Heavy overnight rain put this game against Crawley Down in doubt but sterling work by Jim Bubb and Antony Deer on the ground helped Referee N.Dunn declare the pitch playable at 10.00am on Saturday morning.

After failing to score in the last three games Herne Bay thought they were in dreamland, after going 3-0 up against promotion seeking Crawley Down on a very testing pitch, but they were made to fight right up to the final whistle to get a 4-3 win.

For the first 15 minutes it was end to end stuff, with Luke Prentice saving well from a thumping shot from Crawley's Luke Blewden in the 7th minute. A minute later James Turner went close for Herne Bay, just firing wide. Two minutes later Prentice was called again into action, producing a great stop to prevent Jamie Cade putting the visitors ahead. and moments later he got down well at the feet of Gabriel Okunaike, the resulting loose ball was cleared by Nathan Eastwood.

On 12 minutes Byron Walker went on a mazy run leaving defenders in his wake but his final effort was cleared by Jake Page. This was followed by Eastwood and Calum McGeehan combining well to keep out Frazer Logan's
deep corner. Bay started to get the upper hand and should have taken the lead but both Turner and Walker squandered good chances. Then in the 27th minute Turner atoned for his earlier miss when he flew down the right, rounded keeper,Anthony Di Berrnando and fired in from a very angle to give Bay the lead.

Bay pushed forward at every opportunity and were rewarded in the 38th minute when Sam Bewick went on a forceful run before unleashing a stunning volley which flew into the top corner leaving the Crawley keeper fixed to the spot. Bay were totally dominating play and two minutes later Turner scored his second and Bay's third after being played in by Ben Brown.

With only a minute left until the break, Luke Blewden picked up a loose ball and tore down the left, out pacing McGeehan before slamming the ball past the advancing Prentice to give the visitors some hope for the second half. Gary Sayer replaced Joe Nelder at the start of the half. The goal just before half time gave Crawley Down the impetus for a 2nd half onslaught and on 50 minutes Jamie Cade should have done better in front of goal blasting wide from 10 yards.

Turner could have scored his hat trick but he mis-kicked his effort following a Dean Grant cross, allowing Di Bernando to gather with ease. This was Turner last kick of the game as he was replaced by Jordan Agbajae. In the 57th minute Crawley Down were awarded a penalty after McGeehan climbed on the back of Cade. Up stepped Logan whose low firm shot was saved by Prentice diving low to his right. Undeterred Crawley Down continued to press forward forcing Bay to defend deep and on 74 minutes they got the break-through when Jake Page forced the ball over the line following a goal mouth scramble.

Brown was replaced by Billy Bennett for the last 15 minutes. On 76 minutes McGeehan headed Blewden's shot off the line but with 3 minutes left on the clock, Logan sent over a superb corner finding Blewden who thundered the ball into the back of the net to bring the visitor's level
> Crawley's delight was short lived as straight from the restart, Walker streaked through their defence, beating the off side trap to brilliantly place the ball wide of the Crawley custodian to restore Bay's lead.

This proved to be the final score, our first win at home since November but this was a fully deserved victory. A really entertaining game with both teams contributing on a difficult surface. Full credit to the Officials who let the game flow when it would have been easy to just keep blowing up as the players were fully committed to challenges on a very slippery surface.

Team; Prentice Eastwood Nelder McGeehan Campbell Bewick Grant Brown Walker J.Turner Lawson. Subs; Sayer Agbajae M.Turner Bryant Bennett.