and about the Oaks’ aspirations for the season ahead, Nimani said: “I tell you what, I couldn’t be happier. It’s definitely the club that suits me. The relationship that we have with the board and the way they’ve welcomed us in and the resources they’ve provided us and overall the three-year plan that we discussed before I joined is just so exciting. I couldn’t be at a better club.

“Aspirations for the time being, we want to build a good side that the supporters’ are proud off and that the youth is proud off and to work some of the domestic targets that we’ve set.

“We want to increase the fan base alongside that we’re building the stadium around so this time next year it will be done ready and for this year the short-term goal is to get as many league points as possible to secure our safety. Once we’ve done that then we can have a look at the rest.”

Sevenoaks Town: Jordan Perrin, Ryan Sawyer, Salim Futa, Sammie McLeod, Jahmal Howlett-Mundle, Jack Bath, William Efambe (Gael Kileba 51), Ayominde Majekodunmi, Warren Mfula, Kiye Martin (Danny Divine 90), Rodney Eruotor (Jefferson Aibangbee 67).
Sub: Andrew Norburn

Goals: Kiye Martin 4, Rodney Eruotor 20

Booked: Ryan Sawyer 58

Whitstable Town: Daniel Colmer, Jerald Aboagye, Karn Miller-Neave, Mitchell Chapman, Finn O’Mara, Jake McIntyre, Ali Fofahan (Jayden Boulton 58), Michael West, Harvey Smith, Jerson Dos Santos, Joshua Oliver (Omotunmise Akanni 46), Marvin Herschel 75)).
Subs: Kai Jeffrey, William Thomas, Reece Gillies, Joshua Robson

Goal: Jerson Dos Santos 15

Booked: Jake McIntyre 40, Omotunmise Akanni 62, Mitchell Chapman 75

Attendance: 253
Referee: Mr Stephen Hughes
Assistants: Mr Steve Roots & Ms Reanna Rhodes