Hythe boss Steve Watt said his entire matchday squad cost less than Faversham’s forward line after starting the new year with a win.

The Cannons made light of the difference in resources, with defender Jason Fregene’s second-half goal earning a 1-0 victory at Salters Lane on Monday.

Watt’s side moved up to 12th in Isthmian South East, while the Lilywhites remain bottom despite recent investment.

“Their front four cost more than my entire squad and we restricted them to one shot from 25 yards,” said Watt.

“If you look at our bench, we had 39-year-old Michael Phillips, who retired how many years ago?

"We had Harry Miller, who’s been out for seven weeks. We had young Morgan Williamson, who hasn’t played in three months.

“We had Connor Cheek, who’s a young kid on dual-reg with Snodland. And we had Sam Itauma, who’s just back from Slovenia visiting family.

“So, we probably had one player who could have come on and we’ve gone there and got a deserved victory.

“We shaded the first half in terms of territory, without creating any really good chances.

“Second half, we’ve got the goal and there was a spell after that where we should been three up.

“We’ve had a free header from six yards and Josh Stirman has gone through one-on-one and tried to lob the keeper and scuffed it, rather than taking it round him.

“For the last 15 minutes they moved bodies forward and we sat and defended well.

“Over 90 minutes, I felt we were the better team. We looked more organised. I’m really pleased to come away with a win given the resources they have down there.”

Hythe play the second of eight games in a busy month when second-bottom Corinthian visit Reachfields this Saturday (2pm) - and Watt isn’t happy.

“It’s absolutely ludicrous,” he said. “How can we play 16 league games between August and December and have to play eight in one month?

“There’s all this talk about over-playing at the top of the game but I think non-league needs to have a look at itself if they think that’s acceptable.

“I’d be saying the same if I had a squad of 20 with unlimited resources. The league have this six-week window to rearrange games but there needs to be more flexibility.

“If clubs can agree another date which isn’t miles away, say within eight weeks, I don’t understand why it can’t happen then.

“We’ve got one midweek game in February. Why can’t we play one then, and another one in March?

"It seems games have to be rescheduled on the first available date. It’s something that needs to be addressed.

“The league will say what if it’s called off again? Well, push it back again.”