"A win's a win, we've given the lads a target over the next few games and that's the first one ticked off", said Herne Bay manager Sam Denly, "it was a bit of a scrappy game but the most important thing today was to get the win, we've done that and we move on".

Scrappy and bitty it certainly was but this victory over a Three Bridges outfit that belied their rock position hauled Bay out of the bottom three and lifted the spirits. Both Williams and Lovell are back among the goals and, once again, Jack Delo pulled off some outstanding saves to ensure Denly's men pocketed maximum points.

Ray Kelly writes: Herne Bay left Three Bridges Jubilee Field with a much needed three points on Saturday. Make no mistake Bay were forced to battle for the points but battle they did, it may have been ugly but hey ho it’s the points that count. Herne Bay got off to the best of starts when in the 3rd minute a long clearance from Jack Delo was chased down by Danny Williams, getting the better of Drew Cooney and the advancing Three Bridges goalkeeper. Danny had the simple task of tapping into an empty net. It looked like the flood gates would open but missed chances from Kane Phillip and Mark Lovell seemed to inspire Bridges with Devon Fender and Hakeem Adelakun starting to get into the Bay defence. On 16 minutes Jack Delo saved well from Kieran Djilali but from the resulting corner Drew Cooney rose, unchallenged, to head past Delo. Herne Bay continued to press forward with Danny Williams being at the heart of every thing but the Bay’s final ball was often wayward. Three Bridges started to get back into the game and on 30 minutes only a great save from Jack Delo prevented Devon Fender from restoring parity. Herne Bay followed this up with a good run down the left by Kane Phillip and his cross was just headed wide by Danny Williams. Then came a pulsating period of play. On 36 minutes Devon Fender latched on to a ball 25 yards out and sent in a thunderbolt of a shot that flashed past Jack Delo. Within two minutes Herne Bay were back on terms after a good run down the flank by Kane Phillip his cross was not cleared by the Three Bridges defenders and Danny Williams who was lurking in the middle of the area slotted the ball home to even up the game Both teams had chances before the half time whistle but both keepers kept their goals intact.

The second half started with a change of goalkeeper for the home side with Martin Grant taking over from the injured Thorp. Both teams squandered chances at the start of the second half firstly Adelakun was put through but he fired well over the bar for Bridges and then Kane Phillip fired over when well placed in the 51st minute for Bay. In the 60th and 62nd minutes Jack Delo produced two cracking saves to prevent Djilali and Adelakun from putting Bridges in front. Adam Woolcott replaced Nathan Eastwood and his input was obvious for all to see and three minutes later Mark Lovell, who was played in by Danny Williams , drilled the ball past Grant
to put Bay 3-2 up. On 87 minutes Gary Sayer cleared off the line when a goal looked a cert after a shot by Adelakun. Herne Bay
saw out the final minutes to hold on to all three points.

"I still think we need to be a bit more clinical in front of goal. Three good goals though and it's given us a massive lift. Over the last few weeks I think we've been good but all the time we're in the bottom four or five there's pressure but a couple of wins and we're be top half again and all of a sudden we're looking down below us rather than above us", said Denly.

Herne Bay: Jack Delo, Michael Turner, Gary Sayer, Chris Elliott, Nathan Eastwood (Adam Woollcott 60), Connor Sanders, Danny Walder, Kenny Sanders, Mark Lovell (James Turner 82), Danny Williams, Kane Phillip (Joshua Algar 90).

Subs not used: Umaku Mansaray, Joshua Wood.

HBFCSA Herne Bay Man of the Match: Jack Delo

Match details

Match date

Sat 05 Nov 2016

Kickoff

15:00

Attendance

Competition

South Division

League position

Herne Bay

Three Bridges

Team overview

Bay Beat Basement Bridges