After the turmoil of the management team resigning on Friday morning Anthony Deer and Alan Birchard took over the team management against 8th placed Whyteleafe.

The players unaware of what had gone on earlier we advised of the situation and a big ask was made to club captain, Ben Gorham, to get the lads to produce a performance that John & Jermaine would have been proud of. What a performance today!

A brilliant all round team performance where every single one of the players put in a great shift producing a dominant display ensuring we came away with all three points, a clean sheet and no bookings.

Whyteleafe were fast out of the blocks bringing Simon Overland into the game inside the first minute with a fine save from a rasping shot from the edge of the box. For the next 15 minutes it was all Bay with good efforts from Ronald Sobowale, Alex Mulrooney-Skinner and Victor Aiyelabola all going close to opening the scoring.

With Bay in control they had a good shout for a penalty in the 25th minute when Sobowale after rounding the defender was shoved to the ground but his appeal was waived away by the referee.

The breakthrough came in the 41st minute. Gorham returned a Callum Adonis-Taylor throw in and Adonis-Taylor sent a cross into the area where Sobowale beat the defender to head the ball wide of keeper, Tyler McCarty and into the corner to give Bay a deserved half time lead.

Whyteleafe started the second half in the same vein as the first with Overland having to save with his feet from a point blank range shot after defender Danny Rumbol was muscled off the ball. But Bay struck back almost immediately and from a Bradley Schafer throw in Sobowale headed the ball back to Tahjae Anderson who was tripped as he advanced in the area. Anderson picked up the ball and placed on the penalty spot. His spot kick was smashed to McCarty’s left as the keeper dived to his right.

Overland was again forced into making a couple good saves as ‘leafe tried to get back in the game and in the last 10 minutes squandered two brilliant chances to draw level. First Dan Hector put his diving header over the bar when it looked simpler to just nod it home and this was quickly followed when ‘leafe’s best player, Adam Aziz, drilled a low drive across the face of the goal but substitute Valentino Carpene
somehow managed to put the ball over the bar from a yard out.

But it was to be Bay’s day and they held out for an important 2-0 victory.

Herne Bay: Simon Overland, Alex Mulrooney-Skinner, Raphe Brown, Ben Gorham, Danny Rumbol, Callum Adonis-Taylor, Bradley Schafer, Simon Kabamba, Ronald Sobowale, Tahjae Anderson, Victor Aiyelabola

Subs Used: Leshawn Clifford Awoyemi (Mulrooney-Skinner 75) Sami Meziane (Anderson 85)

Subs not used: Emmanuel Oluwasemo, Danny Leonard, Freddie Rumbol