Herne Bay secured all three points for the first time since October after goals from Rory Smith, Yannis Drais, and Marcel Barrington helped them to a 3-1 win against Bowers & Pitsea.

Smith put the Bay ahead in the third minute, before debutant Drais' deflected free-kick doubled the hosts' advantage.

Billy Crook levelled from the spot midway through the first half as Bowers reduced the Bay's lead to one.

Barrington bagged his first goal since returning from injury on the hour mark to restore the hosts' two-goal cushion.

And Jordan Perrin made certain of the result with a late penalty save, helping Kevin Watson's side secure their first win since mid October.

Following back-to-back defeats in which chances were wasted, The Bay came out of the gates brightly and after only three minutes, they edged their way ahead.

Bursting down the wing, Mason Saunders-Henry found space to put a dangerous low ball into the Bowers box, one which Smith made now mistake in hammering home at the back post.

With little time to digest the lightning quick start, and with Bowers wobbling, Kevin Watson’s side doubled their lead with only five minutes played.

Stepping up to take a free kick about 25-yards out from goal, new signing Drais saw his effort take a deflection off the visiting wall, wrong footing the ‘keeper as he watched the ball sail into an open net with only five minutes on the clock.

The hosts were buzzing, both on and off the pitch, with Marcel Barrington and Saunders-Henry linking up well in the 13th minute, with the latter firing the ball into the bottom corner, only to see the linesman with his flag raised.

Bowers took a little while to warm into the game and were forced to try their luck from range, with Michael Bareck firing well over Perrin’s goal from all of 30-yards.

As the first half went along, the visitors, sat in 20th before kick-off, were starting to press forward more and but for some strong defending from Laurence Harvey, Bola might just have managed to pick out a teammate in the centre of the Bay box.

However, the men in blue were dealt a blow just past the hour mark when the referee pointed to the spot as Bola and Dan Johnson came together in the box. Stepping up to take it, Crook sent Perrin the wrong way to reduce the hosts’ lead to one.

Fired up by what they thought was a soft penalty, the Bay looked to try and restore their two-goal advantage as Barrington was thwarted by Melvin Minter when turning and shooting from just outside the visiting penalty area.

Five minutes before the break, only a mixture of last-gasp defending and the heroics of Perrin denied Bowers the chance to level, following a goalmouth scramble which left everyone guessing as to what was going on.

Reeling from narrowly missing out on an equaliser, the visitors started the second half brightly, with the home shot stopper called into action twice in the opening couple of minutes.

But back came the Bay as Kymani charged forward in the 48th minute, breaking towards the visitors’ goal, but Melvin Minter was a match for the eventual shot.

The hosts soon settled back into their rhythm and six minutes after the restart, Smith came within a whisker of bagging his second of the game, with the forward watching Mason Saunders-Henry’s cross drift agonisingly beyond his reach.

Pressure was being applied to the Bowers back line as Watson’s men looked to restore that two-goal cushion. With 58 minutes on the clock, there were cries for a penalty when Bode Anidugbe’s shot looked to strike a Bowers arm, before DJ’s goal-bound shot deflected behind, but the referee wasn’t interested and allowed the game to continue.

Just past the hour mark, the hosts’ hard work finally paid off when another dizzying run from Saunders-Henry allowed him enough space to whip the ball into the six-yard box. Laying in wait at the back post, Barrington got the wrong side of his marker before thumping the ball into the back of the net.

Saunders-Henry was having another strong showing for the men in blue and on another day, he could have added another spectacular goal to his record, only for his 30-yard shot to drift an inch or two over the crossbar.

Watson’s side were pounding on the door in search for the fourth but deep into stoppage time, the referee pointed to the spot once more, much to the frustration of the Bay bench.

Stepping up to take it and confident after his earlier spot kick, Crook and Bowers were left with their head in their hands when Perrin dove to his left to get both hands behind the ball, tipping it away from the bottom corner as the referee blew for full time amidst the celebrations.

Full Time: Herne Bay 3 Bowers & Pitsea 1

Herne Bay Starting XI: Jordan Perrin, Troy Williams, Laurence Harvey ©, Dan Johnson, Mason Saunders-Henry, Marcel Barrington (Briggs Ojemen 90’), Rory Smith, Kymani Thomas (Eddie Allsopp 85’), Yannis Drais (Mike West 75’), Bode Anidugbe, David Ozobia.

Goals: Rory Smith 3' Yannis Drais 5' Marcel Barrington 63'

Bookings: Bode Anidugbe 32’ Mason Saunders-Henry 90’

Unused Subs: Emmanuel Martins

Bowers & Pitsea: Melvin Minter, Dylan Thistleton, Mobolaji Dawodu (Valckx Fernandes 67’), Dexter Peter, Jamal Allen, Rio Campbell, Billy Crook, Harrison Carnegie (D’Jean Spencer 67’), Julian Gibson (Anisius Lewis 74’), Oscar Shelvey, Michael Bareck

Goals: Billy Crook 32 (Pen)

Bookings: Michael Bareck 61’ Julian Gibson 73’

Unused Subs: Elliott Sartorius, Kai Redgrave