Herne Bay look to hold onto their place in the Isthmian South East play-off places this weekend as Hythe Town visit Winches Field with boss Steve Lovell in reflective mood as his side continue to possibly exceed expectations. 

Since Christmas, the Bay have collected 23 points from their ten games, and Lovell told us this week, “It has been good; we have only lost one and that was against Sittingbourne, so It has been a particularly good run which we have to keep going!

“It has come at the right time, but we are just taking every game as it comes as there really is a long way to go and there’s a lot of teams still fighting for the (play-off) places. It is a good run, but we will only look back on it if we finish the business that we started so hopefully we will be able to keep it going!” 

Last weekend’s draw with relegation threatened Erith & Belvedere though did not please the manager as he admitted, “I was disappointed with the game as a whole really, it was terrible!

“Neither team played well at all the pitch had a lot to do with that as we like to play football, but it was bumpy and boggy, but that is no excuse as it was the same for both teams. I thought Erith battled very, very hard and play their way.

“Our game was off, it was one of those games that we have not had for a while but at the end of the day when they go in front in the eighty-eighth minute, you would take a point. So, in the end I think that we have got to be happy with a point!” 

Many have been surprised with the progress that Bay have made under Lovell and his assistant (son Mark) and Lovell senior admitted that he does not feel any pressure as the Bay go into the run-in occupying the final play-off space.

“I think when we started last summer when we first came to the Club, Herne Bay had not had the best year last year and our first remit was to steady the ship and then make sure that we stay in the League and build on perhaps for next year.

“So, what we have achieved has come as a welcome surprise for most people that we are in the position that we are in. Mark and I always thought that if we could get a decent side together, we could mould them into a team that could perhaps be in the position that we are.” 

“Now that we have, everyone has different values and different goals now, the expectations are higher for everybody including the players. It is nice to be in this position and hopefully we can continue doing it and see where it takes us.

“We’ve got to play a lot of the sides that are currently trying to catch us starting with Hythe Town this weekend so there’s a lot of work to be done and anything could happen. If you look at all the fixtures, the teams around us play are also playing either the top sides or against each other so anything could happen!” 

“I think last year to get into the play-offs you needed sixty-seven points, so we are looking for another twenty points possibly, another seven wins out of eleven games left. But last year there was quite a big gap between the top and the rest of them but this year is very condensed so it could well be less than that. But all teams want to do at this stage is to get yourself into that position to give yourself a chance starting with Hythe on Saturday!”