Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Sixth win puts Blues top of chasing pack
Whitstable will finish the year firmly in the promotion shake-up after securing their sixth straight win in Shepherd Neame Kent 2 on Saturday.
The Blues will start 2017 lying second, level on points with Royal Bank of Scotland and three clear of Footscray as those three teams battle for the right to go up with likely champions Old Gravesendians, who are already 13 points clear.
Player-coach Mal Graves said he was pleased with the way the squad have have responded after failing to win either of their opening games, but admits there is still work to be done to complete the job.
He added: “The club’s in a good place right now but our feet are firmly on the ground because you don’t get anything for being second at Christmas.
“We’re in a strong position, but we can still improve.
“I told the players after Saturday that they were recidivists of the same crime.
“We keep giving away needless penalties which is stopping us getting any momentum or continuity.
“We must have conceded 25 on Saturday, the players just need a to show a bit more nous.”
The Blues are unbeaten since being pipped 8-7 at Lordswood in October, and Graves said that while it was a far from perfect performance he never felt they in danger of losing at Greenwich where they led 14-6 at half-time.
Leeroy Chaipa, Marck Olive and Ben Cliff scored the Whitstable tries, with Jack Barrow converting all three.
There were also good contributions from prop Luke Pepper, and second row Duncan Mackinnon, both of whom came on at half-time to strengthen the pack.
Graves added: “Greenwich is never an easy place to go but we matched them in every department.
“We lost up there last season so that itself shows the progress we’ve made.
“The boys were actually disappointed not to have got the bonus point, but we cheered up when we heard Royal Bank of Scotland had lost (they went down 15-12 at Orpington).”
Whitstable resume their campaign at home to Bexley on Saturday, January 7.
‘We’re in a strong position but can still improve’