New signing Zak Ansah introduced himself to the Herne Bay faithful with a hat-trick in the first 33 minutes of this enthralling pre-season encounter at SCEFL First Division Snodland Town. The best of the bunch came with just three minutes on the clock when Joe Nelder won the ball in midfield and set up Ansah to curl into the top far corner. A minute later Kieron Campbell came close to getting off the mark when his free kick struck the crossbar and shortly afterwards Danny Leonard brought a good save from the keeper.

Ansah’s second and third were very similar, on 23 and 33, when shots from fellow debutante Ryan King, one from the left and one from the right, were parried by the Snodland stopper and Ansah was on hand to provide the finish. In the 38th minute Leonard showed the style that last season won him the treble – Managers’, Players’ and Supporters’ Player of the Season when he ran forward from the centre of the park and unleashed a screamer past the keeper.

Changes were made at the break and seven minutes in Leonard zig-zagged his way into the box and slid the ball to Kyron Lightfoot, who steadied himself before beating the goalkeeper. On the hour the lead could have been increased but Ricky Freeman’s penalty was well saved by the keeper just inside the post and the rebound was lobbed just inches over by Freeman.

Lightfoot was denied his second, when from a free kick from the edge of the box, the ball struck a head in the wall, the goalkeeper’s fingertips and then the crossbar. Another good warm-up, and more minutes in the engine and with the quality on display Ben Smith will have some difficult decisions to make when the competitive campaign begins.

Squad included: Jack Delo, Michael Turner, Laurence Harvey, Joe Kennett, Simon Kabamba, Danny Leonard, Joe Nelder, Kieron Campbell, Zak Ansah, Bola Dawodu, Ryan King, Jake Batchelor, Lewis Risk, Chris Saunders, Gary Sayer, Kyron Lightfoot, Ricky Freeman, Victor Aiyelabola.