Herne Bay’s dreams of a Ryman One South play-off place were left hanging by a thread after this defeat by mid table ‘Leafe’
“We’re outside favourites now to get in the play-offs, we’ve made it hard for ourselves”, said Bay manager Sam Denly, “there are three or four teams well ahead of us now so in terms of momentum and points on the board at this moment for me it’s about finishing as high as we can. We’re still going to try for it but our main focus is to win as many games as we can. We’d like to be going to Hastings last game of the season with something to play for. I’m not giving up on the play-offs, there are other teams who are favourites, we’re not one of them, if we can string some wins together we’ve got an outside chance”.
Bay started brightly enough but then fell behind to what would be universally described in modern parlance as ‘a worldie’ – a supreme strike from Ike-Robertson Feehi, fully 25 yards out that fizzed, curled and swung past Delo. It was no less than stupendous and worthy of winning any match. Surprisingly, it was the only contribution of note from the striker in the whole of the 90 minutes but it certainly lit up the grey Surrey afternoon.
Herne Bay huffed and puffed and Mark Lovell might have equalised just after the quarter hour mark but Highsted saved with his legs from six yards out.
Shortly after the break a dipping shot on the run from Turner grazed the Leafe bar and then nine minutes later Sam Clayton effectively put the game to bed scoring Whyteleafe’s second with a measured shot when the ball was laid into his path from the left.
Bay manager Sam Denly through caution to the wind, which howled around the Church Road ground accompanied by driving rain midway through the second half, when he threw on Danny Williams and youngster Sam Hallett, the latter for his second appearance in a senior Bay shirt. It made a difference and both might have scored with Williams hitting side netting and Hallett having a debut goal denied by Highsted’s superb save. Even then, the visitors were indebted to the shot stopping and reaction save abilities of Jack Delo who, on no less than three occasions, kept them in with a chance.
But Bay left the Leafe pointless and now have an uphill task, made no easier by the visit of Champions Folkestone Invicta on Easter Monday, if they are to squeeze into the play-off berths.
“It was disappointing, our problem has been today that we have been frustrating in front of goal. We’ve created enough chances today to get the win and if we want to compete we’ve got to do better in front of goal. They were clinical and we weren’t, that’s why we lost the game”, said Denly.
Whyteleafe: Adam Highsted, Connor Wilford, Nathan Simpson, Vernon Francis, Tommy Smith, Jensen Grant, Sam Clements (Roscoe D’Sane 82), Daryl Coleman (Dylan Ramazani 57), Ike-Robertson Feehi, Sam Clayton (Jamarie Brissett 73), Shawn Lyle.
Subs not used: none (only three subs named)
Sent Off: none Cautioned: none
Herne Bay: Jack Delo, Michael Turner, Gary Sayer, Dan Johnson, Liam Quin, Connor Sanders (Dan Parkinson 61), Danny Walder, Joe Nelder, Mark Lovell (Sam Hallett 70), James Turner (Danny Williams 57), Kane Phillip.
Subs not used: Nathan Eastwood, Elliott Cutts.
Sent Off: none Cautioned: Mark Lovell, Danny Williams.
Referee: Lee Brannan Assistant Referees: William Davis & Caspar Vick.
Whyteleafe (1) 2
Kane Phillip 7
Herne Bay (0) 0
Attendance: 139
Ryman Isthmian League Division One (South)
Saturday 26th March 2016
(at Church Road)
Photo credit: Peter Guise – Lovell brings out a safe from the Whyteleafe ‘keeper