Bearsted manager Kevin Stevens hopes summer signings will help them over the line in Southern Counties East play-off bid

Bearsted are aiming to take the next step after the disappointment of missing out on last season’s play-offs.

A late collapse saw the Bears finish sixth in the Southern Counties East Premier Division as injuries took their toll.

They’d been in the top five all season before being pipped at the post, ending up three points outside the play-offs, while they also lost the Challenge Cup final to Rusthall.

Bearsted, who beat Abbey Rangers 2-1 to win the Roy Benton Memorial Trophy on Saturday, have strengthened their squad for another promotion push.

New recruits include Larkfield & New Hythe trio Ross Ibbertson, Clark Woodcock and prolific striker Matt Day, whose arrival should ease the burden on Jake Embery.

Goalkeeper Adam Molloy, a title winner with Erith & Belvedere, Sheppey United and Deal Town, is a key addition, along with defender Paul Sawyer from Sevenoaks.

Liam Parle, who played under Bears assistant manager Billy Jones in the Maidstone United academy, is on board from Snodland, and there’s great enthusiasm over the potential of 20-year-old Ukrainian winger Yevhenii Marchenko.

Bearsted are also looking at a couple of trialists, including Tom Ansell, who scored against Abbey Rangers.

“We just fell away towards the end of last season,” said long-serving manager Stevens. “I think injuries and one or two other things caught up with us.

“We had a lot of injuries. I averaged six or seven players virtually every week. You couldn’t make it up.

“In the end I was playing players who had knocks, who shouldn’t have been playing, but that’s all we had available.

“It was disappointing to finish like that after being in the play-offs the whole season.

“On paper, we’ve definitely got a stronger squad and some really good characters