Whitehawk venture to the heart of Kent as they travel to Faversham Town with the hope and the prospect of stretching their unbeaten run to four games in all competitions.

Currently in the midst of the Hawks’ finest stretch to date this campaign, they have much to praise Nathan Stroomberg-Clarke for having conceded just the one goal in his previous 326 minutes between the posts.

Last time out

Under those tall glowing lights at the base of the nearby slope, Whitehawk drew a blank with Burgess Hill Town who discovered Stroomberg-Clarke in sparkling form. A pulsating affair, both sides came bubbling out of the traps in one of the more enthralling goalless first halves one will see.

To the sheer disbelief of the 340 spectators that filtered through the turnstiles they would soon face the reality of a stalemate. Crossbars rattled, ‘keepers flailing and chances squandered – the acclaimed A23 derby would conclude with a point going to each side as the Hawks temporarily climbed to 14th position before Sevenoaks Town’s win altered the table once more.

Charlie Lambert earned his first start for Whitehawk on the right-hand side of the attack whilst Mo Kamara continues to thrive in East Brighton with his second consecutive clean sheet in the space of four days. Despite failing to find the net in his last appearance, Javaun Splatt continues to lead the line with three league goals.

The opposition

Faversham Town, that’s who. A cozy market spot adjacent to the old A2 (quite literally), it’s likely to be better known for it’s golden ales and hoppy aromas than it’s modest football club. Housed at the Aquatherm Stadium, the hosts await their first league win on home soil in the league since late August, that coming in a 2-1 victory over Chichester that remains their previous league triumph.

Stephen Okoh swapped the white of the ‘The Lilywhites’ for the red of Whitehawk earlier this campaign and has impressed with his pace and skill along the left-flank. Kent veteran Dean Grant signed for Faversham in the aftermath of Okoh’s departure and scored on debut in a 3-2 FA Trophy win over Tilbury.

Faversham arrive into this October fixture on the back of a hefty 4-1 defeat to high-flyers VCD Athletic on Saturday. It was all looking rather promising until the 87th minute as the hosts added three late goals to condemn the Lilywhites to their fourth defeat in their previous five league clashes.

Harry Harding tops the goalscoring charts with three, whilst Emmanuel Oluwasemo has two for the season. Both sides have struggled for goals this season and have proved insipid in defence on occasion, but the Hawks do travel east with the wind of renewed confidence and momentum into their Sussex sails.

Previous meetings

The last encounter between the two clubs was exactly a year to the day to this weekend’s fixture. The Hawks’ penultimate home game before the season’s curtailment, it ended 1-1 with Marvin Hamilton replying swiftly to Harding’s opener in front of a bumper Covid-19 crowd of 400.

Prior to this, the sides met home and away in the 2019/20 season. Again curtailed — this time in March — the initial clash was again held in October as goals from Matthew Bourne and  a late Michael Freiter penalty cancelled out David Martin’s first half strike as the visiting Sussex side squandered the three points.

In the return fixture there was heightened drama. Faversham holding a two-nil lead from the 25th minute right up until the final minutes, where finishes from Duane Ofori-Acheampong and Charles Banya sent the Enclosed Ground into euphoria whilst earning the Hawks an unlikely point.

Both sides played their first ever game above county league level in Isthmian South when Faversham travelled to the Enclosed Ground for the opening game of the 2010-11 season that ended all square at 2-2. Faversham won the return game 2-1. The following season the Hawks won 4-0 at home and 2-1 in Kent on the their way to the Isthmian South title, with James Fraser grabbing the opener in the away game.