Match Preview

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After four away matches we return to Winch’s Field on Saturday and welcome Hythe Town. Hythe are one of only four teams who have been in the same league as Herne Bay during their eight-year Isthmian tenure and made the play-offs in two of those years but failed to progress.

Hythe Town was formed in August 1910 and started playing in the local junior leagues. They were granted senior status and elected to the Kent League in 1977 winning the League title in 1987/88 by 14 points and setting a league record of 133 goals. The club gained promotion to the Southern League but only lasted three seasons. By 1991/92 the money was beginning to run out and was put into liquidation soon after. A scratch side, as Hythe United, went into the following season’s Kent County League and negotiated continued use of Reachfields Stadium. After three seasons the club regained senior status and in 1995 were elected back into the Kent League. In 2001 Hythe dropped the “United” suffix, reverting to “Town”. The 2010/11 season was possibly the most successful in the history of the club, when they won the Kent League Championship for the first time in over twenty years, after Tunbridge Wells’ goalkeeper Michal Czanner scored a last minute own goal to give the Cannons the point they needed and denying Herne Bay the title on goal difference. With it promotion to the Isthmian League Division One South was gained.

In 2012/13 they reached the Division One South play-offs but were defeated 3-0 by Faversham Town in the semis and three seasons later there was a similar fate by the larger margin of 7-0 at Worthing. In 2017/18 they were heading for the play-offs until the 90th minute of their last game, when Corinthian-Casuals equalised to take the Cannons place in the promotion knockouts. Last season they ended in 7th place.

Between October 2015 and April 2018 Herne Bay lost five successive encounters to Hythe after having previously won four, drawn two and lost one in seven Isthmian League outings. Last season the two teams met four times with Herne Bay coming out on top with four points from six in the league and a win in the Kent Senior Cup, but the clean sweep was prevented with an Isthmian League Cup victory for the Cannons.

Before the season started Sam Denly told the Kentish Gazette: “We’ve got to be in the play-offs. It’s going to be difficult, there are a lot of good sides in the league this year, so nobody has any god given right to finish in the top five. We’ll work hard, our objective is to finish off better than we did last year.” The Cannons started the season being demolished 2-7 by Burgess Hill Town. They followed that result with victory over Whitstable Town, but then they lost four times; a five-nil defeat to Cray Wanderers in the FA Cup, single goal defeats to Faversham and Whitehawk in the League, and a 1-7 massacre at Faversham in the Velocity Trophy. Denly then resigned. He was in charge of 67 games in all competitions, across three seasons. Hythe Town won 32 games, drew 13 and lost 22 games during his tenure at Reachfields Stadium. He was replaced by Steve Watt with Sittingbourne Assistant Manager Nathan Elder moving over to become his number two and Paul Booth joining as coach.

The new management teams’ first game in charge saw Hythe let a two-goal lead slip in the last five minutes of a Velocity Trophy tie with Whitstable Town, but the Cannons did win the penalty shoot-out 6-5. Prior to last Saturday’s league match at bottom side Phoenix Sports Watt told the Kentish Gazette, “Like all these leagues everyone is capable of beating each other, it's about being consistent and if we can get a run together I see no reason why we can't challenge for the play-offs – that's where the club want to be." Phoenix Sports went on to put their first points on the board at the fifth attempt with a 2-0 win. Hythe entertained Sevenoaks Town to Reachfields on Tuesday and suffered yet another defeat and at present are one place off the bottom with three points from a possible 18. Watts again spoke to the Kentish Gazette: “The way we conceded goals in those two games has not been good enough and it’s obvious to me that there is a pattern. I like players to show strength of character, which is what you need to do when things go against you, as they will during the course of a season. When it does it’s not how good a player you are, it’s how strong a character. Everyone, including me is going to make mistakes, but we’ve got to start having each other’s backs. We’re a nice side we need a little bit more steeliness about us. I’ve told the players they are playing for their futures right now. I can’t waste time; I need to put it right because the club should not be where it is, and I can’t wait too long to make decisions. I know how I want my team to look, how I want them to set up and we’re a long way off that at the moment, or at least certainly not close enough to feel comfortable.”

Herne Bay manager Ben Smith: “Saturday against Hythe will be a tough game. They have a new manager; they’ve got some good players down there and we expect it to be as tough as it was Tuesday for us. If we can keep a balanced defensive unit, we will have a chance against anyone.”

Herne Bay will again host Hythe Town, this time in the group stage of the Velocity Trophy, on Tuesday 5th November 2019 before travelling to Reachfields for the return league tie on Saturday 1st February 2020.