By Holly Morris

Two quickfire Croydon goals ended Whitstable’s Kent Senior Trophy hopes for this season on Tuesday night.

Ryan Hall and Ryan Palmer, with a penalty, did the damage in the early stages of the second half despite home striker Harvey Smith pulling one back in their 2-1 Semi-Final defeat.

Croydon will face Erith Town in the Final at Maidstone United’s Gallagher Stadium in April while the six-year wait for a trophy for the Oystermen, winners of this competition in 2018, goes on.

Marcel Nimani’s side showed the first signs of early threat, as they returned to action after a 10-day break. Malachi Hudson’s cross on six minutes fell into the hands of George Kamurasi.

Three minutes later, a Smith header was cleared off the line by an away defender in front of a crowd of 335.

Lower-division Croydon’s first clear-cut opportunity came on 14 minutes following former Margate midfielder Palmer’s free-kick that was headed over by Uli Fischer.

Liam Gillies picked up the first yellow card of the night just before the half-hour mark after a tackle on Palmer in midfield.

A brilliant right-wing run from Josh Williams allowed him to shoot at Kamurasi. The loose ball fell to Hudson, whose shot was cleared off the line by visiting skipper Jordan Anderson, as the even game burst to life in the 37th minute.

Williams’ free-kick found unmarked home team-mate Will Thomas, who completely missed the ball altogether in the final real action of a goalless first half at The Belmont.

Five minutes after the restart, a long-range shot from Williams was deflected wide.

But Croydon delivered the first blow on 52 minutes. Forward Hall - fresh from his viral halfway line strike on Saturday against Cockfosters Reserves in their London Senior Trophy Semi-Final victory - found some space and blasted past goalkeeper Jordan Perrin in front of the vocal away fans.

The visitors then were awarded a penalty after referee Jacob Miller ruled goalkeeper Perrin had fouled Lauris Chin. Palmer squeezed his spot-kick home to double their advantage.

Looking for a way back into the game, Whitstable made their first change just after the hour-mark, bringing on fit-again Josh Oliver for George Sheminant.

Williams had a shot in the 71st minute, which keeper Kamurasi could only parry to Smith. And he gave the hosts hope of a comeback after smashing the ball into the empty net.

A mistake at the back allowed Croydon substitute Kiarn Asafu to have a shot in the 81st minute. But Perrin did just enough to steer it onto the crossbar during a frantic finish.

A late effort from Reece Gillies fell narrowly wide, as the Oystermen ran out of time, despite playing more than the indicated five minutes of injury time, with Perrin coming up for set-pieces to no avail.

Play-off chasing Whitstable return to league action at home to Southern Counties East Premier Division frontrunners Glebe this Saturday.

Home manager Nimani had made one change to his starting line-up from their 1-0 victory at VCD.

Left-back Sheminant replaced cup-tied striker James Jeffrey.

Winger Hudson made his home debut, while fellow midfielder Oliver was fit enough to return to the substitutes’ bench, making a eagerly-awaited appearance in the second half.

Whitstable Town: Perrin, MacKenzie, Sheminant (Oliver 61mins), Dalton, Thomas, Mills, L Gillies (Cuttress 85mins), Smith, Williams, R Gillies, Hudson (Anderson 70mins). Subs not used: Robson

Croydon: Kamurasi, Chin, Morgan, McGovern, Anderson, Palmer, Hall (Asafu 60mins), Ayetine (Rufus 87mins), Merrett (Burrell-Grant 51mins) Fischer, Bogle. Subs not used: Morton, Owen

Referee: Jacob Miller.

Attendance: 335.