Manager Justin Luchford held his hands up and admitted he blundered during Whitstable’s 2-0 final-day defeat at Whyteleafe.

After dominating the first half but failing to score, Whitstable conceded two goals early in the second half and Luchford said: "I made a mistake at half-time. I changed the dynamics a bit in the forward line and in the first 10 minutes of the second half we didn’t settle with it and ended up 2-0 down.

"The lads seemed happy enough with the change when I spoke to them about it at half-time but I probably should have left things alone and it probably cost us the game."

The defeat rounded off a poor end to the season for the Oystermen, who won only won of their last seven matches but Luchford (pictured) added: "We played some fantastic football in the first half on Saturday, especially in the run-up to half-time.

"We hit the woodwork twice and had two cleared off the line and on another day, we would have won the game comfortably."

The three points were not enough to save Whyteleafe from being relegated from Ryman League, Division 1 South, while Whitstable ended up 18th after looking set to finish at least three or four places higher as little as six weeks ago.

Luchford, who succeeded Peter Nott as manager in November, said: "It was a disappointing end to the season but I’m pleased we will be playing Ryman League football again next year."