It’s to the Kentish shores once more for Ross Standen’s side as Whitehawk travel to rock-bottom Whitstable Town in the first weekend of April. Forced to settle for a point on Tuesday evening, the Hawks will be feeling confident ahead of this clash as they entertain a team without a league win since January 3rd.

Whitehawk suffering a similar drought just a few weeks prior, those back-to-back triumphs over VCD Athletic and Ramsgate respectively pulled the East Brighton outfit away from trouble, with two wins from the remaining fixtures likely to guarantee safety.

Last time out

As the weather continues to confuse us (and indeed itself) The Enclosed Ground was braced for a chilly one under the lights. The game descending into complete darkness a quarter of an hour in made it particularly memorable, Javaun Splatt’s delicious solo goal sent his squadron into a first half lead.

It was sharper, crisper, slicker than Saturday’s disappointing defeat to Sevenoaks but the barrage of Lewis Chambers’ long throws would soon come in handy as Faversham messily bundled the ball over the line, Harry Harding running off to the touchline with a striking grin on his face.

One half for Whitehawk, the other half for Faversham. It was your classic ‘game of two halves’, ‘some tired legs out there’ sort of evening; the points shared on the night.

The opposition

Extraordinarily out of form but still in with a sniff, the newly appointed Andy Drury has his work cut out as his club sit nine points adrift of safety. Winless in the league for 88 days and without a home victory for 118 days, it has not been the glittering campaign some might have hoped for, yet challenges are sure to arise for Standen tomorrow.

There’s a familiar face in Stephen Okoh as he is set to start for The Oystermen tomorrow and he, too, was the club’s last player to billow the netting with his lone strike in the 3-1 defeat to Three Bridges on February 26. A goalless March, Whitstable will be hoping to restore some pride in the final six matches before the season is at a dignified end.

With goals unsurprisingly hard to come by, their fourth-worst scoring record is boosted by the six scored by Kemo Darboe. A near three months since he last found the net, Drury will not mind who ends up on the scoresheet if his side are to pour the rains onto the scorching drought.

Previous meeting

In the midst of their finest season form Whitstable journeyed to the Sussex coast full of vigour as they departed with all three points. It was the ol’ ‘one of those days’ line as Whitehawk’s intent proved to be their downfall with the visitors snatching a late goal on the break courtesy of the aforementioned Darboe.

A fresh ground for many, the pandemic ended the chance for a trip to The Belmont in the 2019/20 season. It was Jude Macdonald’s Hawks that secured a 3-0 win in the only other fixture between the two sides (we’re sure a certain Andy Schofield will unearth a prehistoric encounter), those coming off the boots of Marvin Hamilton and Connor Tighe (x2).