Whitstable Town captain Tom Mills on their 2-2 Southern Counties East Premier Division derby draw at home to frontrunners Faversham Town

Captain Tom Mills felt Whitstable missed the chance to beat Southern Counties East Premier Division frontrunners Faversham in the closing stages of their derby draw on Saturday.

Sammy Moore’s Lilywhites appeared in control at half-time as they led 2-0 thanks to goals from midfielders Billy Bennett and Matt Newman - only for the promotion-chasing hosts to roar back after the restart at The Belmont.

Winger Josh Williams halved the deficit before a stoppage-time own goal by Faversham defender Josh Vincent ensured it finished 2-2, with the Oystermen then missing a golden opportunity to snatch it right at the death.

“It could have gone either way, really,” said 32-year-old Mills as Whitstable responded, having lost 4-2 at Punjab United last weekend.

“Marcel (Nimani, Whitstable’s boss) said we probably played better in the first half than we did in the second. With the quality individual players that they have got, they have people who can pick one out and put it into the top corner - and that’s what they did in the first half.

“But we came out in the second half and stuck to the game plan of just passing and passing, then switched it up a little bit - went a bit longer - and got our first one.

“Then, I think they started to shrink a little bit and we got the second.

Report: Whitstable 2-2 Faversham

“I wasn’t sure which way it was going to go after that but I’m just gutted. They felt like they were there for the taking at the end and we should have won it, really.

“But I’m glad the boys worked hard. That effort wasn’t there last Saturday and we were 100 times better today.”

Whitstable came into the encounter after back-to-back defeats - after also being knocked out of the Challenge Cup 1-0 at Kennington earlier this month