Potters Bar Town 1-0 Herne Bay - It's going to be a tough season but we'll get better that's for sure, insists newly-promoted Herne Bay boss Ben Smith

Potters Bar Town 1 – 0 Herne Bay
Location	Parkfield, Watkins Rise, The Walk, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1QB
Kickoff	14/08/2022 14:00

POTTERS BAR TOWN  1-0  HERNE BAY
Isthmian League Premier Division
Sunday 14 August 2022
Stephen McCartney reports from Parkfield

HERNE BAY manager Ben Smith says his side will face a tough season where there will be some tough days and some great days after suffering a heartbreaking defeat in their first ever game in the Isthmian League Premier Division.

 

Sammy Moore’s thirteenth-placed finishers snatched the opening weekend points, courtesy of a clinical finish from winger Quentin Monville with 88 minutes on the clock.

“Just a sucker punch there wasn’t it but that’s the level,” said Smith, who has never managed in the eight-tier of English football before today.

“We’ve got to make sure when you’re on top, you stay on top and you win the game.  I feel like I’ve been, not been robbed because I thought it was a fairly even game, but I feel like we’ve dropped points there, that’s for sure.

“In the second half I thought it looked like there was only one team, if anyone we’re going to score, it would come from us.  I felt like we were in control of the second half.”

Herne Bay finished in third-place in the Isthmian League South East Division last season and a penalty shoot-out home victory over Haywards Heath Town (after a six-goal thriller at Winch’s Field) and a 2-0 win and inflicting Tommy Warrilow’s Ashford United side to back-to-back play-off final defeats, sealed promotion alongside champions Hastings United.

With temperatures in Hertfordshire at 33 degrees, referee Daryll David allowed two water breaks in each half and there was an actual match time of 102 minutes and 57 seconds, with the six water breaks taking 570 seconds in total which ensured the game was a disappointing stop-start cagey affair between two evenly matched sides.

However, Herne Bay, who play out from the back, started the game on the front foot and caught Potters Bar Town on the counter-attack but they failed to trouble goalkeeper Emmanuel Agboola after just 51 seconds.

Left-back Jack Parter released left-winger Kieron Campbell, who left Potters Bar Town’s right-back Finlay Titchmarsh in his wake before Campbell cut the ball back for Hassan Jalloh from inside the box.  Jalloh’s initial shot was blocked inside the box and Marcel Barrington laid the ball off for winger Kymani Thomas to place his first-time right-footed drive past the right-hand post.

Barrington was causing the home side’s defence all sorts of problems with a hard-working number nine role on his debut, having scored 22 goals for Isthmian League South East Division side Cray Valley last season.

Barrington’s debut left Herne Bay’s talisman striker Zak Ansah (25 goals last season) on the bench until the 66^th minute.

Smith said: “Both (Rory Smith and Ansah) had extended holiday’s in the summer and we’ve kind of worked with the other guys for long spells but three years I’ve been here Zak’s never been on the bench.

“Zak’s attitude is first class. He took it exactly how I expected him to take it, no issues at all. The good thing is we don’t have to flog him to death anymore.  On another day Marcel scores and we go ‘brilliant, that’s what the squad is there for.”

Herne Bay linked up well in attack in the seventh minute with Jalloh playing the ball out to Thomas, who played the ball into Barrington, who took a touch and then turned his man on the edge of the box before Campbell skipped past centre-half Kaiser Ethan before drilling his shot into the base of the side netting.

Potters Bar Town then had a brief spell and linked up well down the right with Titchmarsh feeding Monville, who floated in a deep cross from within the right channel for holding midfielder Mohammed Kamara steering his header harmlessly wide.

Herne Bay created an opening following the first of their four corners (the home side took six corners) shortly before the first water break.

Parter whipped in a deep corner from the left where debutant centre-half Lexus Beeden steered his header across the goal and showed good work-rate to retrieve the ball within the right channel.  He then recycled the ball back into the box where the quiet Thomas steered his header harmlessly wide.

“I thought we started quite well. I think the water break came at the wrong time for us because we were quite on top and we were playing well.  Then they had their next bit and then for me we had the next two quarters,” said Smith.

Moore’s side played more on the front foot during the second quarter of the first half and were the more likely to score during 15 minutes of pressure.

They should have scored in the 20^th minute when former Ashford United man Kamara released Monville through on goal past Keano Robinson but goalkeeper Jordan Perrin came out and narrowed the angle and made a vital block before the ball dropped for Beeden to clear his lines.

“That’s the one bit of quality they’ve showed in the game. He’s got to score but it's a good save from Jordan.  I’m not saying he should  score but you’ve got to give Jordan credit, it’s a great save,” said Smith.

Potters Bar Town produced a good move with a rare high intensity move down the left.

Winger Corey Parchment released left-back Frazer Shaw on the overlap and he whipped in a low cross towards the near post where big targetman Dejon Noel-Williams’ first-time flicked shot from a tight angle flashed across Perrin and trickled past the far post.

Smith said: “They started coming into the game a bit more, I still weren’t overly worried.  I think they started getting to grips with the game a bit after that mini-break and it was a spell that we had to ride out and we did ride it out.  We got to half-time and I thought we were good value to take something away from here in the second half.”

Monville sent a deep right-footed free-kick into the Herne Bay box where central midfielder Tyler Christian-Law steered his towering header past the upright just eight-yards from goal while being put under pressure by his marker.

Potters Bar Town went close to taking a deserved lead just on the half-hour mark.

Monville drilled another right-footed free-kick into the box where Kpohomough’s towering header dropped and skimmed the foot of the near post despite Perrin covering his near stick.

The final third of the first half proved to be a cagey stalemate with no further chances.

Smith said: “I just said ‘we have nothing to fear,’  We’ve got levels to go. We haven’t really started yet.  If we get more confident in the final third, just be positive and when you get in their final third, look like you’re going to score!”

Potters Bar Town took 77 seconds to create their first opening of the second half.

Titchmarsh (who was their weak link defensively for the opening 15 minutes but grew stronger as the game developed) played the ball down the line for Parchment, who brought Beeden out and held the ball up before waiting for support.

Seconds later the ball was worked into the box for Monville, who laid the ball off for Parchment to place his first time shot past the right-hand post.

Visiting goalkeeper Perrin was called into making a comfortable save in the 54^th minute, however.

Kpohomough smashed a long diagonal from the halfway line out to the impressive Monville, who drove a first-time angled shot towards the near post from 35-yards, which was comfortably saved in the goalkeeper’s midriff.

Smith handed debuts to centre-halves Robinson (Hayes & Yeading) and Beeden (Darlington), revealing that both Daniel Johnson and Lawrence Harvey will both be unavailable for the time being.

“We’ve got Lawrence and DJ on an extended long holiday so they’re not going to be here for the next month,” revealed Smith.

“The two centre-halves (Robinson and Beeden) have not played a game for the club, not even in pre-season. It’s hard because you’ve conceded but really you can’t fault them.  I thought they had great games, they deserved a clean sheet.”

Smith added: “Michael West was an obvious absentee today, so he could be back for the game on Tuesday.  He’s had an injury from pre-season so we couldn’t put him in the squad today. He was close but a player of that quality at this level, you can’t risk him for one game and lose him for 10, it’s madness.”

It was then the turn of the Potters Bar Town goalkeeper to make a comfortable save in the 64^th minute.

Herne Bay linked up well down the right with Thomas and right-back Troy Williams but Thomas’ weak left-footed shot from 18-yards was comfortably gathered as it bounced into Agboola’s hands at his near post.

“He scored against Sittingbourne in pre-season from that sort of angle but he didn’t quite hit it well enough to trouble the keeper,” added Smith.

Barrington came within inches of giving Herne Bay a winning start to life in their new league at the halfway point of the second half.

Goalkeeper Agboola’s kick was picked up by Barrington on the edge of the centre circle before he drove into the penalty area and clipping the base of the near post with a right-footed drive.

Smith said: “Marcel’s got a bit of power, a bit of pace and his different to the strikers we have at the club, so he’s a handful and he was a handful today and I thought on another day he scores.”

Agboola, who has a big kick, was forced off the pitch with 20 minutes remaining with a suspected muscle pull in his left hamstring and central midfielder Calvin Dickson bravely donned the highlighter pen bright orange jersey and gloves for the remainder of the game.

Herne Bay only fashioned one goalscoring chance during the time that Dickson was in goal and that came in the final seven minutes.

Ansah laid the ball off into Jalloh, who cracked a low first time shot which was too close to Dickson, who kicked the ball away instead of making the save with his hands.

“Hassan was reaching, he’s hit it well but anywhere either side it’s a goal but he’s hit it straight at him.  I think that summed up our endeavours up going forward. Good to a certain area and then it wasn’t good enough,” admitted Smith.

Potters Bar Town snatched the victory however with 42 minutes and 38 seconds on the clock.  This game was either going to finish goal-less or be settled by just the one goal.

A big kick from Dickson was allowed to drop inside the Herne Bay box where substitute Kasim Aidoo cut the ball back from the left by-line towards substitute striker Lewis Manor, who missed his kick.

However, Monville capped off a decent game by taking a touch inside the box and with his second drilling his left-footed shot into the roof of the net in the centre of the goal to score from 12-yards.

“It wasn’t even a moment of quality was it?  In the first half they had a moment of quality and didn’t score from it. It’s just one of those, a bit of naivety, I think late on there,” said Smith.

“There were just too many bodies got attracted to the big man.  I talk about naivety late on.  Just stay composed and I think we were so keen to go and win that game, we end up losing it.”

Smith appreciated the reception his players received from their vocal following and looks forward to a trip to North London to face Haringey Borough on Tuesday night.

Tom Loizou’s men are in seventeenth-place after losing their opening game 2-1 at Bishop’s Stortford, while Herne Bay are nineteenth-place (bottom three).

“It’s going to be a lot harder (in the Isthmian Premier Division) than the last league, of course it is, we know that,” said Smith.

“We know we’re not particularly fancied in this league and maybe that’s showed that’s a fair assumption.  We’ve lost the game today, I don’t think we were second best today.

“It was an open game and it looked like someone would score and we were the ones who didn’t end up on the right end of it. We’ll have to take that and move on and dust ourselves off and go again.

“We’re going back up to North London. Haringey Borough are another established club at this level, so they’ll expect to beat us, simple at that.”

When asked what Smith’s aspirations are for the season ahead, he replied: “Don’t know!  After our pre-season I couldn’t tell you! We were poor in pre-season, some of our aspects of our play was really good but in terms of results, we were poor.  Maybe you could say we carried that on today.  Our play weren’t bad today but we certainly not been played off the park.”

Smith, who was flicking through his phone looking at the weather forecast online, added: “On Tuesday it will be 24 degrees in London so I won’t be asking for a water break.  Today was hot so you have to have them but it’s under 30, so no way.

“We appreciate the support.  It’s very easy to come up a level and expect the team to win every week again. It’s going to be a tough season. We’ll get better, that’s for sure. We’ll have some tough days and we’ll have some great days but as long as they support us as they did at the end there, then we’ll keep giving our all for them.”

Potters Bar Town: Emmanuel Agboola (Calvin Dickson 70), Finlay Titchmarsh, Frazer Shaw, Mohammed Kamara, Jacques Kpohomough, Kaiser Ethan, Corey Parchment (Lewis Manor 56), Tyler Christian-Law, Dejon Noel-Williams (Kasim Aidoo 84), Joseph Boachie, Quentin Monville.
Subs: Adedade Adesoya, Timothy Osaiya

Goal: Quentin Monville 88

Booked: Frazer Shaw 45, Finlay Titchmarsh 55

Herne Bay: Jordan Perrin, Troy Williams, Jack Parter, Bode Anidugbe, Keano Robinson, Lexus Beeden, Kieron Campbell, Hamilton Antonio (Zak Ansah 66), Marcel Barrington, Hassan Jalloh (Helge Orome 84), Kymani Thomas (Rory Smith 73).
Subs: Chris Edwards, Freddie Carter

Attendance: 265
Referee: Mr Daryll David
Assistants: Mr Andrew Tregoning & Mr Daniel Smith