Norton Sports 1-2 Herne Bay - It's going to be a hard slog, warns Herne Bay boss Simon Halsey

With Hythe Town winning ugly at Beckenham Town yesterday, courtesy of first half goals from Craig Thompson and a controversial strike from skipper Dave Cook, the pressure was on Herne Bay to win their game in hand - and their ninth successive win closed the gap back to one point.

Herne Bay eased any nerves when slender striker Byron Walker converted his sixteenth goal of the season from close range within the opening six minutes, but Walker and strike partner Luke Harvey both struck the woodwork - as did Norton Sports’ Ashley Baverstock and Ryan Rook - before Darren Marsden doubled Herne Bay’s lead ten minutes into the second half.

Norton Sports’ skipper Jack Goodger marked his return from a three-match ban by rounding off a solid display, by heading home a last minute consolation goal.

“Job Done!,” was Halsey’s response at the final whistle.  “It don’t matter what anyone saw or heard.  We didn’t play well.  It weren’t a great game but at the end of the day it’s job done.

“We’re all on equal games and it’s a point in it and that was the point of the day, to make sure we’re still a point behind them (Hythe).  It weren’t brilliant.  It was ugly.”

The Kent League should consider arranging more “Super Sunday” fixtures on a more regular basis next season, as today’s game attracted Norton Sports’ record Kent League attendance at Woodstock Par as 186 fans’ flocked through the turnstiles to enjoy the sunshine at the ground located close to the Kent Science Park in the Sittingbourne countryside.

With club’s struggling to make ends meet and struggling to attract the punters, the Kent League should slot in Sunday fixtures into their schedule next season, where each club should choose one game that they would like to stage on a Sunday to boost their coffers.

Norton Sports’ assistant manager, Scott Appleton, blamed goalkeeper Nick Shaw for allowing Walker to hand Herne Bay the initiative inside six minutes.

Toby Ashmore played the ball out of defence - over the top of Norton central defender Russel Jeffrey for Luke Harvey who stroked a bobbling low right-footed shot across Shaw, who parried the ball straight to Walker, who pounced on the loose ball and rifled the ball into the top right-hand corner from close range.

Halsey said: “I said to the boys at half-time, Byron’s tucked one away but we’ve had two or three other great chances and Luke’s hit the bar and should’ve scored and we’ve got to  take our chances.  We created enough in the first half, to be perhaps two or three up.”

Appleton, meanwhile, bemoaned: “I thought our centre forward (Ashley Baverstock) could’ve shut their keeper down, better than what he did.

“I thought he could’ve worked harder than that then a long punt forward - one of our subs was walking round and it was definitely onside, there was no questions about it being offside.

“In the warm up the keeper was saying in shooting practice that the ball was bouncing so he knew about it (the bobbly surface) and he should’ve done better, if he knew about it before hand.

“At the end of the day there should’ve been defenders to clear up after him, the forward’s anticipated it more than the defender’s.”

With player-manager Ben Taylor away in Gambia for a two-week fishing holiday, Appleton admitted afterwards the home side missed Taylor’s presence at the heart of defence.

He said: “He stands out a mile.  For all his critics and everything else, he could play two league’s above this one easily.  I know the officials’ moan because he’s always shouting and talking but we were quiet out there today and if Ben was playing it wouldn’t have been like that.  He gives us an extra spark and he was solely missed.”

Norton Sports were not going to let their former landlords have their own way on their own patch - Appleton revealed that floodlights will be erected at the ground next month - and they created their first chance of the game after 13 minutes.

Baverstock’s ball over the top released John Neal through the heart of defence and the striker shrugged off Dan Lawrence’s attentions, only to sweep a shot wide of the left post.

An even better chance fell to the home side five minutes later with the first of three excellent free-kick deliveries from Ryan Rook, who is a calmer character than his older brother Carl, who is on loan with Tonbridge Angels from Dartford.

Rook swung in a free-kick from just outside the corner of the penalty box towards the far post to pick out Jeffrey’s late run but he steered his header agonisingly past the near post from a very tight angle.

The woodwork denied Herne Bay from doubling their lead in the 22nd minute when Marsden slipped Walker through on goal and his left-footed bobbling shot bounced off the foot of the near post and Lewis Taylor was on hand to hack the ball clear.

Herne Bay defender Tom Bryant was relieved when his yellow-card foul on Michael Green was inches outside of the penalty area and Rook stepped up to curl a right-footed free-kick, which took a deflection off the wall and Dan Eason did well to palm the ball away.

Norton’s right-back John Emmerson gifted Herne Bay a corner, which was swung in from the left by Lawrence and Bryant headed the ball across goal and where it came when positioned in a decent place at the far post.

Norton Sports were desperately unlucky not to equalise in the 31st minute when Nealunleashed a low right-footed volley from the corner of the penalty box from 20-yards, which looped over Eason’s dive and agonisingly bounced off the foot of the near post.

Norton were enjoying their most dominant spell and Taylor’s cross from the left was flicked on by Tony Clark and Neal’s right-footed shot deflected over Eason’s crossbar.

But Herne Bay were to hit the woodwork again in the 39th minute when Harvey should have scored after Shaw made amends for his earlier mistake.

Lawrence swept a left-footed pass forward for Marsden, who released Harvey down the right and after cutting inside Jeffrey, the Herne Bay skipper was denied by a kneeling Shaw at his near post, but Harvey smashed the follow up against the crossbar with his right-foot from three yards.

Clark and Neal combined to carve open Herne Bay right-back Joe Nelder, but Baverstock weak shot from a tight angle comfortably bounced to Eason at his near post.

But an even better chance fell Norton’s way moments later, when Baverstock released Neal through on goal (as they realised that they could make progress down Nelder’s side of the pitch) and the former Sittingbourne striker brought a fine near post block out of Eason.

You felt for Rook when he was denied a magical goal in the 50th minute - as the crossbar saved Herne bay and denied Norton Sports a deserved goal.

Right-sided midfielder Rook stepped up and looped a right-footed free-kick from 30-yards, which gave Eason no chance as the ball caressed off the crossbar.

Rook, who was handed a pre-season trial at Tonbridge Angels, was the impressive force in the Norton camp.

“He’s capable of that, he always pops up with something Rookie,” added Appleton.

“He’s been playing really well lately.  He’s been working hard, been getting forward and he earns the right to play well with his own work-rate, which has been good.

“It’s another season in the Kent League for him and he can only get better with the experience. Jon Neal’s been a great signing for us.”

Herne Bay doubled their lead in the 55th minute, and the groundsman will be disappointed to see the ball slide underneath the goal-netting as Marsden netted his ninth goal of the season.

Nathan Eastwood’s throw saw Harvey use his strength to reach the by-line and his deflected cross found Lawrence lurking at the far post and the winger cut the ball back to Marsden, who drilled a precise low right-footed shot across Shaw into the bottom left-hand corner.

Halsey hailed the build up, saying, “Good build up.  Good play as well.  When we play, we play but we didn’t do enough of it today, technically, but we done enough to win the game at the end of the day, that’s really what matters.”

An unmarked Clark should have done better for Norton when Jeffrey’s pumped a free-kick into the penalty box, but his weak header was poor and let Herne Bay off the hook.

Shaw was called into action in the 73rd minute when Lawrence floated in a cross from the right and Marsden brought the ball under control with his chest and knee before hooking a right-footed volley towards goal, which forced the Norton keeper into making a low save to his right.

Norton substitute, target man Andy Irvine, cracked a left-footed angled volley, which flashed across Eason and past the far post before the game petered out.

Norton Sports deserved a goal for their efforts and that came a little too late - as Goodger scored his second goal of the season in the 89th minute.

A left-wing corner from substitute Robert Welling was cleared to Lewis Rivett, who cut the ball back to Welling, who whipped in an inch-perfect cross towards the far post and Goodger powered his header into the top right-hand corner from six-yards.

Appleton, who praised his skipper, felt the number five scored too late in the game to salvage a point.

“I asked the linesman and it was four minutes left when the goal went in,” said Appleton.  “Shame it didn’t come twenty minutes earlier to bring it back to 2-1.  We would’ve had twenty minutes to have a good go at them.

“Jack fully deserved his goal.  It was his first game back after a three game ban.  I thought he worked hard and he was my man-of-the-match.  He  worked hard from start-to-finish but at the same time that was our first cross in the box in the second half. It took 44 minutes for us to achieve that.”

Halsey was disappointed that Eason, who had kept six clean sheets in his last eight games before today, didn’t keep another one.

“That’s what I said to them, I said keep clean sheet after clean sheet and then we concede what I class was a sloppy goal.  Just a silly set-piece no-one’s picked him up.  We’ve tried to squeeze them and no-one’s picked him up.”

Halsey explained why Herne Bay didn’t play their trademark passing game today.

“Nine games like that, it’ll be, of course it will.  I’ve just said that to the players,” he said.

“If anyone is under any illusions that we’ll be able to pass the ball and play it around and do what we do - people ain’t going to let us do that.  It’s going to be a hard slog.”

He said: “I think it’s a hard place to come.  We’ve known that.  We’ve been here a couple of times already in the Cup earlier.  I know I keep saying about it, but it’s job done.”

Nine league games left to play, Herne Bay lock horns with leaders Hythe Town at Winch’s Field on Wednesday 6 April - a game that is billed as the Title Decider.

But Halsey added: “I don’t think it will go down to that. It’ll certainly have a big impact on who’s going to win it.  I don’t think it’s going to be the decider, but it will have an impact.

“I think it’s going to go all the way to the wire, a few twists and turns and as I’ve said before, it’s time for me and other manager’s to earn their corn.”

Reflecting on the game, Appleton added: “I don’t think we deserved too much out of the game today, but I think that’s down to the way we played Tuesday (losing 6-4 at Beckenham Town).

“I was expecting a better performance today, than what we got but we were missing Ben (Taylor) at the back.  I think that stood out a mile.

“I think the experience showed from Herne Bay, they play badly and they still won 2-1.  We play bad and we struggled.  We didn’t do ourselves justice today.”

Norton Sports: Nick Shaw, John Emmerson (Andy Irvine 57), Lewis Taylor, Russel Jeffrey, Jack Goodger, Lewis Rivett, Ryan Rook, Tony Clark, John Neal, Ashley Baverstock  (Robert Welling 75), Michael Green (Frazer Rogers 81).

Subs: Chris Elliott, Daniel Baverstock

Goal: Jack Goodger 89

Booked: Lewis Rivett 26, Jack Goodger 76,Robert Welling 90

Herne Bay: Dan Eason, Joe Nelder, Nathan Eastwood, Tom Bryant, Toby Ashmore, Michael Jenner (Ben Brown 51), Dan Lawrence, Darren Marsden (Peter Williams 78), Byron Walker, Luke Harvey, Michael Turner (Rhys Lawson 66).

Subs: David Crofts, James Turner

Goals: Byron Walker 6, Darren Marsden 55

Booked: Tom Bryant 24

Attendance: 186

Referee: Mr Nicholas Dunn (Deal)

Assistants: Mr Daniel Bonnywell (Canterbury) & Mr Isaac Searle (Herne Bay)