Margate player-manager Ben Greenhalgh on Sam Blackman as midfielder scores in opening-day 1-1 Isthmian South East draw with Jersey Bulls

Sam Blackman scored in Margate’s opening-day Isthmian South East draw - and player-manager Ben Greenhalgh expects he’ll get plenty of chances to chip in with more goals this season.

Blackman pounced at the back post in the 48th minute to convert captain Harry Hudson’s cushioned header from a Greenhalgh corner as Gate cancelled out Jersey Bulls’ first-half goal in last weekend’s 1-1 stalemate at Hartsdown Park.

Having left Margate for Isthmian Premier Folkestone last summer, the midfielder re-joined Gate on loan in March and made a permanent club comeback over the close season.

He’s also got a full pre-season under his belt and made an immediate impact.

“Blacky has always been one, from set-pieces, who is dangerous,” said Greenhalgh, whose troops travel to Sittingbourne tonight.

“Where he’s a bit smaller and we’re not necessarily aiming for him, he kind of uses that and is very good at getting on the end of things. He’s got an eagerness to win the ball.

“We want to be a high-pressing team this year and he’s a big part of that.

“That might get him in certain areas, which will get him goals. I don’t think he has ever been renowned as a goalscorer but he has always chipped in quite well at Margate.

“Our main aim with Blacky has been to get him back to the fitness levels he was at a couple of seasons ago. I think we’re getting him there.

“Obviously, it was quite disrupted for him last season where, at the start of last season, he didn’t know what was going on. Then, he had injuries throughout the year and didn’t do too much.

“We took him in at the end of last year and brought him up-to-speed but maybe not to the level he wanted to be at. Now, he’s had this pre-season.

“He’s demanding a lot out of himself and demanding a lot