Gareth Williams scored twice as Croydon Athletic won their ninth game in a row in all competition with a comprehensive 3-1 home win over struggling Whitstable Town.

The away side were no pushovers though and their resilience and desire to get something out of the match was very evident at the KT Stadium.

Indeed, they had the first chance of the game as early as the first minute when a free kick from Gareth Cornhill well saved by Andy Little in the Croydon goal.

At the other end of the pitch, Chris Piper found himself in space in the penalty box but Kevin Fewell in goal for Whitstable was down quickly to stifle the effort. Further chances fell to the Rams, with Rory Hill’s shot from 25 yards just over the crossbar and Tom Bolarinwa’s close range header just wide.

The breakthrough came in the 20th minute when a well placed corner fell to the head of Rams’ captain Ben Lewis to net his first goal for the club.

As the half wore on, Croydon’s Gary Noel had a header just over the bar and a chip that looked goalbound was tipped over by Fewell again.

For Whitstable, David Stubbs came close but was denied by Little and again at the start of the second half Stubbs was through in the penalty box but the Croydon keeper blocked his shot.

With the Rams having a dominant spell at the start of the second half, Hill’s strike from 18 yards was parried out and fell to Gareth Williams and he continued his fine goalscoring form to put the Rams 2-0 up in the 48th minute.

Croydon then began to play the ball around a bit, with a good move involving Joe Howe, Bolarinwa and Gareth Williams, but the latter’s shot was blocked.

As the home side looked to increase their lead, it was Howe and Bolarinwa again combining well in the 55th minute but Howe’s shot went just wide of the post.

However, Whitstable managed to win a free kick in the 57th minute and it was Stubbs who managed to fire them back into the match making no mistake to bring the scoreline to 2-1.

Croydon looked a little hesitant for a short period following this, but in the 83rd minute it was Gareth Williams again making space for himself in the box and slipping the ball in the back of the net to bring the Rams home at 3-1.

That was his 13th goal in his last 12 appearances in a truly remarkable run of goalscoring.

Leaders Folkestone Invicta stay one point clear of Croydon having scraped yet another 1-0 win, their 11th in the league this season, this time against Eastbourne Town.

Croydon Athletic: Andy Little, Joe Howe, Chris Bourne, Bentley Graham (Jeremy Williams, 68), Joe Dolan, Ben Lewis, Tom Bolarinwa (Leslie Thompson, 90), Chris Piper, Gareth Williams, Gary Noel, Rory Hill. Subs not used: Ben Godfrey, Daniel Sintim, Zak Henry.