Boss Jamie Coyle praised Whitstable’s young guns after their dramatic FA Vase victory on Saturday.

Without suspended defender Jake McIntyre and the cup-tied forward Dean Grant and midfielder Liam Gillies, the Oystermen were up against it at home to fellow Southern Counties East Premier Division side Lydd.

But a stoppage-time own goal by away defender Ryan Smith secured Whitstable’s 2-1 win after striker Harvey Smith had also netted in the second half.

Among Whitstable’s starting line-up was under-23s defender Kai Jeffrey while youth-team players Harry Baptiste and Tommy Ansell were also in their matchday squad.

Coyle, 41, said: “We have worked really closely with Aaron Lorentson, the under-23s manager.

“I’ve been to a lot of their games this year - and played in one! That was to get myself ready if needed but, also, it helps to find out more about what the players are like.

“Kai Jeffrey, who is 19, is who I played centre-half with.

“He did brilliantly in that game and I knew I could trust him to step up on Saturday. We want to go as far as we possibly can in the competition.

"But Kai wasn’t the only one.

“Jayden Boulton has kind of been dual-registered with Sutton Athletic and he came back in. He had played four or five games at Sutton, got his confidence and made his first start for us on Saturday.

"He was probably a good shout as man-of-the-match.

“You have got to trust the process a little bit. We had two aims coming into the club.

“One was bringing players through from the youth teams and we have definitely done that. The other was to make sure that the club is moving in the right direction.

“Although we’re not quite where we want to be in the league, there’s a lot of good work going on behind-the-scenes that people don’t see.

“There had been a lot of build-up to the game, knowing we were down to the bare bones. We called upon quite a few under-23s.

"I was a very proud manager at the end of the game.

“We have got faith in those young players and they delivered against a really experienced Lydd side.

“I was really proud, not only with the result, but with their performances. We only had two players over the age of 24 on the pitch by the end of the game.

“Looking at the bigger picture, the club’s in a really good place, isn’t it?”

It was a first for Whitstable this campaign.

Coyle explained: “I said to [assistant] Matt Longhurst with five minutes remaining ‘Wouldn’t it be great to get a late winner?’. We hadn’t had that feeling at the club before.

“There’s no hiding the fact that our home form needs to improve but the place was absolutely rocking on Saturday, there was a really good feeling at the end of the game.

“To be able to celebrate that last-minute winner with the fans was a great feeling. It was great to win in that fashion, especially when we hadn’t done it in front of our home fans this season.”

Their reward is a last-64 home tie against Combined Counties Premier Division South high-fliers Jersey Bulls next month.

Coyle admitted: “They’re absolutely flying. They’re unbeaten in the league.

“We have got a couple of VEO highlights packages on them because they have played some teams we’re friends with. So, we will watch those highlights.

“They will be a tough nut to crack. They will be organised and that game will be a real test for our young squad.

“But it’s exciting. These are the games that you want.

“Looking at the pool of games we could have had before the draw, there’s no easy games at this stage.

“We’ll go into the game with confidence. You will not see a more experienced side than Lydd so playing them should stand us in good stead, moving forward.

"It’s an exciting draw.”

Among Whitstable’s squad who faced Lydd was ex-Gillingham forward Ronald Sithole. The 19-year-old made his first appearance in his latest club spell off the substitutes’ bench.

“He just needs to settle somewhere,” noted Coyle. “If he does, I’m sure that he will have a great future ahead of him.

“Ronald is someone I have monitored for a long time.

“I first played against him when he was in the Gillingham Academy. He always stood out as someone with huge potential.

“Hopefully, we can help him fulfil that potential and he can play a big part for us - both this season and moving forwards.”

Sithole helps fill the void left by Fin Dent after the young forward rejoined Kennington in search of regular first-team football.

Coyle said: “He’s a great lad.

“With youngsters, they have got to make a decision. They have got to decide if they’re going to stay patient or just want to play games. Both kinds of mentalities you absolutely respect.

“I still think he’s a player that has huge potential. But he’s seen we have got more and more competition in forward areas so he’s decided to go back to Kennington.

“He’s a great player, has a great attitude and he said that he just wants to play games. We’ll still keep tabs on him.

“Everyone wishes him all the best.”

The Oystermen will be at Glebe as they have a different selection headache to contend with in the league on Saturday.

“We have got real competition for places,” said Coyle. “When the league games come, we’ll have some real selection headaches.

“We’ve got a lot of players that are doing really well. If you’re going to be successful, you need that competition for places and we have got that - outside of the FA Vase.

“In training, the players raise their levels and, hopefully, we’ve got that real healthy competition.”

Whitstable lost 1-0 at Division 1 Staplehurst in the Challenge Cup as McIntyre was red-carded on Wednesday.