With Herne Bay looking to extend their unbeaten streak, they welcomed Sittingbourne to the AL Scaffolding Stadium on cold Tuesday evening for a 7:45pm kick off.

The game against Sittingbourne provided fantastic viewing for the 729 fans in attendance, and in the words of Herne Bay manager, Ben Smith, ‘that is a great game of football’ and ‘what an advert for the Isthmian League that is.’

It was an electric game between the two sides, with both getting some intense standout moments throughout.

In the 19th minute, Sittingbourne were awarded a free-kick in Herne Bay’s half, which was taken down by Dexter Peter and smashed into the woodwork and luckily didn’t trickle down into the net, but it was a sign of what was to come later on.

A few minutes later, Herne Bay had a solid effort in the 22nd minute when Rodney Eurotor was found in the box and laid the ball off to Josh Ajayi whose dinked shot was comfortably claimed by the keeper, but Josh wasn’t kept out for too long.

In the 31st minute, the Sittingbourne keeper rushed a clearance because of pressure from Ade Azeez. The clearance fell to Antonio Morgan, who was brought down but the ref played advantage as Ajayi got the ball. He skipped past one defender and took a shot from outside the D that screamed past the defenders in the box, under the keeper’s dive and nestled into the bottom corner to give Herne Bay the lead.

But it was a lead that was short lived, as Sittingbourne scored twice in twice minutes, in the 35th and 37th minutes respectively.

Jay Beckford first scored for the visitors, when he made a run into the box and beat his man to get his foot to a crossed ball first to equalise for Sittingbourne.

Their second goal came from a close but tight-angled shot in the box by Bagasan Graham to put them in front.

There was almost an immediate reaction by Herne Bay when Ryan Kingsford played Azeez in, but Azeez’s shot was saved by the keeper at close range.

At halftime, The Bay were trailing 2-1, despite taking the lead 31 minutes in.

The action didn’t stop in the second half either, with Sittingbourne winning a free kick just three minutes into the half.

Somehow, this free kick cleared every player and just hit the post with no one there to either clear it or steer it into the goal.

However, The Bay weren’t going to back down without a fight, and they continued to push and they earned their reward.

In the 50th minute, Eurotor came in from the right and laid the ball off to Ajayi who pinged a ball over the top to Azeez who cut back to Ajayi who had made his way into the box, and with the keeper being off his line to cover Azeez, Ajayi struck with his right foot and guided the ball to the far post and in to restore parity.

Then, eight minutes later it seemed as if the lead was restored by Azeez after poking home Eurotor’s deflected effort following a corner, but the linesman flagged for offside.

Only a few minutes after that, in the 62nd minute, a golden opportunity presented itself for The Bay when an indirect freekick was given after the Sittingbourne keeper picked up a back pass.

But the following set piece didn’t provide fruitful, as Kingsford took it short to Ajayi who’s effort was blocked.

But then, just five minutes later, in the 67th minue, the lead did swing the way of Herne Bay.

In an attacking move, Ryan Kingsford found Ade Azeez with a through ball, who had made a darting run beyond the defence. And as he held off a man in the box, got his shot off and watched it snake underneath the keeper’s glove and into the back of the net.

More chances fell to both teams between Herne Bay’s third goal and the end of the 90, but neither team could either extend their advantage or equalise.

That was the case until added time.

In five minutes of additional time, Sittingbourne turned up the pressure in attempts to rescue a point from the game.

And they were successful, as right in the last minute, they had gotten into Herne Bay’s box, and despite a great original save by Tom Wray at his near post, unfortunately there was nothing he could do to prevent Dexter Peter’s rebounded header from making its way into the net.

Shock and disbelief was felt throughout the Herne Bay faithful, while Sittingbourne and their travelling fans were enthusiastic with their celebrations.

The full-time whistle was blown, and a fantastic game of football was brought to a close.

The goals and the points were shared equally, with it ending Herne Bay 3-3 Sittingbourne.

After this exciting draw, The Bay stay ninth in the league table, with 20 points from 13 games, but equal on points with Ashford United.

The next fixture is an away game at Punjab United on Saturday 31 October, with a 3pm kick-off.