It was a dreadful afternoon at Reachfields on Saturday, as Hythe were thrashed 4-0 by Horndean.

Returning manager Steve Watt made two changes from the 2-1 victory away at Herne Bay last Saturday, as Kane Phillip and Brad Schafer replaced Kai Garande and the injured Ethan Smith.

The game got off to the worst possible start, as a ball in from the right by Freddie Chester was tipped away by Jack West-Astuti, with Connor Duffin meeting it with a diving header on the rebound, which flew into an empty net. It wasn’t long until Horndean scored their second on 12 minutes, as Chester once again sent a ball in, this time from a tricky angle in the box on the left, which was slammed home by Zack Willett. It was almost 3-0 on 26 minutes, as Connor Duffin blasted a shot over the crossbar.

Hythe had a good chance to get themselves back into the game in the 41st minute – Brad Schafer received a long ball and rifled it towards goal, before Cameron Scott made the save, which found Jake Embery on the rebound, who hit his shot from a tight angle, which was just about cleared off the line by a defender. Despite this, the visitors made it three in injury time through Zack Willett, who found himself with all the space in the world on the right-hand side on the counterattack, sending the ball goalwards. Jack West-Astuti appeared to have made contact with the ball but was unable to keep it out, meaning it was 3-0 at the break.

Nothing seemed to have changed in the second half, and Horndean were able to score their fourth 17 minutes in, as the Hythe defence switched off, allowing Zack Willett to score his hat-trick. Hythe did have a good opportunity to score a consolation in the 75th minute, when Brad Schafer’s cross was knocked onto the bar by Johan Caney-Bryan – the ball fell to Aaron Barnes on the rebound, but he was unable to get the ball out of his feet in a congested penalty area, with it eventually being cleared.

Having made all three substitutions, Hythe were reduced to ten men with five minutes remaining of the second half, when Kian Garlinge went down and was unable to continue. However, this did not affect the result, and Hythe slumped to their heaviest home defeat of the season. Steve Watt will be looking for his side to bounce back on Tuesday night as they entertain Beckenham Town, who sit at the bottom of the league, at Reachfields at 7:45pm.