Seven points out of nine from three tough games and Sittingbourne will be full of confidence for another Kentish derby, at home to Ramsgate on Saturday.

The Brickies currently stand sixth in the Bostik South East League with pre-season promotion favourites like Hastings, Cray Wanderers and Hythe all gathering near the top already.

Sittingbourne should have joint top scorer Ira Jackson available again after serving a three-match suspension while goalkeeper Harry Brooks will be there for his last game at the club before going to Australia to try to further his football career.

It’s been a hard seven days of action for Sittingbourne with a 2-1 win at Guernsey last Sunday followed by a 1-1 draw away to Ashford on Tuesday night.

Tommie Fagg got his second goal of the season with a memorable strike at Ashford while the other Tom, Loynes, got both the goals at Guernsey and has joined Jackson at the top of the scorers’ list with five each.

Ramsgate have had mixed fortunes this season, losing four out of their six league games, including a 5-4 home defeat on Tuesday night by Herne Bay, when ex-Sittingbourne youngster Jake Embery got four goals, the final one a late winner.

But the Rams have had a great run in the FA Cup, pulling off a tremendous 3-2 win last Saturday away to a Gosport side who put out Sittingbourne in the previous round.

Ramsgate’s reward, apart from the handsome five-figure sum which comes from the FA for getting this far, is an away match next Saturday, in the third qualifying round, at Hemel Hempstead.

When these two teams met last season, Ramsgate won 3-2 at Sittingbourne in a midweek match in March when Aslan Odev had only recently taken over as caretaker manager, while the return game a month later ended 1-1.

Reiss Crimmen’s brother George is now the only former Sittingbourne player who followed the Ward brothers to Ramsgate a few years back to still be at the club.