After last week’s heart-breaking penalty shoot out cup defeat, Herne Bay were back in league action away to Chatham Town, looking to get back on track from a tough opening half of the season. Chatham had already won at Herne Bay earlier in the season and things got off to a terrible start in this game, with Herne Bay finding themselves two down in the first ten minutes. Tentative tackling and being caught playing out from the back led to those goals and Herne Bay were firmly up against it. 2-0

It was almost a third for the home side but for Callum’s sprawling save and yet almost immediately Herne Bay had a lifeline. Herne Bay attackers pressed the Chatham defence to force a turnover and Blake was on hand to intercept the loose pass and volley a sensational effort back over the stranded keeper. 2-1

Mere minutes later and Herne Bay had a second lifeline. Blake played a slide rule pass into Sammy who held his marker off all the way up their penalty area, despite his attempts to haul him back. Eventually, Sammy’s shirt was pulled from behind as he shaped to shoot at goal on the edge of the box and the referee correctly sent off the Chatham defender for denying a clear goal scoring opportunity.

With a man advantage, Herne Bay looked to punish their opponents but couldn’t find an equaliser before half time. Kai and Sammy saw efforts well saved, while Ethan and Oscar both fired over arriving at the far post. But an equaliser was quickly found after the restart, a long ball from Tom finding Freddie striding through and he confidently rounded the keeper to tuck home into an empty net. 2-2.

The momentum was clearly with the away side now and they grabbed the lead for the first time shortly after. This time it was Danny, a constant threat down the left, beating his marker again and whipping another low cross across the six yard box for the captain, arriving like a steam train, to power home. 2-3.

A fourth goal finally broke the spirit of the ten man side, and was perhaps the pick of the bunch. A sweeping counter attack, started by Blake, finding Charlie inside who swept the ball out to Danny. His pass inside found Sammy in the box with only one defender to beat. A little shimmy created the space for the front man to drill a left footed finish into the far corner. 2-4.

Some additional gloss was added to the scoreline when Charlie showed fine technique to volley home at the back post after another dangerous Blake corner evaded everyone. 2-5

A fantastic comeback in the end and further evidence that when these boys win their individual battles, their football can be devastating. All in all, a welcome three points and hopefully the kick start to their league season.