A bumper crowd flocked to Winch’s Field for the opening match in Herne Bay’s new Ryman League campaign against newly promoted Guernsey. This special occasion also marked the Sir Bobby Robson National Football Day as part of the FA 150 years celebrations. Groups of youngsters from Herne Bay Harriers, Herne Bay’s affiliated youth club, participated in a coaching session pre-match to highlight the work of the FA at grassroots level. At half-time, Spongebob Squarepants demonstrated his prowess in goal saving several penalties from the youngsters of Herne Bay Harriers and Herne Bay Youth. He also let a few in but he won’t mind as it was all part of the Sir Bobby Robson activities.

On the field, Bay’s new manager Sam Denly, saw his new charges start brightly and they might even have taken the lead early on had Jordan Casey’s bullet header hit the target rather than rocket over the bar. It was to prove to be the rare occasion when former Pompey ‘keeper, Chris Tardif, was beaten. Despite that early pressure, Guernsey gained strength and confidence and Mark McGrath could have edged the Green Lions in front on 23 but ballooned his shoot from 10 yards out. A minute later Gary Sayer saved Bay’s blushes, heading off the line with Jack Delo beaten.

Guernsey had the better of the early exchanges after the turnaround and deservedly took the lead on 58 when Mark McGrath tapped home from close range following good work from Matt Loaring. Bay’s young manager responded quickly, bringing on Kane Phillip, who added pace and Joe Nelder who quickly showed he was not afraid to shoot on site.
The later introduction of Jaime O’Connell, the ex Notts County player, added further spice to the Bay attack and when Kane Phillip was brought down in full flow many in the crowd behind the goal appealed for a penalty but the offence was adjudged to be outside the box. The resultant free kick from Sam Hasler was well saved by Tardif but with the final seconds ebbing away, he had to watch helplessly as Joe Nelder’s rasping 40 yard drive skimmed the top of the Guernsey crossbar.

Bay manager, Sam Denly declared after the game that he was happy with the work rate and fitness levels of his players. “I’m disappointed to lose the game 1-0”, he said, “I thought we’d done enough to get something out of it. We conceded a sloppy goal and had our chances after it to get something out of the game. We’re showing good levels of fitness and on another day we would have come away with a draw or a win. We’ve come up against a good side and we’ve matched them.”

Herne Bay: Jack Delo, Nathan Eastwood, Gary Sayer, Danny Walder, Connor Sanders, Joe Kennett, Sam Hasler, Danny Lawrence (Kane Phillip 64), Dean Grant (Jaime O’Connell 70), Jordan Casey, Michael Turner (Joe Nelder 64).
Subs not used: James Turner, Tom Axford.