A 90th minute winner gave Whyteleafe a 4th consecutive win and sends the Leafe to 6th place in the Isthmian South East Division.

Chris Lynch’s Sittingbourne side was missing key midfielders Adam Woollcott and Tommie Fagg through injuries, however new signing Ikechi Eze stepped up and performed well on his Sittingbourne debut.

Youngsters Harry Taylor and Will Holder also made their full debuts, neither of whom looked out of place or out of their depth. Another youngster making his debut for Sittingbourne was prolific u23 striker Sam Stace, who was brought on for the final 15 minutes.

Another positive for Chris Lynch was the return to the squad of Johan Caney-Bryan who has been injured since early October.

Former Millwall youngster Harry Taylor was key to th visitors high press tactics, a plan implemented from the offset. The Sittingbourne front four that also included Sid Sollis, Josh Oliver and Chris Barnard worked desperately hard to stop the hosts dictating the tempo of the game from the back.

In the 23rd minute prolific striker Ronald Sobowale fired the hosts into the lead from close range, scoring his 20th goal of the season.

The ever lively Chris Barnard levelled the scores for Sittingbourne just seven minutes later, Sid Sollis heading down a Josh Oliver free kick, that found Chris Barnard free in the Whyteleafe box.

Jason Fregene made his return for Sittingbourne, replacing Will Holder just before the hour mark.

It was heartbreak, however, for a Sittingbourne side that had matched high flying Whyteleafe for 90 minutes. That was until a Corie Andrews shot rattled the woodwork, the ball rebounded right back into Andrews’ path who made no mistake at the second time of asking.

Despite Ronald Sobowale scoring his 20th goal of the season this evening, the Brickies kept the Middlesbrough trialist relatively quiet for the majority of the game which is no mean feat by the much changed Sittingbourne back four.

Sittingbourne now look towards their third successive away trip as they travel to Sevenoaks on Saturday.

Whyteleafe: McCarthy, Mensah (Adebaup 53 mins), Holder, Campbell, McGeoghegan, Orome, Aikhionbare, Graham, Parker, Sontan (Walker-Barth 54 mins), Sobowale.

Subs not used: O’Donoghue, Andrews, Hamilton.

Sittingbourne: Jordan Perrin , Jack  Smith, Will Holder (Jason Fregene 55 mins), Chris Webber, Ben Fitchett, Lex Allan, Chris Barnard, Ikechi Eze, Sid Sollis, Josh Oliver (Samuel Stace 76 mins), Harry Taylor (Enoch Adjei 82 mins).

Subs not used: Cory Walters-Wright, Kane Phillip.

Referee: Alex Mathieson

Assistants: Dominic Winter, David Moreno-Rojas.

Attendance: 79