Herne Bay player-boss Liam Friend on keeping clean sheets, Kamani McFarlane’s scoring form, a 3-2 opening-day Isthmian South East loss at Hassocks and a 4-2 midweek win over Sheppey United

Player-manager Liam Friend wants Herne Bay to cut out individual defensive errors as they aim to build on their first win this season.

Bay got their season going with a midweek 4-2 victory at home to Sheppey in Isthmian South East, bouncing back from a half-time deficit as they conceded an early penalty and a second towards the end of the opening 45 minutes.

It’s never easy to find the right formula with a new-look squad, especially defensively.

There have been promising signs from Herne Bay’s attackers but there will be times - like in their surprise 1-0 FA Cup defeat at lower-division Hollands & Blair - where matches are decided on fine margins and keeping clean sheets will be paramount.

Friend, a vastly-experienced defender, said: “As an attacker, it’s about moments. You can just have a three-second period.

“To be fair to Hassocks (in Bay’s 3-2 league loss), that’s kind of what they had at the weekend.

“Two of their attackers took two opportunities to have good moments and scored the goals whereas, as a defender, you have got to put it together for 90 or 95 minutes for it to warrant being a good performance. I thought we defended really well in both games - against Hassocks and Sheppey.

“In both games, the opposition goalie was a lot busier than our goalie. Joe Coleman, other than the goals, didn’t make a save on Saturday.

“Then, I think he made two saves on Tuesday whereas the Sheppey goalie (Harry Brooks) made two or three in the first half and three or four in the second half. We do need to keep clean sheets.

“It’s more individual errors we’re concerned about.

“The other teams are always going to try and score. They have plenty of good attackers and a plan so you can’t always keep a clean sheet.

“One thing we’re