Although Hythe are safely within the Ryman South playoff places, seven points ahead of 6th placed Worthing with the Sussex side having a game in hand, it still looks as though their destiny won’t be confirmed until the final day derby against Faversham.

Their fighting spirit cannot be called into question though.

Despite being the more dominant team, Hythe trailed to a classic sucker punch when George Humber was played in behind the Cannons’ defence to give Chatham the lead on 61.  That lead lasted only 4 minutes until former Chatham forward, Alfie May, curled in a wonderful freekick to level.

With Chatham tiring, a number of players had been ill during the week, and without both of their starting centre-backs, Dave Cook powered a header in with two minutes of normal time remaining to give Hythe the lead, and May capped off his performance with a composed second in stoppage time.

Hythe manager, Clive Cook, was upbeat at the end, saying “after totally dominating the first half, we’d said at half-time that we had to be aware of their counter.  They’ve got a better away record than at home, got some decent results, and we said we mustn’t do something stupid.  And we went and did something stupid!”

“We were so far superior and I’m over the moon with that result; I’ll take that all day.  We don’t want to be beaten and that’s what we’ve put into the side this year.  Sometimes it’s not about how you play, it’s about getting the result.  I thought we were calm, controlled and didn’t panic.  We kept pressurising them and created opportunities, so I’m very happy with the result.”

“I’ve always said it’s one game at a time and I’ve tried to instil that, so that we enjoy ourselves.  We focus on the game in front of us, so we’ll train this week with Sittingbourne in mind and we’ll go again on Saturday.  I like the derbies; they bring a bit of passion and everyone wants to beat us.  That’s football.”

With thirteen wins in their previous 16 games since Christmas, Hythe’s form has driven them into the playoff places, but the first half from both teams was far from impressive.  Both sides struggled to create clear opportunities, although the home side did dominate possession and the chances.

Dave Cook picked up a deft chest flick from Frankie Sawyer, driving his shot just past the left post in the 6th minute, and in the 18th, Nick Reeves’ header from a Sawyer corner looped onto the crossbar, but otherwise, there was little for the two goalkeepers to be concerned about.  Chatham’s first effort didn’t arrive until the 36th minute, when Craig Cloke’s clearing header fell to Luke Medley, but his right foot shot was dragged wide left.

Hythe started the second period with far more intent, and the cry “tempo” could be heard from all over the pitch.  Dave Botterill’s raking crossfield ball released Jon Pilbeam on the right wing, and he fired a cross through the 6-yard box that Alfie May couldn’t quite reach.  The home side followed this up with the first shot on target on 54, when Sawyer exchanged passes with May, but his curled shot was straight at Jack Bradshaw.

Many among the 241 crowd will still be wondering how Hythe didn’t take the lead four minutes later.  Ben Wilson’s corner was met by Cloke’s header, which Bradshaw did well to react to, but the save was pushed out to the middle of the area, where Botterill’s shot was deflected onto the bar and over.

Chatham stunned the home side by taking the lead on 61, with their first effort on target.  Good awareness from debutant Hussain Ibraham in the middle of the Hythe half saw the forward slip a simple ball between the two centrebacks into the path of George Humber, who stabbed his shot into the bottom left corner.

The goal had a downside for the visitors, as Jon Difford, one of a number of players who had been ill during the week, had to join his defensive partner, Liam Hickey (groin injury), on the sidelines.  This left behind a makeshift defence, who were breached just four minutes later.  An impetuous tackle from the outstanding Josh Gibson led to a freekick 25 yards out for Alfie May.  May whipped his shot over the wall, and although Bradshaw managed to get both hands to the ball, he could only divert the shot into the net via the left post.

Within seconds, a long ball into the box saw Bradshaw turn a snapshot from May behind for a corner, and Pilbeam offered a chance to Sawyer, that was hit straight at the Chatham keeper.  Bradshaw then had to save a long range skimmer from Sawyer, and was relieved that May lashed a volley wildly over as Hythe pressed for a second.

Two of Chatham’s substitutes, Seye Okunlolo and Ricky Grundy (who had been absent last week suffering from pneumonia), combined but just as Sawyer had in the first half, Grundy snatched at his shot and pulled it wide left.

With just two minutes of normal time remaining, Hythe finally hit the front.  Ben Wilson swung a cross in from the right wing, and Dave Cook charged in at the back post to power a header beyond a despairing Bradshaw.

The game, and points, were sealed in the last minute of stoppage time, as May scored his second.  Sawyer escaped the attention of Jon Hogg on the left wing and rolled a cross to May.  The forward took a touch, which fooled Bradshaw into diving, and calmly slid his shot under the recovering keeper.

Kevin Horlock, the Chatham boss, was more reflective after a tough week, explaining “we knew they had a good front three who score a lot of goals, so we came with a plan to stop them, and for an hour it was working.  I said we would get a chance, and that if it came we had to be clinical.  George (Humber) got onto the ball from Hussain (Ibraham), which was perfect, but unfortunately, we weren’t helped by losing both centre-halves.  We were stretched, it’s not an excuse, but that’s the way the game goes.”

“In the end, we’d worked so hard, but we got tired, our concentration slipped slightly.  I’m disappointed to lose, and I’ve said that to the boys; to walk away with nothing, I’m gutted.  I had five lads training on Thursday through illnesses, but the lads today put a shift in for me, so I can’t complain.  It’s just a shame that we couldn’t get something from a game that, for an hour, we certainly deserved.”

“There’s been a lot of upheaval at the club this term.  In recent weeks, I’ve tried to introduce some young lads – Josh Gibson was outstanding today, possibly the best player on the pitch – and I’ve said to the senior players that they’ve got a point to prove if they want to be a part of this next year.  We want to push on, be a contender at the top, just as Hythe have done this year; that’s our ambition.  Opportunities are there for people and it’s up to them to take them, if not it could be someone else.”

HYTHE TOWN: Joe Mant, Ben Wilson, Josh Burchell, David Botterill (James Morrish 64), Craig Cloke, Nick Reeves, Dave Cook, Jon Pilbeam (Jack Mahoney 88), Frankie Sawyer, Alfie May (Louis Sprosen 90+3), Jack Harris.
Subs not used: Connor Hood, William Thomas.

Goals: Alfie May 65 & 90+1, Dave Cook 88.

CHATHAM TOWN: Jack Bradshaw, Jon Hogg, Laurence Collins, Joe Loft, Jon Difford (Reece Butler 62), Liam Hickey (Ricky Gundry 32), Kwabena Osei, Josh Gibson, George Humber, Hussain Ibraham (Seye Okunlola 76), Luke Medley.
Subs not used: Khari Oriogun, Josh Bray.

Goal: George Humber 61.

Caution: Jon Hogg 42.

Attendance: 241
Referee: Mr Thomas Marshall
Assistants: Mr Hossain Tavakkoli and Mr Sikiru Idris