Battling Bay Make It Three In A Row

Herne Bay (0) 1
Harvey Sparks og 82

Worthing (0) 0

at Winch’s Field

Ryman Isthmian League Division One (South)
Saturday 24th January 2015.

Attendance: 188

by Ray Kelly

(photo credit: Herne Bay FC library photo – a solid performance from Harry Brown at full back earned him the man of the match award.)

Following 2-0 away wins at Horsham and Walton Casuals, Bay fully deserved this victory against a well organised Worthing side but they had to battle from the start to the end of the game.

Chances were at a premium with both defences in superb form and it was a late own goal that settled matters. From the kick off with both teams intent on attacking down the flanks and with the slippery conditions tackles were very often late or miss-timed, resulting in several bookings. The first chance fell to Worthing in only the second minute when Lloyd Dawes sent in a rasping shot that Herne Bay keeper Jack Delo did well to hold.

The game boiled over in the 6th minute when Worthing full back Will Hendon went over the top with a crunching tackle on Nathan Eastwood and he was very lucky not to be sent off after pushing Liam Quinn over in the resultant handbags. Two minutes later Lloyd Dawes became the second player to be booked by Referee Mr. Steven Brown when he made a similar tackle on Danny Walder. Walder took no further part in the game and was replaced by Mark Lovell.

Both teams settled down and on 12 minutes Steven Ita was unlucky to see his shot saved by the Worthing keeper Jack Fagan and a minute latter Stuart King went close with a lob that just grazed the Worthing bar. Back came the Rebels with a 30 yard shot from James Nichols that cleared the bar. The game started to get bogged down in mid-field with both defences snuffing out any sort of danger. Steven Ita and Harry Brown continued to raid down the wings for the Bay but too often the final ball went astray. In the 31st minute Joe Nelder squandered a good chance to put the Bay in front when he headed over following a good free kick from King.

Just before half time Worthing had two good chances to take the lead, firstly Harvey Sparks fired straight at Jack Delo following a corner and then a great goal-line clearance from Michael Turner denied Sparks again.

Herne Bay took the game to Worthing from the start of the second half but Jack Delo had to be on his toes in the 61st and 65th minutes, saving well from two efforts from Ryan Quirke. On 66 minutes Bay should have taken the lead when a great cross was headed over from 10 yards by Joe Nelder.

Herne Bay continued to push forward and in the 82nd minute Steven Ita made a good run down the left before playing in Sam Hasler who fired over a hard and low cross that was deflected past the Worthing custodian by the Worthing defender Harvey Sparks with Stuart King waiting to pounce.

Four minutes later the game boiled over once again in the middle of the pitch, this ‘fracas’ involved most of the players resulting in a third Worthing player getting booked, Jaz Rance the culprit. With the Bay 1-0 up they continued to push forward and Stuart King went close before the final whistle went.

Make no mistake Herne Bay had to battle for this win but they fully deserved the 3 points. The back four were superb and Danny Williams never stopped running.

“I thought we were the better side today, despite the conditions we got the ball down and played and created the better chances”, Bay manager Sam Denly told Peter Guise in his post match interview, “we fully deserved the win and I’m really pleased with the boys. We’re a very strong squad now and it’s a good changing room to be involved in. We’re where we are on merit, I’ve always said that mid table and above would be a good season and with 14 games to go we’re just 6 points off the play-offs. If we continue to play like we have done the last few games then there’s no reason we can’t be knocking on the door come the last few games. We could give ourselves an outside chance of sneaking in there. But we’re not going to get getting carried away, there’s a long way to go yet”.

Herne Bay: Jack Delo, Michael Turner, Gary Sayer, Danny Walder (Mark Lovell 10), Liam Quinn, Harry Brown, Nathan Eastwood, Joe Nelder, Danny Williams (Sam Hasler 64), Stuart King, Steven Ita.

Subs Not Used: Jordan Casey, Dan Johnson, Elliot Cutts.

Cautions: Nathan Eastwood, Sam Hasler. Sent Off: none

Man of the Match: Harry Brown (Herne Bay)

Referee: Stephen Brown Assistants: Leigh Judd & Lou Saunders.