Boss Marcel Nimani believes the Southern Counties East Premier Division is as competitive as he can remember after his Whitstable team won at early-season basement boys Kennington on Tuesday.

It’s four straight wins for the Oystermen. Their 4-2 victory against Dan Scorer’s Kennington side was the first home match of the campaign for Ton due to work on the 3G pitch at Homelands, which they share with Ashford United.

Nimani, an advocate of the four-team play-off system introduced to the division this season, said: “I’ve been in this league for quite some time now and this is the most equally-competitive league we’ve had since I’ve known it.

“Anybody has the ability to beat anybody. It looks like it’s going to be a remarkable league.

“The introduction of the play-offs has really added value.”

Whitstable’s goals against Kennington came from frontmen Harvey Smith and debutant Emmanuel Oloyede, as well as midfielder Josh Oliver and defender Will Thomas.

“Kennington have always produced great sides,” noted Nimani. “Dan gets them organised and they play good football. I felt like they gave us a run for our money.

“There were moments in the second half where they could have equalised, or perhaps should have equalised.

“It’s one where you shouldn’t look at the result and think ‘Oh, that must have been a comfortable win for Whitstable.’ At no stage did we feel comfortable - and that’s credit to them.

“They worked hard and you would probably say that came at an expense towards the end because, for the first 25 minutes of the second half, they pressed us really hard and they were very productive. But that meant they got tired towards the end and that’s how we managed to get two late goals.

“It was the sort of game where both teams could have scored more goals if I’m being honest.

“From our perspective, we scored four good goals - we were a bit disappointed with some of our finishing - because we had plenty of opportunities to score more but it was a productive evening.”

Nimani, who also saw his side fail to convert a penalty, was pleased to see the Oystermen share the goals around, although this hasn’t been uncommon since he took charge last season.

He explained: “If you look at us since we’ve been at Whitstable, we have not really had a dominant goalscorer. We have attacking players that score regularly for us.

“Josh Williams, although he didn’t score, was so productive. He got two assists and won a penalty.

“On the other hand, Josh Oliver is probably our most natural goalscorer and he’s taking his chances. Then there’s Emmanuel and Harvey, who are good forward players.

“It’s just adding a bit more goal threat.”

Oloyede counts Chatham, Corinthian and Cray Valley among his old clubs.

“Two or three weeks ago, we had a management meeting and we highlighted two or three areas,” said Nimani, who has also signed midfielder Reece Gillies, brother of Liam Gillies.

“We looked what maybe were our weaknesses in the opposition’s eyes. We identified experience being one of them and physical presence - so height - and based on that, we brought in Harvey. He’s a tall lad and Emmanuel, he’s a tall lad, and Reece Gillies is a quite combative midfielder.

“So far, it’s been paying off. We’re strong physically and more experienced so we’re managing games better.”

Another ex-Chatham man now at The Belmont is midfielder Mikey Dalton.

Nimani said: “Mikey Dalton has got promoted from this league and had back-to-back promotions. He’s very good technically.”

Whitstable are now on the outskirts of the play-offs ahead of Saturday’s home league encounter against VCD.

Nimani is looking forward to having some home comforts, saying: “We have had quite a tough start to the season.

“The way the fixtures have been calendared has played a part in it. We have played 11 league games but, out of 11 league games, we have actually only played four at home.

“We have done quite well at home up to now. We’re hoping that home advantage will help us go up the league table.

“But VCD at home is a tough game. They’re a side that are very difficult to beat and we will need to be at our best.”

Attention will then switch to the visit of Lordswood, who have been something of a bogey team for Whitstable - on Halloween night in the Challenge Cup.

Nimani added: “I just hope it’s not written in the stars!

“But we haven’t put too much thought into it because we have got a huge league game on Saturday.”