After two wins in a row, Herne Bay arrived at Broadbridge Heath on a wet and grim Saturday for the reverse fixture having beaten them 2-1 in September.

However, neither team really got what they wanted, as a 2-2 draw ultimately played out, meaning Herne Bay didn’t do the double over Broadbridge, and Broadbridge didn’t get revenge for their loss at the start of the season.

Before the match started, a pitch inspection took place at 11am to see if Storm Austen had impacted the ground, but the inspection was passed and the game went ahead.

Broadbridge got themselves in front within five minutes, when a save by Tom Wray fell into the path of Broadbridge’s attackers in the box who pounced upon the opportunity and took the lead.

In the 38th minute, Herne Bay equalised through Ade Azeez, who notched his second goal in two matches.

A long ball from a quick free kick was taken down by Emmanuel Robe who got his pass off to Antonio Morgan, who then found Azeez following his run into the box.
Azeez’s shot was fired direct and low underneath the keeper’s outstretched arms to meet the back of the net to even the scoring.

The draw was short lived as the hosts got back in front just six minutes later.
In almost identical circumstances to their first goal, their original shot was saved by Wray, but Broadbridge reacted first to get to the follow up and retake their lead.

Herne Bay trailed by one goal to two at the break.

Early in the second half, in the 50th minute, Josh Ajayi scored the final and equalising goal of the game.

Ryan Kingsford played a nice ball to Tariq Ossai who had ventured into the box, and his pass met Ajayi who sat down three defenders with some good footwork before he slammed the ball into the roof of the net and above the keeper who stayed rooted to his spot.

Then in the 66th minute, fortune was on Herne Bay’s side when Broadbridge were sent down to 10 men after Ben Holden was shown a second yellow and was given his marching orders following a foul on goalscorer Ajayi.

However, The Bay were unable to capitalise, and the game ended 2-2.

Following their first draw of the season, Herne Bay sit ninth in the league with 19 points from 12 games.

The next match is at home at the AL Scaffolding Stadium against Sittingbourne on Tuesday 27 October with a 7:45pm kick-off.