Chatham Town played host to Sheppey infront of a huge midweek crowd.

There was an attendance of 1,681 at the Bauvill Stadium to watch the Isthmian South East clash - which ended goalless.

The cold weather and a top of the table Premier League clash on the TV didn’t put fans off watching the two Kent rivals go head to head - setting a new league record for the 2022/23 season.

Chats tweeted: “A big thank you to all the Chats fans who came out in force - a cold night in February won’t stop you coming!”

Sheppey had a sizeable following of their own at Chatham, buoyed by an unbeaten run of games that has now stretched to nine in the league.

Chats are challenging for an automatic promotion place and had won 24 games straight at home in the league before the recent draw with Three Bridges.

Kevin Hake’s Chatham side are third in the table. They are now four games without a win in the league but their manager/chairman Hake - the former Sheppey boss - is enjoying the ride.

He said: “A lot is made of newly promoted teams and it is a steep learning curve in the Isthmian that’s for sure.

“I can’t speak for Sheppey but we are delighted with progress so far.

“We will of course continue to give it our all for the remainder of the season and keep pushing to finish as high as we can.”

Chatham’s average gate this season before Wednesday was 768 - with their previous best crowd being the 1,072 who attended last month’s match against Beckenham Town.

Games between Chatham and Sheppey in recent seasons have been full-blooded, with the pair coming up from the Southern Counties East Premier Division last season.

Chats hit the crossbar through Seidou Sanogo and had a good chance saved by the Sheppey keeper Aiden Prall as the midweek clash ended goalless.

Sheppey first team coach Simon Beard tweeted: “It was a good battle between two inform sides and the pleasing thing was is that we stood up to the challenge.

“As always backed by the great support from the Ites fans.”

Hake made six changes to his team for the visit of Sheppey after they were beaten 1-0 at Hythe on Saturday.

“It was not a classic,” admitted the Chats boss, reflecting on the weekend loss. “We were not at our best and it was disappointing not to come away with any points. We were good value second half after Hythe being the better team in the first. We made some changes and we looked like we were going to break the door down and score.

“We didn’t take our chances but full credit to Hythe as they dug in and came out as winners.”

Chatham head to second from bottom Corinthian this Saturday while The Ites are at home to leaders Ramsgate.