Hythe ran out comfortable winners as they hammered Guernsey 5-1 at Reachfields on Saturday afternoon.

It was Guernsey who were the first to threaten on two minutes as a cross from Craig Young found Angus Mackay but he headed well over the bar. Hythe were turned down a shout for a penalty a minute later as a great though ball sent Dean Grant forward. As he entered the penalty area, he appeared to be impeded but the referee waved away the appeals.

On a quarter of an hour, Hythe were lucky that Jerald Abogaye was in position as he headed off the line however only a minute later at the other end Kenny Pogue nodded onto Grant who headed towards goal but Young was on the Guernsey line to clear the ball away. With nineteen minutes gone Hythe had their keeper Nick Shaw, who was covering for the suspended Will Godmon, to thank as he saved well from Jamie Dodd. The ball came out to Matthew Loaring who skewed his effort wide.

It was Hythe who starting to take control of the game and were ahead on 26 minutes as Pogue pushed the ball past Guernsey keeper Callum Stanton and then poked the ball into the net. Within a minute Hythe could have had two as Charlie Webster had a shot blocked and the ball came out to Kieron Campbell who fired wide. The chances were all coming for Hythe with Wilson putting a cross that was headed over by Campbell and then Campbell got the ball into Adams who blasted over.

However Hythe were not to be denied as on 38 minutes Campbell had a shot blocked with the ball coming out to Webster who slotted home to make it 2-0. One chance for the Islanders to get back in the game just before half time saw Young fire a shot that was parried by Shaw and it was cleared away.

The second half continued with Hythe on the front foot and within five minutes of the restart they were three ahead as Grant centred from the by line and Pogue headed his second. A number of chances followed for the hosts as firstly Jordan Johnson-Palmer collected the ball from Campbell and fired over and then a pin point through ball from Adams found Grant who attempted a chip which he miss hit into Stanton’s arms. Another dangerous moment came for the visitors as a Wilson cross was hooked over his own goal by Sam Cochrane.

On the hour another Wilson cross was headed wide by Pogue who was looking for his hat trick. The chances kept coming as Adams got the ball out to Campbell who moved in but pulled his attempt wide and then a great move between Miller and Wilson finally saw Grant stretch for the ball but it went over the bar. Guernsey were to pull a goal back on 79 minutes as Thomas Dodds picked up the ball just outside the area and drilled a shot that deflected past Shaw. This seemed to spark Guernsey to press for a comeback and they did have a penalty appeal turned with ten minutes to go.

However the Hythe defence stood firm and made sure of the game with one minute of normal time left. Miller played the ball onto debutant Will Thomas who passed into Dean Grant and the striker slammed the ball home from close range. Deep into injury time the Cannons rubbed salt into the wounds as a cross from Wilson was fired into his own net by Jamie Dodd.

It was a satisfying afternoon for the Cannons as they moved up the table and Kenny Pogue went to the top of the league scorers for this season. This will give the team confidence as they go into the Kent Reliance Senior Cup fixture at home Folkestone Invicta on Tuesday evening.

Team: Nick Shaw, Jerald Abogaye, Ben Wilson, Ryan Johnson, Mitchell Dickenson, Jordan Johnson-Palmer, Charlie Webster (Ryan Palmer 62 mins), Sam Adams (Will Thomas 76 mins), Dean Grant, Kenny Pogue (Ashley Miller 68 mins), Kieron Campbell.

Scorers: Hythe Town-Kenny Pogue 26 & 50 mins, Charlie Webster 38 mins, Dean Grant 89 mins, Jamie Dodd (OG) 90 mins. Guernsey – Thomas Dodds 79 mins.

Attendance 192