Whitstable started the quicker with an early corner by Scott Heard that was met by Oysters skipper John Guest but his header was well wide, followed by a Stephen Hafner free kick following a similar pattern, come 5 mins and a corner by the tricky Heard was this time headed over by Laurance Harvey.

For the Anvils they summoned up a John Lansdale header from a Charlie Slocombe cross, followed after by Lansdale again with a free kick that Oyster keeper Luke Watkins punched clear, upfront both Baff Addae and Alex Addai continued to chase but they were generally well shackled.

The Oysters continued on the offensive with another free kick being headed over by Charlie Smith, come 20 and Anvil keeper Campbell Rose had to be sharp off his line to thwart a Ash Miller charge, another scoring opportunity came and went just after with Smith having his header turned away by Rose only as far as Smith again whose next effort was hacked away off the line.

Anvils upfront continued to run into brick walls as giant centre backs Guest and Harvey proved to be a difficult task to outwit through the middle, therefore leaving marauding fullbacks Akwasi and Slocombe to try and bypass them on the flanks.

Something had to give, and on 42 a Heard corner found Harvey’s header which was punched clear by Rose but only as far as the lurking fullback Jack Kane who thundered the ball home to give the visitors a halftime lead. As the half was ending a scuffle ensued after a foul and with the resulting outcome Anvils Addai was sent to the stand. HT 0-1 Oysters.

After a bit of Anvil reorganization now having to play with 10 men, the visitors took up the cudgel again with Heard fired over, followed by fullback Jack Porter breaking through and striking the upright. For the Anvils on 55 Tom Frankland replaced Karl Akehurst, come the hour and Lansdale then had another free kick punched clear by Watkins.

The Anvils started to force the pace and Lansdale was put through but his final touch was saved by Watkins and from a corner Lansdale again got on the end of the cross but his header went agonizingly over.

The Oysters then struck further gold on 76 when from yet another build up of Oyster play Dan Keytes resulting corner found Miller who rose highest in the box to nod home the Oysters second and seal the match for the visitors.

FT 0-2 Whitstable.

Team: Campbell-Rose, Charlie Slocombe, Akwasi Fobi-Edusei, Tom Graves, Tom Hughes, John Lansdale, Bakari Sinclair-Smith, Karl Akehurst (Tom Frankland), Baff Addae, Romone McCrae (Jamie Hills), Alex Addai

MOM: John Lansdale. Attn: 92