In what proved to be West’s last game in interim charge, the Bay looked to get out of the blocks quickly, with the new manager watching from the stands.

In the fourth minute, an excellent run down the wing from Thomas allowed the attacker to find Rory Smith in space within the Horsham penalty area.

His shot took a slight deflection, one which carried the ball beyond the bottom left corner, just out of the reach of Monty Saunders, making his first league start, who was a shoe size away from tapping home.

Since returning to the starting eleven, Perrin has been in top notch, despite the Bay’s poor overall form. Not long after that golden chance for the men in blue, Jordan produced a fine save as the hosts looked to capitalise on the space they had been afforded.

A quarter of the way through the first half, the Herne Bay shot-stopper was doing his level best to stop Horsham from edging ahead, producing a masterful save to tip a powerful shot onto the crossbar.

However, there was only so much that Jordan could do and in the 22nd minute, after another spectacular save, Day was on hand to fire home from a tight angle, with the Bay defence slow to react to the loose ball.

The blue shirts were being put under pressure, but they were still fashioning chances of their own as Briggs Ojemen was played in on goal just past the half hour mark. However, Amadou Tangara, formerly of Margate, was on hand to claw the ball away from goal, with the rebound being hooked over the bar.

Herne Bay were enjoying more of the ball as the first half went along, with Smith and Mason Saunders-Henry both having efforts that forced Tangara into action.

However, West’s side were dealt a blow when the home lead was extended in the 41st minute through Rodrigues, who drove through the Bay back line before hammering the ball past Perrin.

Despite this setback, the response was just what the doctor ordered and a minute or so later, Thomas provided the visitors with a spectacular way back into the game, collecting the ball in the centre of the pitch, charging into space, before unleashing an unstoppable shot, one which the home ‘keeper could do very little about.

With their tails firmly up, and with Westy and DL’s words fresh in their ears, the Bay started the second half on top, with Jason Banton’s through ball an inch or two away from connecting with Eddie Allsopp, who had expertly escaped the attention of the defender.

However, neither side truly rediscovered any sort of rhythm, with the second 45 taking much longer than the first to get started.

It took until just past the 60th minute for the next chance of note, with substitute Mazzone trying his luck from range, only to find Perrin more than a match for the strike.

Horsham were starting to find their groove once again and were applying plenty of pressure to the Bay defence. Only a terrific block from Ojemen denied the hosts another opportunity on goal in the 67th minute.

As the second half plodded along, it seemed more likely that the hosts would add another goal to their tally than the Bay levelling the score and with 13 minutes left to play, Sparks made no mistake when played through on goal by Mazzone, hitting the back of the net with a well-placed strike.

That goal seemed to knock the wind out of the men in blue and with confidence already low among the squad, Horsham capitalised by bagging a fourth just before the close of play, as Mazzone finally worked his way onto the score sheet, having had one effort disallowed earlier in the game.

Final Score: Horsham 4 Herne Bay 1

Herne Bay Starting XI: Jordan Perrin, Troy Williams, Che Krabbendam, Dan Johnson, Briggs Ojemen, Mason Saunders-Henry (Bode Anidugbe 56’), Rory Smith (Archie Hatcher 77’), Monty Saunders (Tushaun Walters 54’), Kymani Thomas, Eddie Allsopp, Jason Banton

Unused Subs: Laurence Harvey, Leo Dodds