If anyone doubted the credentials of the Denly/Brown/Theze partnership then their fears must surely have been allayed at Woodstock Sports on Saturday. Despite going into the break 1-0 down there were seven changes made at half-time. Deano Grant who had been kicked, used, abused and punched by the Woodstock defence answered in the best possible way. His long range effort bulged the Woodstock net and he crept behind their defence to head in his second. Those goals sandwiched another far post header from Joe Kennett.

The Bay put in a well-drilled performance, particularly in the second half. Sam Denly has a wealth of young, local talent to choose from, and with those on holiday and recovering from injury, he faces the tough task of culling his squad to manageable levels. What is certain is that the squad will be fit and hungry for the challenges that lie ahead.

The first challenge will be Guernsey at home on Saturday 10 August 2013. This will be one of those memorable days in Herne Bay history. The Islanders will be flying into Gatwick on the morning of the match. A television crew will be on hand to transmit the match live to the Bailiwick. The groundhoppers will be salivating with the thought of the Green Lions playing their first match at level four.

With the Premier League season starting one week after the Ryman League, Matt Le Tissier will be free from his Sky Sports commitments and it is confirmed that ‘Le God’ is planning to fly over for the game.

Le Tissier made 443 appearances for Southampton, scoring 161 goals. He also gained 8 full England international caps between 1994 & 1997. And if that is not enough to make this a very special day it has been chosen as one of 150 events taking place as part of the FA’s 150th anniversary celebrations to showcase the FA’s work at grassroots level.

The FA will also make a donation to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, the charity he established during the last 18 months of his life to fight cancer. It gives us a day to showcase everything that we believe to be special about our football club and gives the town's youth players an opportunity to be recognised for all the effort they give for the town, with that in mind we will be hosting something very special for a few lucky youth players during the half time interval.

But the weekend festivities do not stop there. After a couple of post-match drinks in the bar, Herne Bay Carnival starts at 6pm, followed by yet another spectacular event put on by our promotion partners, The BayPromo Team, with the Carnival After Party at the Kings Hall starting at 7.30.

And after pausing for breath, and breakfast, or lunch, depending on what time you get up, in one of Herne Bay’s fine eateries, its back down to Winch’s Field at 3pm with a Herne Bay Legends side taking on North Kent Legends. The teams will include Neil Brown, Mark Munday, Chris Thomas, John Love, Terry Martin, Steve Hearne, Dave Arter, Ian Mawson, Steve Best, Scott Appleton, Peter Coupland and many more. This will be a family fun day and the match will kick-off at 3.00pm. Adults £5, Concessions £3, Under 12 free. Tickets are available but you can also pay on the gate. The match will be held in aid of Macmillan Cancer Relief. This is part of Herne Bay FC’s ’60 Years at Winch’s Field’ celebrations.

There are still a small band of people associated with the club that were there at the very first match. Herne Bay Football Club was formed in 1886 and celebrated its 125th year two seasons ago. We would love to hear from anyone who has memories, photos, programmes, memorabilia from the early days or more recently. I can be contacted on: hbfcprogrammeeditor@outlook.com.

Before then the first team visit Homelands, the home of Ashford Town, to take on Kent County League Bromley Green before a Tuesday evening trip to Ryman Division One South side Chatham Town. The futures bright, the futures blue and white.

The Under 21s drew 1-1 away at Sheppey United with a Freddie Mills goal securing the draw.

Confirmed first team pre-season:
Saturday 27 July 2013. Bromley Green away (to be played at Homelands, Ashford). 3.00pm KO.
Tuesday 30 July 2013. Chatham Town away. 7.45pm KO.
Sunday 4 August 2013. Lewisham Borough away. 2.30pm KO.

Confirmed U21s pre-season:
Saturday 3 August 2013. New Romney away. 3.00pm KO.
Saturday 10 August 2013. Sutton Athletic away. 3.00pm KO.
Saturday 17 August 2013. Staplehurst Monarchs United away. 3.00pm. KO.

On Saturday 20 July 2013 Blue Cactus Productions and Herne Bay FC put on a comedy and curry night starring Brian Higgins
Ria Lina & Sol Bernstein. It was a rip-roaring success with the large crowd asking when the next one will be.