Match Report

Saturday 28th October 2017
Bostik League Division One South
Herne Bay 4-1 Shoreham
Att: 234
(Goals: Dukali 2 pens, Carlton, Mulrooney-Skinner)

Herne Bay: Ben Hunter, Aaron Akuruka, Jardel Bunda-Kamara, Josh Wisson, Jono Richardson, Bradley Schafer, Alex Mulrooney-Skinner, Tom Carlton, Jake Embery, Junior Aikhionbare, Nassim Dukali
Subs Used: Jack Steventon (Akuruka 35) Merrick James-Lewis (Schafer46) Raphe Brown (Bunda-Kamara 71)
Subs not used: Connor Cox Ryan Catmull
Man of The Match: Alex Mulrooney-Skinner

In a very scrappy game Herne Bay ground out a victory putting their heavy defeat against Lewes firmly behind them. If basement side Shoreham had put away their numerous first half chances Bay would have found it very difficult to get the 4-1 victory they eventually achieved.
Herne Bay needed to get all the points against a Shoreham side struggling to come to terms with their Step 4 status. The victory was achieved mainly due to the visitors ill discipline as with 15 minutes of play remaining they conceded a penalty which was duly converted to restore Bay’s lead. Two further goals followed, including another penalty in the final ten minutes.

The first half was awful from a spectators point of view as Bay played no risk defending to combat their visitors' direct style of pumping the ball forward, although this style of play proved to be very effective as they created many scoring chances but poor finishing let them down as they squandered chance after chance. Against the run of play, Herne Bay went ahead; Alex Mulrooney-Skinner latching onto a through ball from Bradley Schafer to drill the ball into the bottom corner. 15 minutes later Shoreham’s George Gaskin was barged over in the box and elected to take the spot kick himself but he sent kick the wide of the upright. This summed up their finishing prowess!

After the break, Herne Bay started to pass the ball and attack Shoreham’s defence but they were again thankful for the crossbar as Gaskin lobbed Ben Hunter and then hit his follow up shot well wide. However the equalizer duly came when from a free kick on the edge of the 18 yard area, Sean Roddy's sweetly struck free kick went up and over the wall giving Hunter no chance. This seemed ignite Bay as they took the game to the visitors but it wasn't until the 75th minute before Bay restored their lead. Junior Aikhionbare wriggled through the defensive line only to have his shirt pulled by Max Whitehead in the area. Nassim Dukali duly despatched the spot-kick. Four minutes later, good inter-play between Dukali and Jake Embery set Tom Carlton free and he coolly slotted home to increase Bay's lead. Shoreham’s resolve looked broken and in the 85th minute it was Aikhionbare again, this time brought down in the box to earn a second penalty and Whitehead a second yellow and an automatic red card. Dukali chose the opposite corner into which to place his kick to secure the win and the points.
After the game, skipper Jono Richardson told Radio Cabin 94.6 FM, "It became very frustrating, stop start, and didn't allow us to have our normal flow on the game. On the basis of the last few results it's important for us to get the three points. We had to get something today , they had a clear game plan to frustrate us, but we cracked on in the second half and got the three points which was the most important thing.