Will Thomas has been hailed as a “fantastic servant” to Whitstable by manager Marcel Nimani after the defender moved beyond the 100-match mark for the club.

The achievement was marked by the in-form Oystermen, with a presentation held before they secured a fourth consecutive Southern Counties East Premier Division success at home to Holmesdale with a 3-0 win in cold and blustery conditions on Saturday.

Emmanuel Oloyede bagged a brace after fellow frontman Harvey Smith broke the deadlock in the 10th minute.

Nimani said: “Will has been a fantastic servant to the club.

“When I came in, I recognised straight away his professionalism and ability to digest information.

“He’s very good, technically, and reads the game well.

“Above all those things, he’s a pleasure to manage.”

Former Maidstone Academy man Thomas joined the club in 2020. He is now part of an experienced Whitstable backline which includes player-coach Dan Eason, club stalwart Jake MacKenzie and captain Tom Mills.

Nimani took the helm last term after a tough few years for the Belmont club and - with a solid defence to build the side from - has helped the third-placed Oystermen challenge for promotion this term.

“The club had been on a bit of a downward spiral since Covid,” said Nimani.

“I came in and recognised we needed to change things. To turn it around has been a difficult ask.

“People like Tom Mills, Will Thomas, Jake MacKenzie and Dan Eason stayed through the downfalls.

“They have helped us turn into a side that can compete for a play-off position. They’re loyalty has been second to none.”

A strong run has left Whitstable just three points off the summit ahead of the festive period. But Nimani isn’t getting carried away.

“I still think it’s too early to look at the table,” said Nimani who made three changes as Whitstable were knocked out of the Challenge Cup, 1-0 at Kennington on Tuesday.

“I will only look at the table in the last seven or eight games.

“Until then, you take one game at a time. We’re only left in one cup - and we’re in the Quarter-Final of that (the Kent Senior Trophy) - so we will be taking every game extremely seriously.

“But for us, it’s just one game at a time.

“We have had a stable run. We have played some good football and got the results we wanted in most games.

“Now, we’re getting into the second phase of the season. It’s all about character and lifestyle management because December, January and February are difficult months.”

Academy full-back Ed May and fit-again frontman Steadman Callender started for the Oystermen against Kennington, while two youngsters in striker Jake Salisbury and midfielder Manny Cuttress came off the bench.

Nimani explained: “We started the game with six defenders.

“We rotated the squad and gave some squad players an opportunity to play, and it also was an opportunity to try people in different positions as well as giving Academy players first-team football.

“In the first half, we were not good enough. I felt the opposition were better. In the second half, we were better but not good enough to break them down. Ultimately, the opposition reaped the rewards from that.

“Don’t get me wrong, even though we had six defenders starting and rotated, the side on the pitch still had enough to win the game. We still felt it was a missed opportunity.

“At the same time, I would like to congratulate the opposition. We must have had seven or eight shots - but they just kept blocking them.

“They worked hard, got their goal and counter-attacked us on a number of occasions, so well done to Kennington.”

Whitstable will visit Punjab United, looking to respond after a heavy 5-0 defeat to Corinthian last time out, this Saturday.

Nimani said: “They have experience on the pitch and experience on the bench with their management.

“Their home record is one of the better home records in the league. We definitely will need to be organised and get the best out of ourselves.

“We will need to be better in possession than we were against Kennington. If we get all of those factors right, we stand a chance of getting a result there.”