Herne Bay powered their way to a third successive league victory with a Sam Hasler inspired first half display that had the Robins reeling.
“Sam Hasler is a quality player, he’s been out for a while, he’s had a couple of starts and he’s getting back to full fitness”, said Herne Bay manager Sam Denly, “all the time he’s playing he’s going to be a threat, it’s great to have him back and it shows why he’s so important to us.”
Bay kept faith with the same starting eleven from the last match against Sittingbourne. Hasler stamped his mark on the game as early as the 4th minute. It was his accurate corner from the right met by Bay skipper, Liam Quinn, with a glancing header to register his first goal for the club and to put his side in front. Immediately afterward top scorer Stuart King looped a shot over the bar when put through by Hasler, this time, from the left.
But Carshalton were not yet ready to cave in to this electrifying start from the home side. Within the space of 4 minutes inside the first quarter of an hour, Jack Delo was called upon to make saves with his legs to deny first Tommy Brandford then Austin Gacheru, the latter making his debut for Athletic having just signed from Ryman One North outfit Chatham Town.
But on the quarter hour mark, Hasler struck again. Stuart King received the ball from a corner taken short, rolled the ball into Hasler’s path and he slotted home. Then, six minutes before the break, he was instrumental in Bay’s third goal. Hasler sent over a corner from the right toward the near post and Ricardo Panton, in attempting to clear, sliced the ball into his own net.
After the break, Herne Bay picked up where they had left off. Just two minutes of the second period had elapsed when Stuart King, attacking through the middle, spotted Sam Hasler in space on the left. An unselfish pass into the latter’s path resulted in a trade mark drive for Hasler’s second of the game and Bay’s fourth.
This could then have turned into a rout but the Robins forced their way back into the game. Two minutes before the hour was up, Gacheru headed his debut goal to reduce the deficit and then set up a nervous final eight minutes for the home side’s manager when Jordan Clarke rifled home from outrageous distance.
“It’s natural to have a bit of panic”, said Denly, “that’s when you look to experienced players to put a foot on the ball and just settle things down. A little bit nervy in the last ten minutes but that happens in football, we’ll take the three points, it’s been a great performance again from the lads”.
This is Herne Bay’s third successive league victory, the second time in the last three league matches they have netted four and it lifts them to seventh in the Ryman One South table, just one point away from the playoffs.
Herne Bay: Jack Delo, Michael Turner, Gary Sayer, Dan Johnson, Liam Quinn, Dan Parkinson (Ben Brown 83), Danny Walder, Joe Nelder (Nathan Eastwood 90), Danny Williams, Stuart King (Steven Ita 67), Sam Hasler.
Subs Not Used: Harry Brown, Connor Partridge.
Cautions: Liam Quinn, Joe Nelder. Sent Off: None
Carshalton Athletic: Jack Eden, Bobby Price, Ricardo Panton (Robert Tanner 74), Tony Sinclair, Adriano Moraes, Matthew Males (Dane Moore 67), Sean O’Toole, Austin Gacheru, Tommy Bradford, Brendan Murphy-McVey (Jordan Clarke 61), Mickel Miller.
Subs Not Used: Nassim Dukali, Jarrell Gray.
Cautions: Bobby Price, Tommy Bradford. Sent Off: None
Man of the Match: Sam Hasler (Herne Bay)
Referee: Karl May Assistants: Lou Saunders, Ricky Adams.
Herne Bay (3) 4
Quinn 4
Hasler 15,47
Panton (o.g.) 39
Carshalton Athletic (0) 2
Gacheru 58
Clarke 82
at Winch’s Field Ryman Isthmian League Division One (South)
Attendance: 216
(Photo credit: Steve Barton – Liam Quinn head Herne Bay’s opener.)