Fresh from a one-sided defeat to Bishop’s Stortford, the Bay set about putting their best foot forward right from the get go. After only two minutes, Smith almost gave Kevin Watson’s side an early lead but from a tight angle, his powerful shot struck the crossbar before being cleared.

Billericay were struggling to deal with the early pressure and but for a little more composure in front of goal, the Bay could have had reward for their early efforts. With seven minutes on the clock, David Ozobia was the next one to try his luck, only to fire high and wide from the edge of the box.

The visitors were in the ascendancy but just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. Allowed the freedom of the Billericay half to run into, Jack Parter took aim from something like 35 yards out and was a whisker away from a spectacular opener, seeing the ball zip just the wrong side of the top corner of the hosts’ net.

Having survived the initial period of pressure from the Bay, the hosts started to warm into the game, with three crucial defensive blocks denying them a real chance on goal, before John Ufuah struck the post from close range in the 20th minute.

The game was beginning to open up as both sides created opportunities. With 24 minutes gone, Ozobia once again found himself in shooting position, following a cleverly taken corner by Mike West, but the resulting shot drifted over.

Following that, three minutes later, Jeffrey dribbled his way down the wing and into the Bay box, only to find Finn O’Mara standing tall, with the loanee putting his body on the line to stop the dangerous attack.

As the game crept closer towards the half time interval, Billericay were starting to dictate more of the play. In the 35th minute, Ufuah was once again left frustrated to see his angled shot whistle just over, before Isiaka’s header drifted narrowly wide of Jordan Perrin’s goal.

However, with just over five minutes to play, Isiaka went one better when he found himself in the right place at the right time to stab Chambers’ header home from close range, despite the best efforts of Perrin and Parter on the line.

One goal leads are never truly secure and it seemed the Billericay coaching team had told their side that during the break, with both Parter and Perrin making excellent goal line blocks in the 48th minute to deny the hosts.

Despite being a goal down, the Bay were enjoying good spells of possession but were unable to do anything with it as Billericay maintained their grip on the game.

Just past the hour mark, O’Mara took it upon himself to carry the ball into the hosts’ half, having not been closed down when in a defensive position. However, in trying to pick out Smith with a cross, he over hit the final ball to let the Billericay defence off.

With 65 minutes on the clock, heads were in hands on the Bay bench when only a spectacular save from home ‘keeper Harry Seaden denied them a leveller, with Smith’s stunning shot looking destined for the back of the net.

But having been bailed out by their shot-stopper, Billericay gave themselves a bit of breathing space in the 67th minute when a well-taken shot from Stevenson beat Perrin, and the Bay defence.

Watson’s men were hanging on a little bit as only an excellent block by substitute Jack Sammoutis denied Billericay a third in the 70th minute.

However, there were still opportunities for the men in yellow to get back into the game, as another charging run from Smith looked to have unlocked the home defence, only for a heavy last touch to enable the hosts to clear their lines.

Try as they might, the Bay were struggling to get what efforts they had on target, as substitute Daniel Ogunleye saw two late efforts go wide of Seaden’s goal, perhaps a story of their game.

Final Score: Billericay Town 2 Herne Bay 0

Billericay Town Starting XI: Harry Seaden, Toby Stevenson, Marvel Ekpiteta, Michael Chambers, Bradley Stevenson, John Ufuah, Daniel Quick, Kareem Isiaka, Anderson Pinto (Eze Ebuzoeme 79’), Anthony Jeffrey (Alfie Cerulli 79’), Imran Uche

Yellow Cards: Anthony Jeffrey 28’

Unused Subs: George Wind, Montel Agyemang, Henry Lukombo

Herne Bay Starting XI: Jordan Perrin, Troy Williams, Jack Parter, Dan Johnson, Hamilton Antonio (Daniel Ogunleye 72’), Mason Saunders-Henry, Marcel Barrington, Rory Smith, Finn O’Mara, Mike West (Jack Sammoutis 67’), David Ozobia

Yellow Cards: Finn O’Mara 35’

Unused Subs: Jude Russell, Laurence Harvey, Donnell Anderson