The honours were shared on a wild, windy afternoon, as neither Faversham nor Worthing could make the telling contribution that would have taken the three points.

 

Both sides had their chances without really stretching the opposition custodian, although Stuart King rattled the Worthing crossbar late on.

Faversham’s manager, Ray Turner, who saw his side complete their fourth match unbeaten said “you could see we were always looking to win the game, and I think we’ve proved we can beat anyone in the League.  It wasn’t a case of settling for a point, but equally I’m very aware of building little unbeaten runs.  It’s always difficult playing a side like that as you don’t want to overcommit and get caught, but, I’m not over-delighted with a point.  You can see we are starting to look strong again.”

“Over the last few weeks, since the Ramsgate game, we’ve had more intensity and become more difficult to beat.  You can’t doubt the ability of the group, but as we move into the winter months, it’s about finding ways to get the points.”

“You’ve got to give (Worthing) credit; they weathered our attacks when they came, and we had some really strong periods of the game.  But we were never able to sustain the pressure, it was always in small doses.  They are probably happy with the point, I’m not overly disappointed, but I hope this pushes us on.”

Despite awful weather conditions, the pitch played perfectly, although the two goalmouths more resembled mud than grass.  An early George Monger cross from the left curled into the muddy area in the Worthing area and, having seemingly been curling into the corner, somehow slid past the post.

The visitors, arriving at Salters Lane on the back of 7 wins in 9 road trips, showed their attacking prowess down the stand side of the pitch in creating a number of half-chances; some of which came about as Faversham struggled to clear their area.  Ryan Richefond blazed high over, and Ben Pope managed to nick a ball past the advancing Will Godmon, although there were no supporting players to stop John Scarborough clearing.

Brannon O’Neill clipped a through ball into the path of Omar Bugiel in the 26th minute.  Godmon was quickly off his line to smother Bugiel’s shot, but the ball ran into the path of Pope, 6 yards out.  As Pope hit his shot, Ryan Cooper had covered from right-back to clear off the line.

Richefond and Liam King exchanged shots high over the bar before Faversham finally drew a save from Rikki Banks in the 40th minute.  Daniel Carrington won the ball in the midfield, releasing Stuart King in the process.  King held off his defender, allowing Josh Stanford to fire a low shot that Banks saved low to his left.

The shooting didn’t improve after the interval, as Gary Elphick lifted a shot over as Faversham again failed to clear a corner, and Dave Botterill’s attempt from 30 yards was gathered easily by Banks.  Liam King also brought a one-handed save from Banks as Faversham seemed to be enjoying playing with the wind in their faces.

Both sides had the ball in the net in the second period, only to be denied by the assistant’s flag, and when Bugiel bulldozed his way over Cooper and saw his finish ruled out, frustrations started to surface; earning Bugiel the first caution of the afternoon.

On 66, Jamie Maxted swept a ball from left to right into Stuart King’s path.  The forward, who had scored seven goals in his previous seven games after a slow start to the season, cut back onto his left foot and unleashed a shot that cannoned off the top of the bar with Banks well beaten.

On a rare counter-attack, Monger fired a low cross through the Worthing area, where Carrington scuffed his shot against Banks’ legs, but this was the end of the goalmouth action for the final 15 minutes as each team claimed a point apiece.

FAVERSHAM TOWN: Will Godmon, Ryan Cooper, Jamie Maxted, David Botterill (William Johnson-Cole 87), Matt Bourne, John Scarborough, Daniel Carrington, George Monger, Stuart King, Liam King (Dean Grant 77), Josh Stanford.

Subs not used: Wayne Wilson, Josh McCallum, Simon Overland.

Booking: George Monger 90+3.

WORTHING: Rikki Banks, Will Hendon, Steve Metcalf, Ryan Richefond, Gary Elphick, Adam Sidky, Callum Overton (Matt Axell 90), Brannon O’Neill, Ben Pope, Omar Bugiel, Harvey Sparks.

Subs not used: Ryan Quirke, James McKernan, Jack Fagan.

Bookings: Omar Bugiel 57, Adam Sidky 75, Ben Pope 90+2.

Attendance: 215
Referee: Mr J Packman
Assistants Mr O Butcher and Mr J Hobbs