Saturday 20th February 2024.
Isthmian League Division One South East
Phoenix Sports 0 Herne Bay 2
Attendance. 146
Herne Bay: Harry Brooks, Finlay Whitton, Frankie Smith, Dan Carrington, Liam Friend, Danny Walder, Mo Kamara, Gil Carvalho, Archie Burnett, Michael Salako, Kane Rowland. Subs not used: Harrison Pont, Carter Wilson, Bola Dawodu, Sean Aromolaran, Sam Wright.
Scorer: Salako 2 (42, 77)

After a tough December Herne Bay have shown bouncebackability in abundance in January sneaking into the top five with 13 points from a possible 15.

Finlay Whitton came in for Theo Osinfolarin with Harrison Pont returning from injury but on the bench.

The four consecutive win is the fifth time that Bay have achieved this in the Isthmian League, with Sam Denly having managed it twice, Jermaine Darlington/John Embery once and Ben Smith once.

The last time that Herne Bay gained 13 points from a possible 15 was in April 2022 and the last time that Bay won three away league games on the bounce was December 2019/January 2020.

Mike Salako’s brace takes him up to third in the race for the Golden Boot with 17 goals.

His first came just before the break when home keeper Andy Walker failed to hold a Carvalho strike and it fell to Archie Burnett who found Salako waiting in the six-yard area to head home.

The second came in the 77th minute when a mis-placed pass out by Walker was fumbled by Adejola Lahan and picked up by Salako who broke down the left rounded the keeper, and from a tight angle stuck the ball between the posts.

It could have been three but Liam Friend’s header from a Danny Walder free-kick struck the upright.

Phoenix had plenty of ball in the second half but rarely tested Harry Brooks with Bay solid at the back and marshalled superbly by Friend.

But perhaps the most pleasing statistic is the clean sheet which brings to an end the run of 31 games conceding away in the league, the previous time was 23/04/2022, coincidently also at Phoenix Sports.

Some difficult challenges are coming up with Sittingbourne visiting Winch’s Field next followed by trips to Hythe Town and Lancing, three teams that could be in the mix at the end of the season, but with the togetherness and spirit being shown by Herne Bay anything is possible.