Herne Bay has the opportunity to further boost their chances of avoiding the drop on Saturday when they face Bishop’s Stortford at The R & D Advisors UK Stadium.

Smith put the Bay ahead in the third minute, before debutant Drais' deflected free-kick doubled the hosts' advantage.

Billy Crook levelled from the spot midway through the first half as Bowers reduced the Bay's lead to one.

Barrington bagged his first goal since returning from injury on the hour mark to restore the hosts' two-goal cushion.

And Jordan Perrin made certain of the result with a late penalty save, helping Kevin Watson's side secure their first win since mid October.

The Opposition

Bishop’s Stortford was formed on Thursday 28th January 1874 at the Chequers Hotel in the town. Just over two weeks later the first match was played with the East of England Non-Conformist Grammar School (now Bishop’s Stortford College) being defeated 2-1, with goals coming from Rev. R J Tomes. In that first season 15 games were played, three of which were won, with seven others drawn.

The club colours at that time were vivid crimson and olive green. After several years of playing just friendly matches the club became one of the founder members of the Hertfordshire Football Association in 1885 and played in the first ever County Senior Cup competition that same season, beating Aspley 2-1 away from home in their first match.

The club was accepted into the FA Cup for the first time in the 1924-25 season and then it was in 1929 that the next milestone was reached when the club was accepted into Division Two (East) of the Spartan League. A good start was made with the Ministry of Health being well beaten 5-0. Three years later, at the end of the 1931-32 season, the Division Two (East) championship was won and with-it promotion to Division One of the Spartan League. A year later Stortford won the Herts Senior Cup for the first time.

The 1950s saw steady progress in the club’s fortunes with the Delphian League title being won in season 1954-55. Until this time progress in the FA Amateur Cup had been nothing but a dream but in season 1962-63 Stortford found themselves only two games away from Wembley.

The Premier Division title was eventually captured in the 1969-70 season. Then, a long- term ambition was realised when an application to join the Isthmian League was accepted for the 1971-72 season. The early 1970s was also another very successful period in the club’s history, third place in the League was achieved in season 1973-74, Stortford’s best ever position, whilst six cup final victories were achieved in the space of four seasons.

In more recent times, the club was relegated to Division 1 at the conclusion of the 1991-92 term, but with ex-Arsenal star John Radford now as the Blues manager Stortford regained Premiership status by winning the Division One championship in season 1993-94.

After 18 months during which home league matches were played at Boreham Wood, St. Albans City, Hitchin Town, Dagenham & Redbridge and Ware, the club were once again relegated to Division One at the end of the 1998/99 season. But a new and eagerly awaited chapter in the club’s history began on Saturday 17th July 1999 when the new Woodside Park Stadium finally opened.

A brave new world opened for Blues in August 2004 as they kicked off their Conference South campaign with a 2-1 win at home to Eastbourne Borough. It was a journey into the unknown with league trips as far afield as Weymouth and Newport, but Blues held their own in the autumn with a position on the fringe of the play offs before finishing tenth.

In season 2009/10, Stortford again won the County Senior Cup. Simpson was replaced by ex-England and Spurs goalkeeper Ian Walker. A late three game winning run saw Walker save Blues from the drop and his side lifted the Herts Charity Cup with victory against Cheshunt.

But the club where hit by a bombshell at the Conference AGM in early June when they were placed in the northern section following the demise of Rushden & Diamonds.

A return to Conference South saw a fine first half to the 2013/2014 campaign contending for a “play-off” place and reaching the 1st Round of the FA Cup once again. They were handed a tie at home to Northampton Town that was televised live on ITV and attracted a record crowd of 2,548.

The 2016/17 season was a disaster for the club and probably the worst in the history finishing in the second-from-bottom place to be relegated to the Evo Stik Southern League after 13 seasons in the Conference set-up.

The 2021/22 campaign was one of the most memorable in recent years with a settled squad setting about on a remarkable campaign that saw the club taste defeat just five times in 42 league outings, amassing 87 points to finish second behind Champions Worthing, only to fall just short in the play-off final.

Opposition so far

Currently, our hosts on Tuesday find themselves right in the mix for that solo automatic promotion place, sitting second in the Isthmian League Premier Division table, behind only Hornchurch, after 13 wins, five draws, and five losses.

Their bid to secure promotion to the National League South was handed a boost after an action-packed 3-2 win away at Cray Wanderers, a game in which they initially found themselves two goals down. That result means that despite being only one point ahead of Cray in third, they do have three games in hand, similar to Hornchurch.

Key Players

Jack Thomas (Midfielder): Jack spent two seasons with the Blues Academy set-up and gained valuable experience of senior football with Sawbridgeworth Town in the Essex Senior League in the 2016/17 season.

He made his Blues first team debut in a Hertfordshire Charity Cup Semi-Final tie against Hitchin Town in September 2017 and has been a major influence in the Blues midfield since then. He won the Club’s “Young player of the year” award at the end of last season and at the start of the current campaign had made 108 appearances for the Blues.

Ryan Henshaw (Defender): A Club captain Ryan joined Stortford in early November 2018. Racked up over 300 appearances for AFC Sudbury before a switch to Heybridge Swifts.

Had nine goals in 116 Blues appearances to his name heading into the 22/23 campaign having also been voted into the Isthmian Premier team of the season following a superb 21/22 season that also saw him named as Players’ Player Of The Year.

Jack Giddens (Goalkeeper): A Jack won the Isthmian League Premier Division with Billericay Town, having also played for St Neots Town, Aveley, Tilbury, and East Thurrock Utd.

Wrote his name into Blues folklore in the 21/22 season by breaking a number of records, including setting an all-time club record of 1088 minutes without conceding a goal. Voted into the Isthmian Team of The Season 21/22.

Last time we met

We last faced Bishop’s Stortford earlier in the season in the Isuzu FA Trophy Third Round. On that occasion, Rory Smith’s first half goal proved to be not enough as Herne Bay fell to a 2-1 defeat.

Smith edged the Bay ahead early in the first half with a strike which, via a slight deflection, left the visiting ‘keeper with little chance of stopping it.

Matthew Johnson levelled things up for Bishop’s moments later, rising highest to head the ball home from Darren Foxley’s left-wing cross.

Foxley got in on the act to give the visitors the lead shortly after the restart, with the midfielder slotting home from a tight angle.

And despite some late pressure from the Bay, they were unable to find an equaliser as Bishop’s held on to progress to the next round.

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