Player-manager Jamie Coyle believes the unique experience of this weekend’s FA Vase semi-final second leg could stay with Whitstable’s young squad for years to come.

The history-making Oystermen are just 90 minutes from a first Vase final at Wembley since they were formed in 1885 as they head to Hartpury University with a 2-0 first-leg advantage.

With Hartpury ground-sharing alongside Championship club Hartpury RFC at the Hartpury University Stadium, the match won’t be played in the usual Saturday slot and, instead, will take place 24 hours later in Gloucestershire.

But promotion-chasing Southern Counties East League Premier Division Whitstable intend to make the most of an extra day of preparations with an overnight hotel stay.

Coyle said: “We’re going to leave early on Saturday morning.

“We have got the Hilton booked there, which has a spa and a golf course, so the boys can spend the day doing some team-bonding on Saturday.

“We can get up together on Sunday and have a meeting at the hotel, and look at the tactics in terms of how we’re going to play.

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“I think that togetherness and that experience, especially for a young group, will last for years to come so we’re looking forward to it now.

“We have given ourselves a heck of an opportunity - but we have got to do the same again.”

A club-record Whitstable crowd of 2,905 saw goals from teenage forward Nathan Jeche and stand-in skipper Finn O’Mara give them the upper hand in the two-legged tie.

A comparably paltry attendance of 256 watched Hellenic League Premier Division champions-elect Hartpury University beat Erith & Belvedere 2-1 in the quarter-final so there’s every chance the Oystermen, on a 17-game unbeaten run in all competitions, could well outnumber their hosts on their own turf.

Coyle said: “The last 16 or 17 games that we have played, we have called on the fans to travel.

"They have turned some of these away games into home games. We have needed that.

“We have scored a lot of late goals recently where our chips have been down. We have gone 1-0 down and they have got us over the line, and they did the same on Saturday.

“Seeing their faces at the end and all the kids on the pitch, it’s so enjoyable. The club deserve it.

“They deserve a bit of the limelight because there are so many people behind the scenes that work tirelessly and they deserve this little bit of success that we’re getting.”

With defenders Jake McIntyre and Jerald Aboagye banned, while midfielder Bradley Schafer and forward Dean Grant also remained cup-tied, Whitstable added to their ranks ahead of the first leg.

Utility player Ricardo Thompson came through 90 minutes in defence while 38-year-old midfielder Joe Healy offered his experience off the substitutes’ bench late on.

Coyle admits it has been a big balancing act in terms of picking and choosing where he adds to his squad - also challenging for promotion through the play-offs and with a Kent Senior Trophy final to look forward to - in terms of when and where to strengthen their ranks.

“The changing room is absolutely rocking,” he said. “Whether it’s at matches or training sessions, it really is a together group.

“You’re going to need that in order to have any success in football. They understand, with four players out on Saturday, we had to bring some bodies in.

“It’s just going to make it difficult after the Vase is done and we have got the league games coming back. But it’s healthy competition that we will manage as a management team.

“This is a good place to be but, as I’ve said, we can’t get carried away.”

McIntyre and Aboagye have now served their suspensions ahead of the second leg.

“They’re two massive players for us back available,” Coyle said.

Whitstable, who have dropped out of the play-off places but have plenty of matches in hand, will then return to league action at Punjab United on Tuesday.