When 17-year-old Jake Embery joined Herne Bay in the summer of 2017 he had been a prolific goalscorer at youth level but was little known in adult football and certainly not at Step Four of the football pyramid. Bay had been promoted from the Kent League at the end of the 2011/12 season and in the five years under Simon Halsey and then Sam Denly some notable names had formed the strikeforce at Winch’s Field. Mark Lovell had played for Gillingham in Football League Division One, for Sittingbourne, Dover and Ashford in the Isthmian League and Tonbridge in the Conference South. Stuart King had scored goals aplenty for whoever he played for including Maidstone and Folkestone and had been a previous Isthmian League and Kent League Golden Boot winner. Sam Hasler had left Herne Bay to move up a division with Folkestone and Danny Walder had previously been at Tonbridge and scored abundantly from the penalty spot. Then there was Danny Williams, Joe Nelder, Jordan Casey and James Turner who had all made good contributions.

Embery made his debut for Herne Bay against Lewes in August 2017 and two weeks later scored his first goal for Bay in the Kent Senior Cup against Ashford United followed four days later by his first league goal, against Chipstead. By the end of the season he was Herne Bay’s top goalscorer with 25 (23 league, 2 cup) surpassing the previous single season Isthmian League record set by Mark Lovell. He was also joint Players’ Player of the Season.

Now aged 18, this campaign, he has continued his phenomenal record with 22 goals (15 league, 7 cup). This has included two four goal hauls and one other hat-trick.

His sits atop the table in all three categories of Herne Bay Isthmian League goals scored.

League
Jake Embery 38 goals (including 6 penalties) in 62+3 appearances.
Sam Hasler 33 goals (including 1 penalty) in 86+14 appearances.
Stuart King 30 goals (including 3 penalties) in 57+11 appearances.
Mark Lovell 28 goals (including 3 penalties) in 90+8 appearances.
Danny Walder 27 goals (including 20 penalties) in 125+5 appearances.
Danny Williams 26 goals (including 1 penalty) in 86+19 appearances.

Cup
Jake Embery 9 goals in 14+2 appearances.
Danny Williams 7 goals in 19+6 appearances.
Mark Lovell 7 goals in 14+2 appearances.
Tom Carlton 6 goals in 15+1 appearances.
Danny Walder 6 goals (including 4 penalties) in 33+1 appearances.
Stuart King 5 goals in 5+1 appearances.

Total League and Cup
Jake Embery 47 goals (including 6 penalties) in 76+5 appearances.
Sam Hasler 37 goals (including 1 penalty) in 107+20 appearances.
Stuart King 35 goals (including 4 penalties) in 62+12 appearances.
Mark Lovell 35 goals (including 3 penalties) in 104+10 appearances.
Danny Walder 33 goals (including 24 penalties) in 158+6 appearances.
Danny Williams 33 goals (including 1 penalty) in 105+25 appearances.

It is not just the number of goals that gives Embery this exceptional record but also the strike rate:

Jake Embery - a goal every 1.7 matches.
Stuart King - a goal every 2.1 matches.
Mark Lovell - a goal every 3.3 matches.
Sam Hasler - a goal every 3.4 matches.
Danny Williams - a goal every 3.9 matches.
Danny Walder - a goal every 5.0 matches.

With 16 league games left to play this season, Jake’s next target surely must be the three goals that would give him his half century since signing for Herne Bay and also equal the total number of league and cup goals that he scored last season. He will need eight more to level with last season’s league tally.

For the record, the opponents for Embery’s goals have been:

League
East Grinstead Town 5 (1p), Ramsgate 5 (1p), Greenwich Borough 4, Cray Wanderers 3 (1p), Carshalton Athletic 2 (1p), Guernsey 2, Hastings United 2, Hythe Town 2, South Park 2, VCD Athletic 2, Ashford United 1, Chipstead 1, Corinthian-Casuals 1, Phoenix Sports 1 (1p), Shoreham 1, Sittingbourne 1, Thamesmead Town 1, Walton Casuals 1, Whitstable Town 1.

Cup
Arundel 3, Phoenix Sports 2, Ashford United 1, Aylesbury 1, Horsham 1, Hythe Town 1.