Deal Town win 2-1 at Herne Bay to collect first Isthmian South East points of season

Boss Steve King hopes Deal’s maiden Isthmian South East win this season can help kick-start their league campaign.

King’s Hoops picked up their first points at the fourth attempt as they earned a 2-1 derby victory at Herne Bay on Bank Holiday Monday.

It’s been a tough start for Deal - edged out 3-2 at home by last term’s play-off semi-finalists Merstham on Saturday despite goals from midfielder Tom Chapman and forward Rory Smith - with the club also having played early frontrunners Faversham and much-fancied Sittingbourne.

“We needed to win a game of football in the league,” said King. “Everyone needs that first three points.

“When you’ve not won a league game, the longer that takes, the more desperate you get for it. We were conscious Herne Bay have had a good start and we’ve got a couple of wins in cup games so it’s not like we were in terrible form.

“But it was important we got that league win and I felt we were full value for it.

“It really has kick-started our season after some really tough fixtures.

"I know it’s early but, of the four teams we’ve played, they’re all in the top six.”

Summer recruit Mef Esumobi put the Hoops ahead at Winch’s Field and, while midfielder Harvey Brand equalised for Bay, midfielder Ben Chapman got the game’s winning goal.

For striker Esumobi, who joined from Corinthian, it was a first competitive club goal.

King said: “It’s been a bit frustrating, really, for him.

"He came on at Hilltop in the first FA Cup game and he got injured inside two minutes.

“Having done well in pre-season, he’s had a disrupted start. We threw him on, on Saturday, as we pushed for a goal.

“He’s still probably only at about 70 per cent.

"It’s nice to see we have got a variety of scorers and all of our forwards