Three second half goals earned Deal a league “double” over Chatham Town on Saturday.

The Deal defence, well marshalled by Dean Hill,  were outstanding throughout and kept Chats’ new signing, former Millwall and Leyton Orient striker Garry Alexander, in check.

Deal had three very good first half chances to take the lead. Sam Wilson was twice thwarted in one-on-one situations by Chats keeper Ryan Nicholls and then a minute before the interval, following a foul on Connor Coyne, Dan Adams saw his penalty kick strike the crossbar.

Jamie Miller then gave Chatham the lead after 51 minutes with a shot from 20 yards and 11 minutes later Russell Bedford nearly added a second for the hosts with his effort going narrowly over the bar. ,

But then Ben Chapman, who came on as a sub for the Hoops after 65 minutes, turned the game their way with goals after 71 and 79 minutes. Both were similar, being struck from the right side of the penalty area, with the second aided by a deflection off a defender.

The icing on the cake for Deal was then provided by Wilson in the 88th minute. The hard working Coyne won the ball and played him in and although Wilson still had it all to do, the striker finished with aplomb.

Deal : Tonkin, Paxman, Hark, Hill, K. Smith, Scott, Foster (Sahadow 65) C. Miller (Chapman 65) Coyne ( Alexander 90 +1) Wilson, Adams .

Attendance : 213.