Hythe Town's Nick Barnes takes on Croydon Athletic Picture: Gary Browne

It was generally an unproductive day for the seven Kent clubs involved in FA Trophy preliminary round action on Saturday.

The only side to progress at the first attempt were Thamesmead who won 3-2 at home against Whitstable. Sittingbourne and Faversham Town will have to win replays in order to progress, while Ramsgate, Maidstone United and Chatham Town were knocked out.

Whitstable led 1-0 at Thamesmead through a 19th-minute Peter Hawkins header but Theo Fairweather-Johnson equalised early in the second half and then two Thamesmead substitutes, Bradley Killick and David Noel, made it 3-1 before James Simmons scored Whitstable' second late on.

Faversham looked to have booked their place in the next round when they led 2-1 at Walton Casuals only for Danny Buckle to convert an injury-time penalty awarded for a foul on Michael Bembarima. Damian Abel scored twice for Faversham, with Mark Nicholl scoring Casuals' opener.

Sittingbourne needed an injury-time goal from Hicham Akhazzan to salvage a replay against Northwood after the visitors had taken the lead through a 49th-minute deflected effort from Garry Senior.

Chatham squandered a 3-1 lead as they went out 4-3 at Eastbourne Town. Garry Tilley (2) and John Pilbeam put the Chats in the driving seat, only for the Sussex side to snatch victory through an 85th-minute Luke Denton header.

Ramsgate suffered the biggest defeat, crashing 7-2 at home to Ryman Division 1 North side Needham Market despite taking the lead through Joseph Asufi. The Suffolk side hit back in stunning style with four goals before half-time and then added three more after the break. Ramsgate's only reply was a late penalty by Gareth Cornhill.

Maidstone also scored first at Ashford (Middlesex) only to end up on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline. Shaun Welford put the Stones in front after eight minutes and they held onto their lead until half-time, but the home side struck twice early in the second half through Jack Mullan and Shane Graham and then Pietro Palladino made it 3-1 in stoppage time.

In the Ryman League Premier Division, Margate's poor home form continued as they slipped to a fifth straight defeat at Hartsdown Park, going down 1-0 to Carshalton Athletic. Paul Vines scored the only goal after 69 minutes.

High-flying Cray Wanderers led 2-1 at Kingstonian through goals by Jack Clark and Chris Saunders but conceded three goals in the second half to lose 4-2.

In the only game of the day in Ryman League Division 1 South , Hythe Town secured their fourth win of the campaign with a 2-1 home success over Croydon Athletic courtesy of goals in each half from Brendon Cass and Dave Cook.